Best Tropical Fish For A Noob ?

[The chilly dipper]

bless him
he is beautiful

hehe dysfunctional tank that- functions
and just when i fort i understood fish .... lol

 

[OldMan47]

I am going to disagree with Kelly-jo. I find that my betta splendens can be kept with any fish that are peaceful. As long as other fish in the tank are not fin nippers, they will get on fine with most male or female betta splendens. I suspect that people who are just certain that their bettas are aggressive, due to their reaction to other bettas, simply assume they are not compatible with things like guppies. Nothing could be farther from the truth although I see this misconception repeated quite often by people on line. My guess is that most of them have never kept bettas with anything else. Betta splendens are often victims of a mixture of other fish but I have never seen them be a problem to other fish.

 

[The chilly dipper]

its interesting you should say that because i have seen a betta today in with a myriad of different fish.

but in another store they were seperated from the rest in individual compartments.

i have to add they looked very depressed, aside from theyre grumpy face lol.

i wanted to buy them all but for obvious reasons, i couldnt

 

[seizethecupcake]

I am going to disagree with Kelly-jo. I find that my betta splendens can be kept with any fish that are peaceful. As long as other fish in the tank are not fin nippers, they will get on fine with most male or female betta splendens. I suspect that people who are just certain that their bettas are aggressive, due to their reaction to other bettas, simply assume they are not compatible with things like guppies. Nothing could be farther from the truth although I see this misconception repeated quite often by people on line. My guess is that most of them have never kept bettas with anything else. Betta splendens are often victims of a mixture of other fish but I have never seen them be a problem to other fish.

I've never been brave enough to try a betta with any "flashy" fish, but I absolutely believe you. The other day, I visited a store where a male CT betta was being kept in a tank of male guppies and it was shocking to me, but the betta seemed rather placid and the guppies didn't seem panicked or harassed. I checked their fins and didn't see any that seemed nipped. I guess it was just my inexperience (and judgmental nature) that was so incensed.

 

[The chilly dipper]

hmm i slowly coming to the conclusion that bettas are not as aggressive as people make them out to be. guppies are really colourfull and if the fighting fish isnt threatened by them then just how far can you go before trouble does occur in your tank ?

seems to me that most of it is just paranoid jabber.
but that being said you wouldnt want to put your tank at risk either, for the bettas sake and the others in the tank.

perhaps its fish like tetra, who are easy meals or fish of similar colour to the betta.
i guess that is where the trouble starts.

fin nipping is only bought on by stress isnt it???
bad water conditions ect?
but please correct me if im wrong.

im not sure which fish are buggers for nipping fins???
but i agree with you: you can mix coloufull fish with a betta.

but i guess it also depends on temperament.

 

[marieukxx]

Bettas are wonderful. Mine gets on with all my fish. Yes they are territorial so if you have the Betta in there first then when you introduce new fish you do have to float the bag for a lot longer until the Betta gets used to the newcomers. My Betta did chase and flare at some new fish I added but after a while she stopped and all is well.

You can only keep one Betta in a tank. The main problem is fin nipping from other fish. I've seen pics of Bettas fins totally shredded. Some fish are more prone to nipping than others so choose wisely if you get a Betta. Platy are hardy fish that get along great with Bettas. Corys are great with Bettas but as you have a biorb I wouldn't recommend cory. They like sand plus your media is in the tank at the bottom.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

hmm i slowly coming to the conclusion that bettas are not as aggressive as people make them out to be. guppies are really colourfull and if the fighting fish isnt threatened by them then just how far can you go before trouble does occur in your tank ?

seems to me that most of it is just paranoid jabber.
but that being said you wouldnt want to put your tank at risk either, for the bettas sake and the others in the tank.

perhaps its fish like tetra, who are easy meals or fish of similar colour to the betta.
i guess that is where the trouble starts.

fin nipping is only bought on by stress isnt it???
bad water conditions ect?
but please correct me if im wrong.

im not sure which fish are buggers for nipping fins???
but i agree with you: you can mix coloufull fish with a betta.

but i guess it also depends on temperament.

