Advice On Compatability Of Fish

[Bexley333]

Hello,

I am planning my first aquarium and am thinking of having the following fish:

1 Male Fighter
3 female fighters
1 bulldog plec
1 male bristlenose plec
1 butterfly plec
Small group of tetra

Please can you let me know if the following fish would be compatable in a 60l (15ish gallon I think) tank? I am planning on having a bubble curtain and live plants too with lots of hiding places for them.
Also, any general advice will be gratefully received.

Cheers!

 

[rdd1952]

Hi Bexley333 and welcome to the forum.

Male fighters (bettas) can only be kept alone. They will attack any other betta in the tank. The only exception to that is when they are ready to breed, you can add the female but she has to be removed later of the male will kill her. Even with hiding places, in only a 15 gallon tank, you will have problems with a male and 3 females. You can keep females in groups.

As far as the other fish are concerned, plecs are huge waste producers. Having 3 in a 15 gallon tank may be too many unless you hae extra filtration and a good maintanence schedule. For a 15 gallon tank, you would be best to stick to maybe one small plec and a small shoal of tetras.

 

[Bexley333]

One of my mates has 1 male fighter and 2 females in a 35l tankand she tells me they're ok to keep together as long as you have more than one female so he can get lots of 'action' When I watch them the females tend to hang around together in the middle of the tank and the male hangs out in the plants. I probably wont be risking it though on your advice, my mate is a very experienced fish keeper, I'd just end up killing the poor things
I'll cut down on the plecs, maybe just have the bristlenose? Is there anything you'd recommend instead? I'm definately going to get a male fighter so would like something that he'd be happy with and ideally something as pretty as him

 

[rdd1952]

Bettas have different temperments. Some get along fine with most other species while others have been known to rip up anything in the tank with them. It's kind of hit or miss with them. I'm certianly no betta expert though. As far as tank mates, just stay away from know fin nippers that will harass the betta. Also, you don't want fish such as guppies with large ornate tails that the betta can confuse for another betta and attack.

I would think tetras like neons, black phantoms, lemons, pristillas, red-eyes, etc would all be good with a betta. The key is to have at least 6 or 8 tetras of the same species. When kept in smaller groups, most tetras can tend to be nippy.

 

[OldMan47]

A male Betta splendens in a tank with females is asking for dead fish, not necessarily the female although it usually is the female that ends up dead. There are lots of other bettas that you don't see as often as betta splendens. Some of those can be kept together with others of their own kind with no troubles. We are all used to seeing only Betta splendens so the advice from RDD is spot on for them. If your friend is truly an experienced fishkeeper, she may have advanced to the stage of keeping bettas that are not the splendens species.

 

[pippoodle]

If you're interested in bettas in a community tank why not try - betta imbellis
your lfs can order them for you - they will cost roughly £6-£8
They are the wild bettas but still colourful - the main thing is they are peaceful
The males and females can be kept together in the same aquarium but must only be with peaceful fish that are smaller than them
(i'm getting 6 tomorrow and 4 betta rutilans)

You could have 6+ female betta splendens in a tank together , with rice fish or neons , harlequin rasboras and corys or plecs etc - BUT DONT add a male betta splendens cos one could end up dead be it one of the females or a male


MY 60 ltr male tank divided - http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=287990
My 75 litre female sorority tank - shared with corys, shrimps and snails - http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=287076&hl=
male betta imbellis - pic from google

 

[loachman]

Butterfly "plecs" are usually hillstream loaches that require cooler water, higher flow rates, and good oxygen content. Bettas like next to no flow rate and generally low oxygen is fine for them. The two will not mix well.

 

[Bexley333]

Cheers Guys