Female Betta and other fish

[Mariah]

Hi,
I was wondering what a female betta can go in a tank with? I saw some really beat up female bettas and would like to save one if there still there.
Im assuming there females as they were all in the same tank together. Do they all have short fins?
Any help would be great

 

[Kiarra]

Not ALL female Bettas have short fins, but almost all of them do. But not all short-finned Bettas are female. The best way to sex them is with the ovipositor, located just behind the ventral fins on the ventral side of the body (underneath the fish, essentially). It appears as a little white dot, or a small white tube.

Female Bettas can only be kept together reliably in numbers of 4 or more, and preferably 6 or more. They can be kept with Cory Cats and African Dwarf Frogs quite well. They really shouldn't be kept with Mollies or Guppies...Guppies because they can be mistaken for Bettas, and the Betta might tear into the Guppy. Mollies because I've noticed that Mollies can be extremely aggressive with female Bettas, and one of my female Bettas suffered quite a bit at the hands of a Molly in one evening before I found her and took her out.

What do you have in the tank you'd like to put a female Betta in? I could recommend tankmates, but it would be easier to know what you have.

 

[Mariah]

I have corys, cherry barbs and tetras. I was also planning on adding angels and platies. Would this work?
Thanks

 

[Kiarra]

The Corys would be great with a Betta. I don't know much about Cherry Barbs, but, if they are similar in temperament to Tiger Barbs, then it won't work. Tiger Barbs will nip a Betta pretty well to death...in most cases. Females are quicker than males, and can get away better, but I wouldn't risk a female with Tiger Barbs. If the Tetras are Neon Tetras, then, if kept in large enough numbers of their own, they probably won't bother a female Betta. They will, however, (more often than not, though all fish are different) completely destroy a male's fins, fyi. As for Angels...I've seen it work, but it's not generally recommended. Be prepared to make other arrangements if necessary. Platies might be okay, but it depends on the female Betta. The bright colors and similar(ish!) shape might confuse her and make her aggressive, thinking they are one of her own species.

All things do depend on the female Betta, though. Some are EXTREMELY aggressive, and some are so mellow that they can live just about anywhere, so long as they aren't being picked on themselves, and the conditions are right.

Hope this helps.

 

[Mariah]

The cherry barbs I dont think are like tiger barbs. They are very peacefull at least so far. I dont know if I can chance a betta right now (no where to put as yet) Maybe I will later when I have other options for it.
Thanks for the info though

 

[mrplaty]

im not so sure about putting them with angels really!

 

[MegTheFish]

On another message board that I was recently visiting, they said that bettas can go with angelfish, and lots of people had had success with it. Then again, everybody has a different opinion *shrug*

 

[Kiarra]

A friend of mine had Bettas with her angelfish, and there never was a problem. But the angelfish themselves were quite tiny, not much larger than the bettas (both of which were very small females).

It CAN work, but you have to be ready and careful in case it doesn't work.

 

[TribeOfShroom]

What about female bettas and pearl gouramis??? Probably a really stupid question, but I'll ask it anyway.

 

[CathyGo]

They are too closely related and will fight like two bettas most likely. Angels generally are pretty mellow UNTIL they get bigger. Then they can cause trouble by doing things like eating neons and pestering other fish.

 

[MermaidMel]

I keep my females in one tank alone, though they had a bristlenose pleco in with them, I moved him on because he was a crap machine and not fair on them. I also had a ruby shark in with them who never bothered them or vice versa.

I keep my other females with panda cory, otocinclus and african dwarf frog. There were also some flag tetra and emperors in with them before I moved them on to make more room for girls

Any of the above would be fine based on my own experience. But if I was you, I'd just have more girls