Betta In 20 Gallon Tank

[Mako Man111]

Ok, I currently have my betta in a 5 Gallon tank setup, but was wondering to save space and to save the 5 gallon as a future hospital tank, would it be alright to introduce my male betta to my 20 gallon tank stocked with zebra danios, tiger barbs(they mainly bother each other), and a single dwarf gourami(thats where the problem may lie ). So what do you guys think?

 

[FroggFrogg]

Tiger barbs are known fin nippers however as you say they mainly bother each other i'm assuming you have them in a group? However i would not risk it personally. I would not put any betta in with a gourami for the same reasons...
Others may have different opinions though!

 

[Mako Man111]

Tiger barbs are known fin nippers however as you say they mainly bother each other i'm assuming you have them in a group? However i would not risk it personally. I would not put any betta in with a gourami for the same reasons...
Others may have different opinions though!

Yeah I got a little school of 6 of them and they are really quite peaceful for barbs. They don't even blink an eye at my dwarf gourami. I've also got plenty of places for my Betta to hide in the tank.

 

[BWBettas]

ah they be ok for a while together.. BUT then what happens if the betta goes into the gouramies territory? the betta won't know because he wasnt there and the gouramie sparks off a fight. Or if the barbs turn on the betta. youll need the 5 gallon as a hospital tank then!

Bret

 

[starrynightxxi]

i agree, though the barbs tend to be much less nippy in groups of 6+ I would hesitate to put a betta in with them. It will be hard for them to resist those long fins, like kids with a cookie jar and no parents in sight

as for the gourami, it doesn't usually work out, though to be fair there are those who have had it work. I have a female betta with a male gourami right now and they don't fight (the female is of a submissive sort around larger, mildly agressive fish), but the situation is different, too, as females are generally less aggressive and more social than male bettas. In a twenty gallon you may have enough wiggle room to make it work, but it depends a great deal on the attitude of your fish. if you have an aggressive gourami and an aggressive betta, you will have a dead fish.

I would suggest you just go out and buy a second 5 gallon as they aren't terribly expensive and it would really be the most ideal situation for the betta.

 

[samyboy]

i wouldnt reccomend it with the said fish

when i saw my male in the lfs he was in a tank full of schooling fish and seemed happy enough and wasnt bothering any of them so i added him to my community tank (see sig for stocking) he has been fine and everyone is fine with him

 

[TammyLiz]

The LFS nearest me puts their bettas in various tanks and in the tanks that have any type of barbs, esp tiger barbs, the betta always ends up with either no fins, or very little left at all. And if it has been more than a couple of days, you can usually see the betta stuck to the filter intake. Even if you think you have nice tiger barbs, for the sake of the betta, don't risk it. I have seen the results of this too much to advise any differently.

 

[samyboy]

my betta got stuck against the filter intake when i first introduced him i quickly isolated the power to set him free and he's been fine since

 

[TammyLiz]

Well, I wasn't meaning that. I was meaning dead.