White Siamese Fighter

[davieA]

seen these on a mail order site the other day,(bettabred.co.uk) thought it was stunning and would love one to go into my peacefull community tank, just not sure on the whole mail order thing, obviously have never seen the like in any of my local shops, any advice or comments welcome

 

[finalfantay85]

Betta's aren't always suitable to go into community tanks, their long fins make them a target for fin nippers and also they can be aggressive and attack other tank mates.

What fish do you have in your community?

 

[davieA]

At the moment 8 neons 9 Guppies an 2 endlers, hoping to get some threadfin rainbowfish to and maybe pygmy Gouramis, looking to build up a peacfull community tank which is 4ft, plenty of plants wood and some slate that am usin to make up caves and hidie holes

 

[finalfantay85]

Ok don't put a siamese in there, the neons will more than likely nip at his fins and he will in all likelihood view the guppies as other male siamese and attack them.

If you really want a siamese get a 5 gallon tank and keep him on his own or maybe with some pygmy cories or shrimp.

I understand why you want one they are beautiful fish but not really that suited to communities. You could end up with a really placcid fish who's fine in a community for a while but there is always a chance he will suddenly snap, it happened to me.

 

[davieA]

Cool, will give it some carefull thought before buying, hehhehee, just means a need another tank, which is not a bad thing

 

[finalfantay85]

Any excuse to buy a new tank seems a common thing on here lol. I have only been keeping fish a few months and already i want another tank, mostly so that i can have a siamese fighter again.

But yeah think about it and if you do get a tank then definately get a siamese. It's better not to risk them in a community at all. It's very rewarding keeping them cos they have amazing personalities. Take a read through some of the threads to see what others have said about theirs

 

[Haych]

i have a community tank with a betta/siamese fighter in

i wish people would get off their high horse and say "it wont/cant/dont work"

in my community tank i have neons, minnows, harlequins, guppies AND endlers and Hunter my betta with NO ISSUES AT ALL

if you want to try it, go ahead, the site you named rings a couple of bells, and being posted is no issue. all three of my betas were posted and doing well

 

[davieA]

Suppose everyone got an opinion man an welcome to it, but yeah am more inclined to try it out, a never had problems in the past wi ma betta.s all be it i not kept fish in a while but am sure big enough tank an plenty of hidey places it be cool

 

[Big_eyes]

As said elsewhere, I have a male fighter in my community and he gets along with all just fine. He even seems to be protecting my guppies from all of the other fish!

I think the main factor though is having a tank large enough with plenty of hiding places should he ever get fed up and need a break.

 

[davieA]

Aw thats so cute, lol protector of guppies hehhehehe
but yeah, i guess that was the case common sense really.

Nice tank by the way Haych

 

[Curiosity101]

Final fantasy never said "it wont/cant/dont work"

Infact they gave a much more balanced view than yourself Haych. Surely you would rather people gave a conservative view to people seeking advice. Cause often people who are asking advice will be new to fishkeeping and so aren't as aware of what classes as agressive behaviour. And don't have spare tanks if the worst would happen.

I'm not saying anyone is wrong here. But actually if anyone is getting on a 'high horse' (Ie. only giving one view), it wasn't final fantasy.

The best answer is of course...
Bettas working in a community depends on many factors. Sometimes tank mates nip, some times bettas are agressive. Sometimes everyone gets along fine. If you want to try it be very aware of what to looke out for for the first few weeks. And have a back-up plan (even if it's only a 1gal container), so you can seperate at a moments notice if anything happens.

Like I said...not trying to stir up or put down anyone cause that really isn't what I'm saying here.
Just making sure it's clear that it's 50/50, we've seen as many people with happy bettas as we have disaster stories where guppies have been ripped to bits or bettas have had their tails shredded.

 

[Haych]

he said "dont put a simaese in there"

that to me isnt, it MAY not work, that is it WONT work.

thats what gets my goat

 

[Curiosity101]

Yeah but if you read the rest of the post it becomes clear that it's more of a 'I wouldn't put a betta in there, because...'

I do get your point, that it should be two sided as it's not a certainty either ways. But the posts seemed quite balanced to me.
More 'This bad thing could happen', 'this good thing could happen', 'the bad thing happened to me so I'd say don't'

 

[davieA]

He did say don't, and not that being over cautious isn't a good thing, but in my experience of keeping fish, which is around 10 years or so, all be it when i was younger, is that there is not too many problems keeping a male in a community tank, in my experience, females tend to be more aggressive, but as i said that is just in my experience, other people may have different views, on the over cautious note, i think most people are, the guy in my local shop is trying to get me to wait 2 months after set up before i put any fish in, and constantly tells me im being silly going and and stoking up having only my tank set up for a two weeks,

this is me being over cautious, in the past i would set up have fish in straight away, only talking peaceful community species here, nothing fancy, i know you can specialise i know you can have problems, i for one,in the past have never tested my tanks for nitrates or whatever.
I have bred angles guppies platys, some killies really successfully and had moderate success at shows too, and im not not really that knowledgeable, but its not rocket science, i strive to make my tanks as close to the habitat as the fish i keep, this is me getting back into a old hobby, mistakes will be made am sure, but is that not part of the learning curve ?

 

[Curiosity101]

You can avoid some mistakes by asking questions though. (Exactly what you did, cause not all online sites are legit).

And the person ar your local shops seems to not understand the theory of cycling. Or is trying to suggest a fishless cycle possibly (which takes on average 8-weeks)

Just out of interest why are you waiting 2 weeks before stocking?
If fishless cycling you're looking at 6-8weeks
Fish-in and you can add fish instantly
Seeding from another tank you can add fish instantly...unless you're seeding and then fishless cycling it up to a certain level?

Oh and this is just me being nosey...but why don't you test your water? I always would just for the simple fact that for how little it costs it's a really useful tool for pinpointing the cause of anything that ever goes wrong. Eg. If I ever have a death then I will test just to make sure there is an ammonia spike or similar. Because if you catch it then you avoid any additional losses.