Bettas & Guppies

[gekidoe]

My sister, have a 10 gallon tank, with 1 male, 2 female betta, about 4 guppies, and some other small fish... I told her not to but she said the fish store said it was fine. Ok so next day, 1 female died, and no more small fishys. as for the guppies they were ok. Now she removed the male and the female and the 4 guppies get along great. She also added a few more small fish in there as well.

 

[x_leanne_x]

I've got guppies in both my betta tanks and so far they're all getting along great! I've got one very laidback betta in with 6 guppies and they get on fine and one fiesty betta in with 5 guppies and again they get on fine. I think it depends alot on the aggressiveness of the betta.

 

[TribeOfShroom]

I would tend to go with the main advice on this forum that guppies and bettas don't mix, but then again my gf has a tank with 4 guppies, 4 mollies and 1 male betta. None of which fight and her mollies have recently spawned.

Now I've taken a bit of a risk, but I'm going on the idea of ' if it doesn't look like a betta it'll be ok' and got 3 guppies. 1 male 2 female. All blue. Now so far there's been no problems... but if should any arise then the guppies will go.

My betta is generally peaceful and will only ever small snails. But the general concensus of 'it depends on the fish's personality' would be a good point to bear in mind. Remember fish can change attitudes as quickly as the english weather can turn from sun to rain and back again.

 

[corey01]

ive kept many bettas with guppies with no aggression at all i think it all depends on the betta..and when you introduce him.

 

[CrashingWaves]

It would seem that a lot of it depends on the temperment of the betta. A betta that tends to be more agressive and active, tend to attack guppies. I had a pretty peaceful and old betta in with some guppies many years ago and they got along just fine. That being said I've also had betta that I would never put in with guppies.

God Bless,
Joshua

 

[Shorty]

I should have istened to this thread. I got two little guppies for my girl betta. She seemsed fine with them, she would chase them a little, but never nip, then loose interest. But I woke up this morning and found one of my gupps dead and half his tail missing I is sad.

 

[Bblou]

where are guppies from? (off to google I think)

what'd happen if they were in the wild? guppies and bettas I mean?

I dont know a lot... I know more this week than I did last week when I got my fish.

My betta doesnt like the larger dwarf gourami if it goes anywhere near its corner.

I have five fancy male guppies and they shoal with my ten emperor tetras and the betta doesnt even blink at them. Guppies are still small though.

I have just got a new tank and am going to get it set up ready incase bazil (the betta) has himself a strop.

So far, he just flares and charges at the gourami.. the gourami thinks fook that and swims off and then the betta goes back in his planted corner.... wathching for intruders!

ocassionaly the gourami tries to sneak up on the betta, but he just gets chased away.

so far though, no viscious attacks on anyone. just warnings from bazil really. But like I said, am trying to get another tank set up asap to put the betta in if necessary.

Lastly..

whats with you lot and bringing up bipolar? unless you have experience of dealing with it then it's best not to bring it up. You wouldn't want to 'set us off'. I also don't see why bipolar came up in a tropical fish forum... but there we go.

 

[Juice]

It does depend on how you interduce them, I have a vt that I put in my 15g with 6 guppies and tetras. The guppies were young so they didnt have huge fins yet, and I hadnt put the male anywhere near a female. I put the betta in and he was happy with the other fish, but once I started breeding him he hates the other fish if I put him back in the 15g.

 

[bronzecat]

Judging by all the replies, it appears that some have had success and some have had disasters. Much the same can be said about keeping male and female bettas together. There's always going to be exceptions when keeping fish from different locations/countries etc........

But what i dont understand, if there are sooooo many people that have had serious injuries occur in their tanks, why the heck do some people still want to take the risk?? Do some people get a kick out of it?? When there have been so many reports of a male betta destroying guppies, why do it?? After all, if you've got a tank with guppies in and want a male betta, it doesn't take much time and effort to either divide off a section or get a tank for the betta. Just strikes me that people cant be bothered to give certain fish the environment that suits the individual fish needs, but more the environment that suits the owner?

IMO, anyone who carries on housing guppies and male bettas together needs to think about why they are keeping fish in the first place!

 

[prue07]

I think people simply like attractive looking fish, and sometimes giving your lonely little betta a friend doesn't seem like such a bad idea. That said, i have never added anything to my tank with my male, i definitely think he's a lone ranger. BUT i did decide to try some guppies out in my community 25 gallon tank with two female siamese (not because i thought i would 'take the risk' but because i honestly didn't think it would be a problem). I added 5, within 3 hours, i had lost 2 and the very next day, as i was trying to find a large separating net to separate my new guppies (as i was terrified for the lives of the other 3) the other 3, all female guppies were also killed at the hands of my females. I will never make the same mistake again. I have heard however, with the right amount of space, female siamese are generally pretty ok with anything, as long as you mix up the tank before adding anything in with them (they are very territorial, especially to each other).
Well thats my bit

Prue

 

[razberri]

To my horror I found out one day that my partner had gotten a guppy to put in with his betta. After all I'd read......

But to my surprise they're fine!!! They don't mind each other at all. I think it comes down to the Bettas individual personality.

I still wouldn't risk it though, even though I know my own Betta is pretty friendly.

 

[tropical fishies]

bettas acctually DO likeguppies, depending on thier sex, becuase a male fighter for example will see a fancy guppy as a female fighter becuase of a guppies tail,

females can sometimes go well with guppies

 

[Spookymuffin]

But what i dont understand, if there are sooooo many people that have had serious injuries occur in their tanks, why the heck do some people still want to take the risk?? Do some people get a kick out of it?? When there have been so many reports of a male betta destroying guppies, why do it??

Well, the problem of aggression can come up when keeping any species of animal together. No matter how peaceful or aggressive the animal species involved are in general you are always going to get success stories and tales of epic failure. This is for one very simple reason:

Biological systems are not uniform.

You can never predict the behaviour of any vertebrate animal entirely, even if the majority of a species behaves a certain way that does not mean that the individual always will.

The point is, the risk is always there when housing animals together. You can't just weigh the species involved into your calculations; you have to include individual personality, space, cover and a number of other factors before making a decision.

A docile male Betta in a heavily planted tank that is over ten gallons should do fine with guppies and even with female Bettas. This may not always be the case but I feel that that set up is unlikely to turn sour.

I have a male Betta in a 14 gallon with six females of his own species and I've never had any problems. However, I have been breeding the aggression out of Bettas for several generations so I'm bound to have a higher chance of success than someone with pet store Bettas.

 

[Essjay]

I called in at a not-so-local fs today. They had several male bettas, one of which was in the male guppy tank. While I was watching, he repeatedly stalked a guppy, got it cornered, then pounced, taking a chunk out of the tail. This happened with several different fish. I told the manageress and she immediately got a young lad to move it (presumably guppies with bits missing are harder to sell!). She said he was new to the tank, they had just sold the one that was in there and that one was no problem.

 

[Kudoo]

Personally I've never had problems with bettas and guppies in a community tank and I've kept fish for a number of years. I do tend to have quite large community tanks though so fish aren't in each others face all the time. In current tank, 4 ft long, I have 1 male betta and 4 guppies (2 of which are males) amongst other small fish and no issues at all.

I guess it comes down to personal experiences. If you're concerned or have doubts then don't do it.