I believe that temperament is as important, if not more than just stress. Certain species are prone to be fin-nippers. Unfortunately for me, tiger barbs are one of them. (I love the way they look and the way they school. But, I don't think that I can have anything that I would like to be WITH them, because of their fin nipping tendency.)

 

[fluttermoth]

hmm i slowly coming to the conclusion that bettas are not as aggressive as people make them out to be. guppies are really colourfull and if the fighting fish isnt threatened by them then just how far can you go before trouble does occur in your tank ?

Bettas are aggressive, but to their own kind. Unfortunately, some bettas are more stupid than others and think that guppies are other bettas. Maybe the bettas that can live with guppies are the clever ones?

seems to me that most of it is just paranoid jabber.
but that being said you wouldnt want to put your tank at risk either, for the bettas sake and the others in the tank.

Definitely not paranoid jabber; just different experiences. All fish have their own temperament, as well as what their species is like. So some people have put bettas and guppies together and it's worked because those individual fish are peaceful. It's like locking two people in a room; they may get on and be best friends, or they may hate each other and start fighting!

perhaps its fish like tetra, who are easy meals or fish of similar colour to the betta.
i guess that is where the trouble starts.


fin nipping is only bought on by stress isnt it???
bad water conditions ect?
but please correct me if im wrong.

No, some fish just do nip fins. It's probably an evolutionary adaptation so that any fish that's unhealthy or 'raggedy' gets kicked out of the shoal so as not to attract predators.

im not sure which fish are buggers for nipping fins???

A lot of the barbs and tetras are fin nippers. In general, it's the deeper bodied species that are the worst; so Serpae tetra are worse than neons, tiger barbs are worse than Pentazona

but i agree with you: you can mix coloufull fish with a betta.

As long as they don't have long fins; it seems to be the long fins that triggers the behaviour rather than the colour (for most fish anyway)

but i guess it also depends on temperament.

Yes, but you have to decide whether it's worth the risk of fish being bullied and nipped and trying them together, or staying on the safe side and keeping them separately.

 

[The chilly dipper]

so if you could have 3 or 4 species of fish in with a betta what would they be ?
also did you say they like sand as a substrate???

 

[The chilly dipper]

hmm i slowly coming to the conclusion that bettas are not as aggressive as people make them out to be. guppies are really colourfull and if the fighting fish isnt threatened by them then just how far can you go before trouble does occur in your tank ?

Bettas are aggressive, but to their own kind. Unfortunately, some bettas are more stupid than others and think that guppies are other bettas. Maybe the bettas that can live with guppies are the clever ones?

seems to me that most of it is just paranoid jabber.
but that being said you wouldnt want to put your tank at risk either, for the bettas sake and the others in the tank.

Definitely not paranoid jabber; just different experiences. All fish have their own temperament, as well as what their species is like. So some people have put bettas and guppies together and it's worked because those individual fish are peaceful. It's like locking two people in a room; they may get on and be best friends, or they may hate each other and start fighting!

perhaps its fish like tetra, who are easy meals or fish of similar colour to the betta.
i guess that is where the trouble starts.


fin nipping is only bought on by stress isnt it???
bad water conditions ect?
but please correct me if im wrong.

No, some fish just do nip fins. It's probably an evolutionary adaptation so that any fish that's unhealthy or 'raggedy' gets kicked out of the shoal so as not to attract predators.

im not sure which fish are buggers for nipping fins???

A lot of the barbs and tetras are fin nippers. In general, it's the deeper bodied species that are the worst; so Serpae tetra are worse than neons, tiger barbs are worse than Pentazona

but i agree with you: you can mix coloufull fish with a betta.

As long as they don't have long fins; it seems to be the long fins that triggers the behaviour rather than the colour (for most fish anyway)

but i guess it also depends on temperament.

