Bettas and other fish

[philja]

i know that bettas arn't the friendliest of fish when it comes to tank mates, but what kind of fish can you put in with a betta. i've heard that they don't like guppies too much, so i decided to go with platties. right now i have 3 platies floating in a bag in the 5 gallon tank with my betta and he isn't giving them the warmest of welcomes. i don't know if he's just excited right now and he'll eventually calm down or not. i'd rather not have to move my betta to my empty 2 gallon tank but it looks like i might have to. i guess what i really want to know is if bettas are usually agressive toward platies? and if not, should i try putting them together and just watch them closely?
Thanks

 

[MAM]

ooo, a five gallon with a betta AND other fish, may not be the best idea....... they might be okay together in a bigger tank though......

 

[wuvmybetta]

I don't think a betta should be kept with other fish unless it's well over 20 gallons. They're loners and really don't like the chaotic atmosphere of a community. My oldest male lived in the 29 for about 6 months, it was easy to see that everybody was driving him nuts,he would lash out and kept an entire end of the tank to himself,but he soon bacame depressed and lethargic until I moved him and his favorite plants to a 10, then he was like my little puppy again

The ONLY fish that my betta would tolerate while in the 29 were the platties, BUT that was much bigger than a 5 , I wish you well but I have a feeling that it won't work ....you may have to move him to the 2,or take back the platties (they're gross little poopers anyway )

 

[Jo]

hmmm, i agree, when I first got Huey I had to put him in my 20g for a bit whilst I finished off sorting out his tank...he was flairing at everyone and generally making a nuisance of himself, so I put him into the 7.5g as intended and he now is a very happy little fishy...perhaps if u have a larger tank that you want more fish in, look at getting the Betta a smaller tank of his very ow (huey has a 3g lined up for him when I finish off sorting it out! )

 

[akhtar]

what bout a snail?

 

[canis_lupus]

don't underestimate bettas territorialism........i had a snail in with Squishy and he didn't look twice at it.......but then i put it in my little female's tank and she killed it right away........who woulda thought

 

[SneakBetta]

I have my betta in a 6-gallon with a platy, dwarf gourami, and black skirt tetra. All get along fine!!!

 

[Sondan]

Yes these little fish are just like people,,,,put me and Wuv in the same room and I think we would get along great....put a few others in the room and we would be going to jail
Signed,
Sondan

 

[philja]

Well, thanks for all of your help and advice. i thought i'd take the chance of putting them together in the 5 gallon for a little bit and things went ok i guess. Phil, the betta, was flaring a lot and darting around for about 5 min. then he calmed down a bit but was still flaring quite a lot. throughout the whole 15 min they were together i didn't see him attack any of the platies but i figured it wasn't the best for either of them, even though the platies didn't seem to care at all. they just swam around like nothing was happening. anyway, i ended up moving phil back to the 2 gallon and now he is sulking around the bottom of the tank, not being too active and he wont look at me any more. he still eats fine but i don't think that he is happy in there so i think i might try and give it another chance with them all together again and leave them for a bit longer. he might learn to love them.

i know what you mean about the territorialism of bettas, Canis lupus. phil has had tank mates before, a dwarf frog and 2 ghost shrimp, and they never bothered him in the least.

thanks again for all the help.

 

[White Whale]

don't underestimate bettas territorialism........i had a snail in with Squishy and he didn't look twice at it.......but then i put it in my little female's tank and she killed it right away........who woulda thought

Maybe she gets freaked out at some live booger in a shell? I know if there is something that freaks out an animal, they either run away or kill it.

 

[FishHeads]

Why isn't my picture showing up for my personal pictures?

 

[White Whale]

Why isn't my picture showing up for my personal pictures?

I can see it. That's some HUGE-ass blue betta!

 

[FishHeads]

Why isn't my picture showing up for my personal pictures?

I can see it. That's some HUGE-ass blue betta!

That's my Big Blue! He's 8 inches from head to tail. He's mean too.

 

[FishHeads]

Why isn't my picture showing up for my personal pictures?

I can see it. That's some HUGE-ass blue betta!

That's Big Blue! He's 8 inches from head to tail and my prized fish.

 

[BettaBoyz]

Philja,
please, be very wary with adding the Platties to the Betta! my sweet-boy Pierce decided the Platties were all female Bettas, which i can understand, and i now have to move him from his kingdom into a gallon bowl.