Will A Male Betta Be Ok With Neon Tetras

[Lady J]

Hi all,

I will be stocking soon; I wanted 1 male betta, 12 espei rasboras, and 6 corys (julii).

I'm having a difficult time finding the rasboras so am considering neon tetras but I've heard they often nip at the bettas' fins.

Please give some feedback.

 

[fizzlesticks]

How big is the tank?

 

[shi24137]

my betta's do fine with neons

 

[catfishblues]

Neons are not at all fin nippers and as long as the betta has enough space, he will be fine with some company. They just get mean when people try to cram them in small bowls with other fish.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

As long as you have a big group of neons it may be fine. I had 13 cardinal tetras in my 3ft tank with my betta and after 6-8 weeks they suddenly started getting a bit nippy so they had to go! I was planning on getting rid of them anyway because I found them to be boring

Unfortunately it often comes down to trail & error sometimes!

 

[fluttermoth]

Sorry to disagree with you, catfishblues, but neons can be nippy; there are very, very few tetras that don't nip, in the 'right' (or wrong, however you want to look at it!) situation.

I would definitely push to get the espei; have you asked your LFS if they'll order some in for you? Many shops will. Even 'normal' harlequins would be better than neons, IMO; or another kind of rasbora; chilli rasboras with a blue betta would look stunning.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I've heard a couple of the yankee doodles talking about an online supplier called Bob's, PM FishFanatic04 I'm sure she'd be happy to point you in the right direction

 

[Ajp]

My betta is in a 10 gallon tank with 10 neons and he is fine, i have not seen them nip at him and all his fins seem to be fine. I Think this is because they chase each other and not the betta, si if you get enough of them in a big enough tank you should be right

 

[Lady J]

Thank you all so much for your replies. My tank is pretty small---it's a 30g. long (36"w x 17"h x 12"l) I can continue to try to find the espeis but darn I'm not having much luck. If I do add tetras, it probably wouldn't exceed 12.

 

[catfishblues]

Sorry to disagree with you, catfishblues, but neons can be nippy; there are very, very few tetras that don't nip, in the 'right' (or wrong, however you want to look at it!) situation.

I would definitely push to get the espei; have you asked your LFS if they'll order some in for you? Many shops will. Even 'normal' harlequins would be better than neons, IMO; or another kind of rasbora; chilli rasboras with a blue betta would look stunning.

Haha my bad! I guess I should have said I've never found my neons to be fin nippers