John D. Goulden wrote:

Gouramis are notorious betta harassers, and in betta vs. gourami the betta
usually loses. The platys might want to play too much nip-the-fin with the
betta, and male bettas will sometimes attack platys. I don't think this is
the right community tank for a betta.

In my experience it's a coin toss as to whether or not a betta will do well
in a community tank, anyway - some do fine (many of mine have co-habited
with swords and guppies and they pretty much ignore / avoid each other) but
others really just prefer to be alone. I once had one that had the guppies
so scared that they stayed huddled over against one side of a 10-gallon and
the betta ruled the other 2/3 of the tank in solitary splendor. I moved the
betta into his own tank and it was still a full day before the guppies
calmed down enough to move around.

Then there was sort of a fry explosion. All those weeks of terror and
pent-up frustration, finally released...

My one attempt of mixing a betta and guppies ended when I got up the
morning after I added the betta and all three male guppies were missing
part of their tails.

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