Siamese Fighters

[markiey777]

I was thinking about getting a Siamese fighting fish - been lokking up about them but some sources say that only snails, shrimp etc can be kept with them, and some say they are community fish! At the moment I only have a few tetra and corys (cycling the tank) but in the future, would they be ok with them and possibly dwarf gouramis and guppies? Any advice would be welcome.

 

[ben1987]

i know pets at home say the are peaceful so i had 1 before i signed up here and it got killed by loadza little tetras and stuff and as far as i understand they either get killed or do the killing.

 

[markiey777]

Thanks

 

[MegTheFish]

It's kind of hit-and-miss with bettas. Some are ok in a large filtered tank with other fish, some are not. The only thing you can do is try it, and if it doesn't work out then have a back up plan.
Read this also: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=96682
However, your saying you want cories, tetras, dwarf gouramis, guppies AND a betta, right? That just isn't going to work out, first of all because it will be quite overstocked for a 10 gallon, and 2ndly two of the fish that have been reccomended to keep away from bettas are guppies and gouramis. If you were going to go ahead with the betta, I would just stick with the cories and glowlights.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I was thinking about getting a Siamese fighting fish - been lokking up about them but some sources say that only snails, shrimp etc can be kept with them, and some say they are community fish! At the moment I only have a few tetra and corys (cycling the tank) but in the future, would they be ok with them and possibly dwarf gouramis and guppies? Any advice would be welcome.

The main problems i can think of at the top of my head with keeping siamese fighting fish/bettas as community fish are;

a. They are not the brightest of fish intelligence wise and will often attack other fancy small fish like guppys as they see them as other potential bettas who could threaten them.

b. They can be very territorial and agressive fish- fish like corys on the other hand have no sense of the concept of territory, often bumble into the betta's personal space and get attacked.

c. They are rather slow moving fish, and often find it difficult to compete with other fish for food.

d. They do best in tanks with slow current as they long flowing fins weigh them down a lot, they are easily blown around the tank if the filter current is too strong. However most fish are the opposite to this and prefer medium to strong filtration in their tanks.

 

[starrynightxxi]

bettas generally will be fine with cories in the right size tank because cories and bettas occupy seperate levels of the tank.

i have not had a good experience with a male betta and tetras.

dwarf gouramis are a definate no as they are both anabantoids (fish with a labyrinth organ which allows them to breath atmospheric air rather than absorb oxygen that is in the water through their gills) and they will fight until one or the other is dead.

Guppies are unadvisable because their long tails and bright colors may make a male betta mistake them for another male betta and the guppies will invariably be the losers.


On a side not, a female bettas will be fine with tetras, and MAY be okay with gouramis and/or guppies as they tend to be less aggressive. Just be mindful of the tank and be sure to have a 1 gallon+ bowl or tank to rehome your female if it proves necessary.

 

[markiey777]

Ah well..thanks anyway