Rod Bacon wrote:
I would like the opinion of users in this group please. My LFS (being
conservative, and responsible) recommends against putting a male betta
in my connunity tank, because of the potential for fin-shredding
action. This is not based specifically on my tank, or it's inhabitents,
but is a general rule of thumb.

My 200L tank currently has 2 gouramis (can be occasionally "pecky", but
only ever to each other), 8 neons, 1 pl*co, 5 zebra danios, 3 siamese
flying foxes, 3 platys and a swordtail. It's quite heavily planted, and
has lots of hiding places.

I know that fish all have their own personalities, and it's a bit of a
lottery when mixing species, but I feel that my tank is peaceful enough
to accomodate a betta.

What do others here think?

Gouramis and bettas are from the same family and don't always mix well.
I don't think I'd try it because of the gourami. I've also had problems
with tetras nipping bettas' fins, but that's a little less common.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com