Can Betta Imbellis (Peaceful Betta) be kept with small community fish?

[Mint]

I’m making a 40 Gallon Breeder tank, and I’m scoping out good centerpiece fish for it. There would be small tetras in the tank (Green Neon, Ember, maybe Celestial Pearl Danio), but I’ve heard Betta Imbellis is extremely peaceful. Can anybody say if it’s actually a good community fish?

 

[Colin_T]

Betta imbellis are quite peaceful but you probably won't see them in a big tank. They hide a lot and need live or frozen foods.

Celestial pearl danios are a threatened species and you would be better off keeping 20 of them in the tank (with nothing else) and letting them breed.

 

[GaryE]

My imbellis were timid, as Colin reports. I didn't see them often. They're small, fast, dark coloured fish. I prefer tanks where you have to look for the fish, which is why I think the old centerpiece fish idea has had its day in my tanks.

As for threatened species, there are a lot of them. Eventually, hobbyists may raise their games and devlop networks to distribute young from breeding projects, but we haven't done that yet. It's not much use worrying about breeding them unless you plan to distribute them.