Guppies And Bettas

[Yiggy]

Would Guppies and Bettas be good together in the same tank?

 

[stang1]

I'm afraid not. The Betta will mistake them for another male and end up attacking them.

 

[WILDER]

I agree with stang1 betta see them as competition with there flowing fins, they even kill and eat them.

 

[modaz]

sorry stang and wilder im not disrespecting your answers:

my answer to the question is, if you lack some experience with betta then it really isnt a good idea to keep both together but it is sometimes and i mean only sometimes known to be a successful mixture in your tank.
ive got two community betta and both have never been in a situation where i have had to seperate from the tank due to fighting or killing of other fish, it depends on these main factors.
1. the size of the tank - too small and you are certain to end up with dead guppies and a battered betta. too large and your betta will be stressed and will kill as a result.
2. where your betta came from, if he has been raised in a community tank or spent some time in one in a LFS then the chances are that he could be ok, if you havent got one yet and you see some in LFS community tank, ask how long hes been in there, observe the other fish and look for any dead fish or any chunks missing out of the betta finnage, if all is ok and hes been in there a while then your chances of a nice community betta are high.
3. the betta in question should be observed prior to consideration of community living, as you would normaly quarantine when you first buy a fish watch him as close as you can, i did this and introduced a mirror to the side of the tank to see how they reacted, both my community betta didnt flare at their own reflections at all and seemed very tame to the hand. my other 3 on the other hand have seperate tanks due to them flaring at the mirror and being very scared of any movement.

ive just added a different point of view for you to consider but as i said earlier DONT do it if you are new to bettas or fish. 99% of betta will not be suited to a community tank, its rare and not always successful when tried. im NOT encouraging you to do this but giving you some tips just in case.

 

[mommyof2bettas]

you can try it-although I don't reccomend it, with a peaceful betta-if your betta is agressive don't even try. If you do-even with a peaceful betta-make sure you have an extra tank handy.

 

[Kevinator]

I know some one who tried this and the betta became very aggresive with 3 of the guppies and killed them all.

 

[lilfishie]

i used to keep a male with guppies but they were females so lacked in colour, now when i clean my tanks i take everyone out in there own lil container, put my male betta near my female gup and he went mad, im glad they weren't together