Question About Aquarium Relationships

[silmiriel]

good evening,
i've had my betta, Luke, for almost 3 years and recently i upgraded moderately sized home to a bigger one where he could have some friends. he seems very happy and everyone is getting along well, as far as i can tell. i have 7 neon tetras in the aquarium with him and today i noticed that they are following my betta around and nibbling the edges of his fins. he doesn't seem to mind...he barely notices, but i'm wondering if this is normal/safe behavior. and, if not, what can i do about it? i can't really see any fin damage, although, this just started today. are the tetras maybe cleaning him?
any advice would be appreciated.
thanks!

julia

 

[Netty]

Hi Julia and welcome to the betta section.

Unfortunately tetras are notorious fin nippers and you should really remove him as soon as you can. They will continuously nip at his fins and this could lead to infections and fin rot. You may not think he minds but I think having 6 tetras following him and nipping his fins will bother him an awful lot.

If you still have his old tank then maybe you could set that back up for him and let him have his bachelor pad back. He's a very good age in Betta years and it would be a shame for him to now be unhappy and possibly get sick

 

[silmiriel]

Hi Julia and welcome to the betta section.

Unfortunately tetras are notorious fin nippers and you should really remove him as soon as you can. They will continuously nip at his fins and this could lead to infections and fin rot. You may not think he minds but I think having 6 tetras following him and nipping his fins will bother him an awful lot.

If you still have his old tank then maybe you could set that back up for him and let him have his bachelor pad back. He's a very good age in Betta years and it would be a shame for him to now be unhappy and possibly get sick

oh wow, i didn't realize that. i looked up what fish are compatible with bettas before i bought those little guys, but i guess they failed to mention the fin nipping. do you have any recommendations for fish that would be ok to group him with?

 

[Netty]

That's why these forums are good to finding out more!!!

The only experience I have in keeping other fish with Bettas are Cory's but that will depend alot on the size of tank as they need to be kept in groups. For smaller tanks Ottos or Pygmy Cories would be better as they are alot smaller. Bear in mind also that the tank should be mature before adding any of these to it. Cory's do prefer slightly lower temps than Bettas and you need to get a good balance to keep both happy.

 

[silmiriel]

ok thank you!

 

[Netty]

No probs and hope you're able to pop a photo up for us all to see. He sounds like a lovely boy!!!

 

[silmiriel]

oh yes i will. he's beautiful!