Male Bettas In A Communal Tank?

[frenchie851]

I have heard that there is such a thin called a 'suspension' tank?

Does this work? Is this cruel,if not how big do they have to be to give them enough room not to be cruel?

What I don't understand is that if they are put in a suspension tank they must be there to protect other fish, but if the Betta can see other fish do they not just get angry?

 

[Haych]

not sure by what you mean a suspension tank, but i have a male betta in a community tank, and a divided tank for male and female bettas

 

[kelly528]

I assume you are thinking of a breeding trap.... this will work short term eg in a pet store (as an alternative to keeping them in those horrid cups) but it will not work long term. You are correct, your betta can still see fish which may stress him out. Furthermore, bettas need swimming space as much as any other fish. Anything less than 2 gallons (divided or single tank) is unsuitable IMO.

 

[OldMan47]

I have never used a breeding trap or a betta divider in a community tank to keep my betta isolated. As long as there is only one betta in the tank, why not just let him share the whole tank space?

 

[finalfantay85]

Just be wary of keeping one in a community if you have aggressive fish or ones known for fin nipping. Keeping him in a community will be much easier if there is nothing to provoke him, plus you don't wanna see his fins get chewed by something. Just my 2cents on the topic

 

[razer121]

i agree sometimes its not a good idea to have bettas in com tanks....but thats only if you have an aggresive one mine was fine in a com tank....i did move him to his own tank....but he seemed very depressed when he moved over to it!! i think its all down to the personality of the betta

 

[finalfantay85]

Mine was ok in the communal tank and was placid until I added some guppies. They seemed to be aggressive towards him so he took a nip out of one of them and then just hid scared and angry under the filter until i was able to fish him out. Sadly it was too much stress for him and he didn't last long after that.

But as long as your betta is chilled out and you put him in to a tank with placid non fin nipping species you might be ok with it.

There are members on here who've kept their betta in a community with neons or guppies successfully but i wouldn't personally try it just because of what happened in my case but it might work.

One other piece of advice I was given is to add the betta to the tank last so that it doesn't become "his tank" as they are very territorial. That's probably part of what went wrong for me, other than my guppies being jerks lol. If you do decide on putting one in a community just keep a close eye out for any signs of aggression or stress on the part of any of the fish. Mine was a brilliant character in the tank and whilst he didn't really interact and get involved in the schooling with other fish and all that he definately had his own place in the tank.

 

[Hunterprey]

If you meant breeding trap, I have an adult male VT betta in a floating breeding trap in my juvenile dwarf puffer's tank. I usually wake up in the morning to find out he jumped out of the trap. Just figure out a way for him not to escape, like don't put it in front of a current, tends to tilt.

Luckily my dwarf puffer is still afraid of my Betta and just moves out of his way. And my betta just ignores the puffer. Its just a temporary thing for me tho, Im gonna set up his own 5 gallon this weekend. I find them a little bit cruel to use, but I guess its better than being inside a small cup in a store, I use a 6" X 3" X 3" trap. My baby female bettas are still on a trap but I'll release them as soon as they're big enough not to be eaten by my bumblebee catfish. Traps are only good for temporary solution.