Betta Tankmates

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

i'm going to my LFS in about a half hour and i was wondering what i may be able to get my betta as a tankmate. he's in a 1.5-2 gallon tank (i think it's closer to 2) with a few decorations - i'm hoping to get more - and soon a ghostshrimp for a cleaner buddy. i just wondered what else i could put in there that he could get along with. if it doesn't work out, i have another tank i can put the other fish in.

 

[Breeze7050]

there isn't a whole lot of room in there, but you could try a nice large snail - like an apple snail. A few ghost shrimp like you said. Possibly and african dwarf frog those all seem to go well with bettas. HTH
I wouldn't put any fish other than a betta in that small of a tank adn bettas can be very aggressive with other fish.

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

yeah, he's flares alot but i've never seen him do anything other than flare, even at the other fish near him at the pet store. others were going crazy, attacking the sides of their containers and whatnot, he just flared up. i'm really not too fond of snails .

 

[stang1]

To be honest I really wouldn't add anything else to the tank as it isn't very big. You don't really need anything to clean the tank as they produce very little waste. Doing a weekly water change and gravel vac will get rid of any waste that is produced.

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

the thing is, he spits out his food alot and when he tries to go back and grab it, it sinks down between the stones i have in the bottom.

 

[stang1]

Don't worry too much. As long as your water stats are fine and, like I say, you do a weekly clean it should be fine.

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

i've been doing weekly changes. i was gonna do it every two like i do with my 10g, but the water was really cloudy from all of the non-eaten food.

 

[zoekin8yg]

dont feed him as much if hes not eating it all. How much and how often are you feeding him?

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

he tries to eat it all, it just goes to the bottom after he spits it out then tries to get it again. the bottle says 4-6 so i feed him around 5.

he now lives happily with a huge ghost shrimp. they follow each other around, it's kinda funny.

 

[andyw823]

Feeding him 5 times a day could be too much!!

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

no, five pellets twice a day. the bottle thing says between 2-4 pellets twice a day.

 

[zoekin8yg]

mine get a few very small betta pro pellets every other day I think you are over feeding a bit, it always says to give them more than they need. Im under feeding alittle but mine have got a bit fat.

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

well he tries to eat it all, it's when he spits it out and goes to grab it again it falls. if he stops going for it i'll start feeding him less.

 

[andyw823]

well he tries to eat it all, it's when he spits it out and goes to grab it again it falls. if he stops going for it i'll start feeding him less.

Bettas will eat and eat forever! I had a female in the community tank that use to eat all the pellets for the loaches and im talking big pellets! Even with the lights out she wouls sniff them out and eat them, not just one but upto 5 at a time. I started to net her while feeding but she ended up dead with a split open belly from too much food!

 

[zoekin8yg]

well he tries to eat it all, it's when he spits it out and goes to grab it again it falls. if he stops going for it i'll start feeding him less.

They tend to have no concept of when to stop eating its not to do with when they stop going for them really if you over feed him he will possibly die. And the tank will get poluted;.