Bettas in a community tank?

[cdoty]

Wouldn't it be an especially bad idea to put a Betta in a community tank?

If not what could go in with them? Could you have two males in a 55
gallon tank?

Algae eaters are ok in the tank, anyone have experience with other fish
that don't cause problems?

[Jim]

On Mon, 03 May 2004 19:26:01 -0500, cdoty
> wrote:

>Wouldn't it be an especially bad idea to put a Betta in a community tank?
>
>If not what could go in with them? Could you have two males in a 55
>gallon tank?
>
>Algae eaters are ok in the tank, anyone have experience with other fish
>that don't cause problems?
>
I've kept a Betta in a tank with Mollies, Guppies with no problems.
Also didn't have any problems with Cardinal/Neon tetras. Most other
types of tetras seemed to want to nip at the fins or were a little
to territorial and Betta would hide.

For reference, it was a 20 gal tank, well planted so that the fish
could stake out their own territory.

Jim

[NetMax]

"cdoty" > wrote in message
...
> Wouldn't it be an especially bad idea to put a Betta in a community
tank?
>
> If not what could go in with them? Could you have two males in a 55
> gallon tank?
>
> Algae eaters are ok in the tank, anyone have experience with other fish
> that don't cause problems?

You can put as many as you like in any tank, but you will be left with
one ;~) Everything else depends on the particular Betta. The rare one
doesn't do well in a community tank, either being agoraphobic or too
aggressive. Otherwise, they do well to varying degrees, _generally_
ignoring fish unless they are too flashy looking (male Guppies sometimes
fall into this category), or they are relatives (Paradisefish etc).
Avoid fish which can be fin nippers, as Bettas make very tempting
targets. If this occurs, some Bettas will run for cover and become very
unhappy, while others will bristle at the indignity and quickly let
everyone in the tank know that he is a force not to be reckoned with ;~).
In short, the results vary. They are imo, one of the least predictable
fish available to hobbyists.
--
http://www.NetMax.tk/

[Eric Schreiber]

cdoty wrote:

> Wouldn't it be an especially bad idea to put a Betta in a community
> tank? If not what could go in with them?

With bettas, the answer will often vary with each individual fish. I
kept a male betta in a 20-gallon community tank for quite awhile with
no problems at all. His tankmates included Peacock Gudgeons, Red-Eyed
Tetras, Leopard Danios, Otocinclus Cats, and other non-aggressive types.

> Could you have two males in a 55 gallon tank?

Very probably not. While in theory that *might* be enough room for two
males to stake out their own space, in practice once they found one
another, someone would probably end up dead.


--
www.ericschreiber.com

[Mary]

"cdoty" > wrote in message
...
> Wouldn't it be an especially bad idea to put a Betta in a community tank?
>
> If not what could go in with them? Could you have two males in a 55
> gallon tank?
>
> Algae eaters are ok in the tank, anyone have experience with other fish
> that don't cause problems?
>

I just bought a betta and added him to my tank - I have two black neon
tetras and they just act like he doesn't exit (as do the frogs and cory)...

Mary

[GloFish]

On Tue, 04 May 2004 01:53:43 GMT, Jim > wrote:

>On Mon, 03 May 2004 19:26:01 -0500, cdoty
> wrote:
>
>>Wouldn't it be an especially bad idea to put a Betta in a community tank?
>>
>>If not what could go in with them? Could you have two males in a 55
>>gallon tank?
>>
>>Algae eaters are ok in the tank, anyone have experience with other fish
>>that don't cause problems?
>>
>I've kept a Betta in a tank with Mollies, Guppies with no problems.
>Also didn't have any problems with Cardinal/Neon tetras. Most other
>types of tetras seemed to want to nip at the fins or were a little
>to territorial and Betta would hide.
>
>For reference, it was a 20 gal tank, well planted so that the fish
>could stake out their own territory.
>
>Jim


I have a 45 gallon with 4 Angels, handful of swordtails, a few CL,
some panda cories, a common pl*co, and the remainder of the mysterious
disappearing GloFish Danios, 5 of them left. We had some mollies and
Serpae Tetras, but the tetras were a little to aggressive.

Once the tetras had finished off the mollies, we removed them, and
added the single male Betta. We have had no problems. He co-exists
with the rest of the tank, no problems.

The Betta does roam most of the tank, he butts into the middle of the
feeding frenzy at dinner time. Based on the life of our betta, I
wouldn't put another male in my tank, as the existing fish does use
about 75% of the tank.

