I just recently bought a betta fish and put him in a 5 gallon bow tank. Today I bought 4 neon tetras and a mystery snail to put in the tank with him. At first the betta was fine with them. A few hours later I went to look in the tank and I noticed one of the neons has part of his side ripped off. I wasnt sure if it was already like that when I bought him so I pulled up a chair and watched it a bit... sure enough! The betta went after the same fish again and nipped him again. I had to pull all he neons out (which was really a pain!) and return them to the store I bought them from. I would really love to get some other fish in this tank since its a 5 gallon... but Im kind of scared to get anything else. Do you think he will be like this with any fish I put in with him? Any suggestions?
New Betta
- Thread starter Meowmix
- Start date
woodstock
Fishaholic
There's another forum, have you checked that out? If that didn't work for you, then fire away with your questions. I prefer to keep them alone, they normally do much better off alone. I think snails are the best though. Actual fish are always an issue, and you'll always get different answers. It always depends on the betta! 
Gourami123
Fish Crazy
never seen that before
i have a dwarf gourami in with mine my betta went after him but the gourami gave him a nip and now their best friends
try rummy nose tetra
and some corydoras
i have a dwarf gourami in with mine my betta went after him but the gourami gave him a nip and now their best friends
try rummy nose tetra
and some corydoras
Woodstock - What do you mean there's another forum for this?
Gourami123 - I guess I can try getting a couple of corys and a drawrf gourami.. worse comes to worse.. I can always throw them in my 46g if the betta, who I'm now calling Cujo, bothers them.
Gourami123 - I guess I can try getting a couple of corys and a drawrf gourami.. worse comes to worse.. I can always throw them in my 46g if the betta, who I'm now calling Cujo, bothers them.
Hunterprey
Fishaholic
I think cory would be fine. I've tried every male betta (I have 4) with my cories and they get on fine. With your tank size tho pygmy cories would be a good choice.
catxx
Fish Gatherer
I don't recommend you try anything else in that 5g. The tank size is the problem, a Betta in a 5g is essentially fully stocked. A Neon shoal needs a minimum of 10-15 gallons, Corydoras 10-15 gallons again depending on species (larger species need bigger tanks), I don't recommend Pygmy/Dwarf species in that tank as they're exceptionally sensitive to water quality, and they are shoaling too. In such tight confines with a shoal of fish your Betta felt threatened and went in out of frustration!
Leave your Betta in the 5g with the Apple Snail and leave it at that!
Leave your Betta in the 5g with the Apple Snail and leave it at that!
I only had 4 Neons.. he had tons of room.. but.. I was thinking about it last night and I'm just going to keep him in the tank with the Mystery Snail. I think he is just too aggressive to put anything else in there with him. He sometimes flares at me when I look into the tank. He's a nasty little fish.. lol I had named him Angel, but now I'm going to call him Cujo.
kizno1
Fish Connoisseur
pygmy corys dont evan get to 1" 6 will be fine in a 5g
i wouldnt try gourami they dont normally do to well with bettas and a 5g is way to small to evan try it. i would get 6 pygmy corys in there :]
catxx
Fish Gatherer
I've had Habrosus Pygmys in an 8 gallon and felt very guilty about it, they're small but active and curious. Sadly they never acclimatised to my harder water, hell one didn't even make it home in the bag! Which is why I would not recommend them for smaller tanks where water quality is less stable. They also MUST be on sand, my first group lost their barbels even on pea gravel. I really wanted to breed them but could never get them to live long enough!
Haych
Fish Gatherer
Nothing can be put in with a betta if he was put in first.
if you add new fish, put him in a breeding trap / float in a bag, rearrange all decor and add new fish.
After a day (in a trap is ok) add him back in. he then wont have his terratory to protect and will be happy with whoever is in there.
if a betta is in first the new fish are invading his terratory. this stops it being his
if you add new fish, put him in a breeding trap / float in a bag, rearrange all decor and add new fish.
After a day (in a trap is ok) add him back in. he then wont have his terratory to protect and will be happy with whoever is in there.
if a betta is in first the new fish are invading his terratory. this stops it being his
GuppyGoddess
Fish Herder
It is a good idea to just have your betta with a snail!I only had 4 Neons.. he had tons of room.. but.. I was thinking about it last night and I'm just going to keep him in the tank with the Mystery Snail. I think he is just too aggressive to put anything else in there with him. He sometimes flares at me when I look into the tank. He's a nasty little fish.. lol I had named him Angel, but now I'm going to call him Cujo.
FWIW, all of my bettas have thrived only when alone. Any time I've tried to mix them with other fish, it's stressed the betta out and/or there's been nipping involved.
Yeah, I think I'm am going to just stick with the betta.. I think the filter on there is only good for him anyway.. I think adding anymore fish I'd have to put a better filter on it. I'll just keep him and the snail. He's very curious about the snail though.. its kinda cute lol But.. the way he acted with the neons.. wowwww He just ripped the poor things skin off like it was nothing. I don't want to put any other fish in there and risk them getting hurt. I felt so bad for that neon. I'm still looking for a 25watt heater for the tank. I've only had him for 3 days now. All the stores Ive been to don't have any in stock. So, I'm waiting for them to restock... The temperature has been consistent though. It's pretty hot in my apartment.. too hot actually.. lol The water has been at 78 since i set up the tank.. So i think he will be fine till I find a heater. I doubt the heater would even go on but.. I guess to be on the safe side.
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