What To Stock With A Siamese Fighting Fish

[Mallion]

Just wondering what other fish I can stock in a well established tank (10L and 22degrees C), that's not going to nibble the fighter fishes tail but somthing the fighter fish will mostly ignore?

I was hopeing for a small school of small fish (Zebras maybe?), and/or ground feeder cat fish.

Cheers

Edit: looked the tank up on the web, its actually a 22L. Did not realise I would be that far of when taking a guess at it

 

[stang1]

I really don't think you can put anything else in there. Bettas like hidey holes and plants plus room to swim about.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

nothing really i'm afraid.

siamese fighter fish aren't called that for nothing, they generally speaking need to be kept by themselves, you could maybe get something like an apple snail in there.

10l is a pretty small tank though there's very little that would be happy with a betta that could fit in there

here's a pinned topic about acceptable tank mates for betta's

 

[dwarfgourami]

While there are fish that can live with bettas, 10 ltrs is really very small; most of the smaller community fish (like tetras, livebearers, not to even mention the hyperactive zebra danios) need much more space to zip around in. Also the filter would easily get overburdened. As for bottomfeeders, corys and otos need to be in groups, and corys are sensitive to bacteria buildups, so a tiny tank is not a good idea; the smaller plecs like bristlenoses are still very heavy waste producers, so the filter would not be able to handle them. A snail would probably be your best bet.

 

[SophieLT]

I can tell you that you can keep zebra danios with them but nothing smaller. Tiger barbs are ok with them.

Siamese fighting fish are called so because if you put to malesin to a tank, they'll fight to the death!

 

[dwarfgourami]

I can tell you that you can keep zebra danios with them but nothing smaller. Tiger barbs are ok with them.

Siamese fighting fish are called so because if you put to malesin to a tank, they'll fight to the death!

Have you actually tried keeping zebra danios or tiger barbs in the same tank as a betta? I have not done it myself, but I have seen it done and the results were not pretty The bettas with their long flowing fins seem to represent an irresistible temptation to any fin-nippers out there. Besides, aren't we talking about a 10 ltr tank? Can't keep tiger barbs, or danios in there.
As to whether the betta will attack another tank mate or not, it's not about how small they are, it's about whether they can be mistaken for another betta. Small fish, like tetras or pygmy corys often get along better with bettas than say gouramis or platies.

 

[sylvia]

10 litres is barely over 2 gallons - you CANNOT keep zebra danios in that size tank - regardless of how they'll do with your betta.

Your tank is far too small to fit any more fish in. I also would not consider an apple snail. They grow to about the size of your fist and produce huge amounts of waste. Something more appropriate might be shrimp. There is a small chance the betta will harass these but they are otherwise ideal and you can fit 2 or 3 in. There are many different types, ghost shrimp probably being one of the most common. You may also want to look into cherry shrimp - they are red and also one of the easier types to find. I know a lot of people have in their mind an image of shrimp that makes them think they are small, slow and hardly ever seen. This isn't the case at all. They are very active things and the two types I mentioned get to over an inch and are quite 'solid' looking. They can 'swim' and are just as interesting as fish. Here's a site with lots of info. on them: www.petshrimp.com

 

[Callum]

Tiger barbs are ok with them.

no tiger barbs are renouned as major fin nippers if you put tiger barbs in with a beta the beta wont have any fins left

 

[Mallion]

I was under the impression that the fighters were only overly aggressive to males of its own species (or something that looks similar I guess)?

With everyone mentioning how small the tank was, I took another look at the tank an decided it can't considered that small! So I looked up its size on the web and its a 22L, I really did not think a guestimate of 10L was going to be that far off Anyway I hope this makes a difference as the tank seems quite empty with just him in it, but I am quite happy to keep it that way if it's the best thing for him.

Shrimps sound interesting though, I'll do a bit of research and see what I can get.

 

[stang1]

My first Betta was in a bigger tank and I kept him with White Cloud Mountain Minnows and they were fine together. But it may not work for everyone. I decided that I preferrred to keep the fighters on their own, they're so pretty that they don't really need anything else in with them.

 

[dwarfgourami]

I was under the impression that the fighters were only overly aggressive to males of its own species (or something that looks similar I guess)?

Something that looks similar is indeed the answer. That includes all gouramis (related anyway), platies and guppies.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

I was under the impression that the fighters were only overly aggressive to males of its own species (or something that looks similar I guess)?

Something that looks similar is indeed the answer. That includes all gouramis (related anyway), platies and guppies.

In most cases yes, fighters are a fish that can be very different between different specimens. By all means try him with some companions, but you must be prepared that he may not accept them and you will need to re-home them or him.

I'd only recommend bigger shrimps if you go with that option, i wouldn't put anything as small as cherries in with a fighter.

and yes 22l is much more roomy, still not enough for something like danio's that needs a lot of space, but you've a little more room to play with.

 

[sharkbaitwoohaha]

lots of people keep apple snails, am i right? ive got a small tank soon to be empty as a prospective betta home so im interested to know. TIGER BARBS! nope, never in a million years. they would have a feast on his tail !!

 

[DarkEntity]

I can tell you that you can keep zebra danios with them but nothing smaller. Tiger barbs are ok with them.

Siamese fighting fish are called so because if you put to malesin to a tank, they'll fight to the death!

Zebras, No No No
Tiger Barbs.....NO NO NO NO

Never ever ever.

Now back to the question, 10Litre tank, you can keep a Betta on his own with Amano shrimp or a couple of Cory as cleaners thats it.

 

[confused mermaid]

I have a 46 gallon tank with glass cats, glass fish, gouramis, a bristlenose pleco, kuhli loaches, marbled loached and my one betta. He loves his tankmates, and they leave his fins alone. Noone even believes me till I take a picture. I truely believe it depends on the fish.