Just my $.02




--Tony

[IDzine01]

cdoty > wrote in message >...
> Wouldn't it be an especially bad idea to put a Betta in a community tank?
>
> If not what could go in with them? Could you have two males in a 55
> gallon tank?
>
> Algae eaters are ok in the tank, anyone have experience with other fish
> that don't cause problems?

Keep in mind that all bettas have a strong individual personality. Any
betta may be more aggressive then another and may have to be removed
from a community tank. Be prepared to take a betta out and have a tank
he/she can be placed in if he can't play nice with others.

Bettas can do great with other community fish. There are hundreds of
commonly kept freshwater aquarium fish so I won't go into which are
good and which are bad, but here are some general rules of thumb.

1. Don't place bettas with other brightly colored fish or fish with
large flashy fins like guppies or mollies. They might react to them as
though they are another betta and sometimes show aggression toward
those fish.

2. Don't place bettas with other Anabantidae fish such as Gouramis.
Anabantidae are fish, which possess a labyrinth organ allowing them to
breathe air from the water's surface when dissolved oxygen levels are
low. Bettas generally will be aggressive to these fish as well.

3. Don't place bettas with other aggressive fish or fin nippy fish.
Nipped betta fins can become infected or generally stress out you
betta leaving him open to other ailments.

4 Bettas are tropical freshwater fish and shouldn't be mixed with cool
water fish like, goldfish. Ok, you already know this, but I'm just
covering all possibilities here.

5. As I said, some bettas will attack anything you put in the water
with it. The only way to know is to try. Some fish that usually work
well with bettas are, small cat fish like Otocinclus and Corydoras,
Snails, ghost shrimp, and Neon Tetras.

If you're considering adding other fish, be sure to check the tank
size requirements for the total fish load and have proper filtration
and aeration in place. Yeah Yeah, you know this too.

Also, one final note: 55 gal tanks tend to have a vary strong current
that can be tough on bettas, which aren't strong swimmers. Usually,
you'll either need a couple smaller filters (that don't produce strong
currents) or keep your tank heavily planted and use something which
can dampen the force of the water. Lots of betta keepers use a new
soap dish (that has never seen soap) and will fasten that to the
inside of the tank wall with suction cups. The filter water flows out
and is difused by the soap dish lessoning the current.

[cdoty]

On Mon, 03 May 2004 19:26:01 -0500, cdoty wrote:

> Wouldn't it be an especially bad idea to put a Betta in a community tank?
>
> If not what could go in with them? Could you have two males in a 55
> gallon tank?
>
> Algae eaters are ok in the tank, anyone have experience with other fish
> that don't cause problems?

Thank You for all of your replies. I figured it was a "maybe" situation
that would be best left alone. I was considering getting a 35 hex tank
from my Dad and setting it up as a mostly planted tank. I thought they
would like it. I will just find some other soft water fish to swim around
in there.

[PurityFailed]

>Lots of betta keepers use a new
>soap dish (that has never seen soap) and will fasten that to the
>inside of the tank wall with suction cups. The filter water flows out
>and is difused by the soap dish lessoning the current.
>From:

WOW

What an excellent idea. I'm wanting to add a power filter to my betta's tank
and man.... Just wow. Thank you. LOL.

Jessica
-Yet another baffled victim of a fish that decided to go MIA.

[Velvet]

cdoty wrote:
> Wouldn't it be an especially bad idea to put a Betta in a community tank?
>
> If not what could go in with them? Could you have two males in a 55
> gallon tank?
>
> Algae eaters are ok in the tank, anyone have experience with other fish
> that don't cause problems?
>
>

I have ONE male betta in a community tank, heavily planted (I believe
this is the key to the success). He doesn't bother the two pearl
gourami, or the two big angels. He also has khuli loaches, a
bristlenose pl*c, assorted small tetras, a few flying foxes, and an otto
for company.

He's happy, chills out hanging in the plants or swims around playfully
depending on his mood. He's slowed down a bit of late so I suspect he's
into old age for a betta now.

I think two would find each other eventually and fight, regardless of
the size tank they're in they'd decide that one corner was the best and
*they* wanted it. No second best.

Heavily planted tank and I'd say give it a go with a single male betta,
but don't be surprised if you find he doesn't get along with others, and
is bullied/bulllies - so have a contingency plan for that.

Velvet