Betta and African dwarf fish

I’m a newbie so I’m sorry In advance. I recently got a tank with many fish that get along and 2 African dwarf frogs. I also have 2 bettas together and they seemed to be getting along fine the first week. This morning I found one betta all roughed up and the other following him with his gills puffed up so I knew they had been fighting. I went to use the bathroom and came back to find the roughed up betta missing as well as one of my African dwarf frogs. I try to look through the glass and into the cave and I see the missing ADF but still not the betta. I was going to take the betta out due to it’s injuries but now I am unable to find him and my frog won’t leave the cave which only makes me wonder if they are fighting or if the ADF is eating him. Should I remove the cave to see what’s going on, or let nature take its course?

I am not experienced with ADF (the frogs) but other members are and can comment further, but if I remember correctly, it is not advisable to combine these frogs with fish. However, having said that, one "frog" source does say that small fish can sometimes work, but never a betta.

And the bettas are your real problem. Male bettas are not community fish and should always be on their own, for their own sake and the other fish. You've witnessed first hand why two cannot be together, the issue now is, will the dominant betta decide his territory is being crowded by all the other fish, and take after them in succession. Separate ASAP.

Byron said:

I am not experienced with ADF (the frogs) but other members are and can comment further, but if I remember correctly, it is not advisable to combine these frogs with fish. However, having said that, one "frog" source does say that small fish can sometimes work, but never a betta.

And the bettas are your real problem. Male bettas are not community fish and should always be on their own, for their own sake and the other fish. You've witnessed first hand why two cannot be together, the issue now is, will the dominant betta decide his territory is being crowded by all the other fish, and take after them in succession. Separate ASAP.

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as i have heard, frogs cannot be together with fish because the medications used for fish are harmful to frogs and vice versa

Frogs are almost blind and find their food by smell. They can starve to death in a tank with fish as by the time they've located the food the fish have already eaten it all. They are best kept in their own tank.


Male bettas should never be kept together except possibly in enormous tanks with a huge amount of vegetation. These are territorial fish which which have been selectively bred for decades, if not hundreds of years, to increase their aggressiveness. In the wild the less aggressive ancestors of our domestic bettas would be able to escape. In the confines of a tank the loser cannot leave and the winner sees this as the loser continually challenging him so they'll fight to the death.