Friends With Bettas?

[Mikaila31]

IMO male bettas should be kept solitary. The chances of finding one that is peaceful is pretty rare. I have had a few that were peaceful and in community tanks the first few months I got them, but eventually they all become aggressive. In a 5gal if a male betta turns on his tank mates they are not going to have much room to get away. So you may end up with a tank of dead fish one day.

For females I haven't experienced any issues when mixing with community fish. How big is the female betta tank?

personally, i would think its best to ask the place you're gonna get them from because some people find certain combinations work, when others don't. ( ive been advised against keeping angel fish with tetras,, even though there are currently some together in a huge community tank in my lfs. ) sometimes you can just get lucky or unlucky with the temperament of the fish cause it can vary like people sooo i'd go and see what the shop you are going to get them from advises because many people have very different ideas.

LFS are really the worst place to get info, with a few exceptions. Just because it worked with someone else doesn't mean it will work for you. Angel fish naturally eat neon tetra in the wild, so mixing them is hard. If you add the tetras 1st then very small angels there is a chance of it working. Yet once the angels are adults they may one day see the neons as food and then they will eat them all. If you add neons to a tank with adult angels they are generally viewed as food.
cheers,
Mikaila31

 

[poopsydrew]

I killed bettas when they were in with my kuhlis, because the bettas ate themselves to death. Bottom feeders like black kuhlis must have food left on the bottom of the tank with the lights out. Bettas will gorge themselves to death on this food. I tried (extremely foolishly) with five bettas, and tried everything to make sure only the loaches got the food. Bettas will tunnel under pots, push the loaches out of the way, even dig in the gravel to get at every last bite. They litterally burst open from eating so much.

Not only that, but kuhlis should really have more space than a 5. They are really active fish.

If your feeding in the pitch dark, how did they find all this food to gorge on anyway considering bettas are not nocturnal?

Drew

 

[jourdy288]

IMO male bettas should be kept solitary. The chances of finding one that is peaceful is pretty rare. I have had a few that were peaceful and in community tanks the first few months I got them, but eventually they all become aggressive. In a 5gal if a male betta turns on his tank mates they are not going to have much room to get away. So you may end up with a tank of dead fish one day.

For females I haven't experienced any issues when mixing with community fish. How big is the female betta tank?

10 gallons the females have.

 

[jourdy288]

Unfortunately, one died, so I only have two females. In my 5 gallon, I will add, perhaps, head and tail lights.

 

[jourdy288]

Are head and tail light tetras acceptable?

 

[Mikaila31]

IMO no, they are way to active for that kind of tank. You could go for neons though, here is a thread on fish for 10gal. I would stay clear of gouramis though.

 

[jourdy288]

IMO no, they are way to active for that kind of tank. You could go for neons though, here is a thread on fish for 10gal. I would stay clear of gouramis though.

Thank you. I will move my one white cloud to the 5 gallon, add 3 more, then add the male betta.
So, in the ten gallon, perhaps I keep the two females, and add two ADFs and some sort of small shoaler. I think I'll add spotted rasboras.