Yes, but you have to decide whether it's worth the risk of fish being bullied and nipped and trying them together, or staying on the safe side and keeping them separately.

thanks for that flutter.
very interesting stuff indeed.

so now you have cleared that up what species of fish would be less likely to fin nip or get eaten by the betta???

providing they all get on okof course lol

also sand as a substrate whats the deal with that??
why is sand good ?

cheers
dipper

 

[eaglesaquarium]

also sand as a substrate whats the deal with that??
why is sand good ?

cheers
dipper

Some species are sifters through the sand/substrate. For example, corydoras search the substrate for their food. Their barbels can get worn down by gravel and that can lead to infections. The sand is what they are used to (or closer than gravel). I've seen videos of cories sifting sand through their gills. They seem to enjoy it! Once my tank is all cycled up and ready, I will be doing sand and adding cories. Cories are a great community fish by the way, and would go well with a betta. Cories are extremely active but spend a lot of time on the bottom, the betta may not even know they are there, and certainly won't threaten him causing him to ned to lash out, and the cories couldn't be bothered by the betta.

 

[fluttermoth]

All the rasboras and danios get on with bettas, as far as I'm aware. Some of the barbs and tetras are ok in larger groups ie; 6+ ;not the worst offenders like tigers and serpae though; they're too much of a risk, even in large groups; I've got 10 tigers and would never risk an angel, betta or guppy in with them.
It depends on the size of your tank though, I don't remember if you've said!

I can't imagine sand is terribly important for bettas as they spend 90% of their time near the surface. I've got sand in most of my tanks because I have corydoras and loaches and they need to be able to dig and dabble about in the substrate; gravel is just too coarse and heavy to allow them to do it.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

All the rasboras and danios get on with bettas, as far as I'm aware. Some of the barbs and tetras are ok in larger groups ie; 6+ ;not the worst offenders like tigers and serpae though; they're too much of a risk, even in large groups; I've got 10 tigers and would never risk an angel, betta or guppy in with them.
It depends on the size of your tank though, I don't remember if you've said!

I can't imagine sand is terribly important for bettas as they spend 90% of their time near the surface. I've got sand in most of my tanks because I have corydoras and loaches and they need to be able to dig and dabble about in the substrate; gravel is just too coarse and heavy to allow them to do it.

I don't intend to hijack this thread... but out of curiosity, flutter, do you have anything else with the tigers? I really like tigers, but can't seem to figure out what could be paired up with them for a 56 gallon tank. I want a big school, a school of corys (pygmy would be preferred, although not necessary) and then some larger individuals (rams or other "docile" cichlids) and/or maybe an additional school of something else. I'm interested in your stocking with the tigers...

 

[The chilly dipper]

All the rasboras and danios get on with bettas, as far as I'm aware. Some of the barbs and tetras are ok in larger groups ie; 6+ ;not the worst offenders like tigers and serpae though; they're too much of a risk, even in large groups; I've got 10 tigers and would never risk an angel, betta or guppy in with them.
It depends on the size of your tank though, I don't remember if you've said!

I can't imagine sand is terribly important for bettas as they spend 90% of their time near the surface. I've got sand in most of my tanks because I have corydoras and loaches and they need to be able to dig and dabble about in the substrate; gravel is just too coarse and heavy to allow them to do it.

im thinking of getting a fish box i think its maybe 70 litres or so.
hmm i like danios they are hardy too arent they?

i like the idea of sand

so my stocking yet is this from what i gathered
a betta fish, a group of 6 neons,2 danios,3 guppies,and maybe coreys 2.

or is this a overstock? for 70 to 80 litres?

is that ok ?

 

[fluttermoth]

At the moment I've got just zebra loach in with them, but I've had rams in there in the past (I have a psycho ram that kills things) and cories and tetras too.

In all honesty their reputation is a bit over exaggerated; having said that, I would never keep less than 8 or 10 (I used to have a dozen but have lost a couple of my original shoal recently; they were nearly 7 to be fair!) and I wouldn't want to risk anything like angels or guppies. All the other tetras, barbs and peacable cichlids should be fine with them.