Over Stocked or Not?

[Briggan]

Hi!
So my 3 gallon tank with my small male betta and a female guppy grows algae rather quickly.
It is only them in there, no shrimp or snails.
But in my 2.5 gallon, I have my older male betta with a small nerite.
So, I would like to know if a 3 gallon tank with a young male betta, a female guppy, plus a nerite or some other algae eater would be overstocked. I have a feeling it would be, but I like to make sure.
Also, I realize these tanks are really small, since I’m short on room, I don’t have space for 5+ gallons for each betta. I don’t go below 2.5 gallon tanks for bettas.
Thanks!

 

[Colin_T]

Yes it's overstocked. But mainly because you have a female guppy that will probably give birth to a bunch of babies, and a young male Betta that could get agro at the guppy and kill her.

And just to compound the problem, guppies naturally occur in hard water with a GH around 200ppm and a pH above 7.0.
Bettas come from soft water with a GH below 150ppm and a pH below 7.0.

 

[Byron]

I concur. Male bettas are not community fish so they should always be housed on their own (meaning, no other fish).

 

[Briggan]

Thank you, I will not add anything then.
I fully agree that bettas do well on their own, however I’ve also had lots of luck with keeping bettas in communities and with other fish, but I do understand what your saying. It’s just been my personal experience.
Thank you.

 

[Colin_T]

You can keep male Bettas with other fish in community tanks but you have to choose their tank mates carefully, have lots of plants in the tank, and monitor the Betta. You also need a reasonable sized tank to do it with.

When fish have lots of space they feel more relaxed and everyone can have their own territory. But if you put a lot of fish together in a small space, and some of those fish are territorial, problems will occur. Think of it along the lines of you standing in line at a shop or government department. You stand there for hours with people in front and people behind you. You feel uncomfortable/ trapped to some degree but you can leave afterwards. Imagine if you had to stay there all the time (24/7). It wouldn't take long before the blood pressure starts to go up and someone snaps.

The same thing happens in a fish tank. The social schooling fish love being together but they still have their own space. But the territorial fish (male Bettas) start to get stressed out due to all these other fish in his territory. One day he has had enough and snaps and starts attacking the other fish.

In big tanks with lots of plants, he can have his territory and even tho other fish might swim into it for a short time, they can move away and leave him be. This reduces his stress and the chance of him going nuts. If you keep them in a small tank and the male goes nuts, there is nowhere for the other fish to go to get away from him.