Siamese Fighting Fish And Beginners

[leemdylan]

This whole website is fantastic. It has taught me so much and i still don't have any fish in my tank yet! Thanks to this site i have learned about fishless cycling which i have just started today, is it sad that i am excited about doing my ammonia tests?

What I'm after is a bit of advice about Siamese fighting fish. Would this type of fish be recommended to a beginner fish keeper? From what i have seen they look so beautiful. Are there any fish that don't get on well with, and should not be kept with Siamese fighting fish?

 

[chesterscot]

Hi check out the betta section for info on fighters it should help as i dont keep them myself sorry
scot

 

[kelly528]

This whole website is fantastic. It has taught me so much and i still don't have any fish in my tank yet! Thanks to this site i have learned about fishless cycling which i have just started today, is it sad that i am excited about doing my ammonia tests?

What I'm after is a bit of advice about Siamese fighting fish. Would this type of fish be recommended to a beginner fish keeper? From what i have seen they look so beautiful. Are there any fish that don't get on well with, and should not be kept with Siamese fighting fish?

I would recommend them to anyone! Gorgeous fish, tons of spunk and you only need a 3-5g tank minimum for it (although you could go bigger or even divide a 10g and keep 2).

Unfortunately they don't do well with most tankmates, because

a) It will eat any fish small enough to fit in its mouth
b) It will fight tany fish resembling another male.
c) It will get eaten by any fish large enough to fit it in its mouth.
d) Most fish that cant fit a betta in their mouth will settle for nipping its long, flowy fins instead.

If you got a 10g you could do corydoras catfish (cories) with a betta or in a 5g you could house a small snail like a nerite. Some people report success with tetras, rasboras and shrimp but this is highly dependent on the personality of the betta.


Still, bettas are by FAR the most interesting fish you can keep in a small tank.

 

[nork]

I'm coming to an end of my fishless cycling and it's been a rather enjoyable experience, I had fun doing it.

Nerd on, brother!

 

[leemdylan]

Hey folks thanks for your replies, I found the Betta section and there does seem to be mixed opinion over tank mates. I guess the only way to really know is by trial and error. I have a 60 Litre tank which, according to the calculator, is about 16 gallons. I would love to have a few swimming around.

Which fish in your opinions have the best personalities?

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with Kelly, nice post up there.

I believe some people keep "sorority houses" of multiple female betas, but each male is best being the only beta available in the tank (ie. more than one male beta doesn't work.) The story is one male beta (or one or multiple females) being part of a community tank is considerably more mixed. There are clear stories, from people we trust, that it can work fine. Likewise there are the bad stories, as you can imagine.

Part of the beta personality comes from it being a type of fish that shares traits with the Gouramis. All these fish have in common a characteristic somewhat unusual in smaller tropicals that individual fish usually have individual personalities. There's a fair amount of variation individually between mean and docile ones and its unpredictable which an individual will be. This sort of thing is quite a bit more common in the larger cichlids, which are famous for having the most personality among commonly kept fish.

All fish have personalities, it can just take more experience to realize it about some types. That notion is also complicated by the fact that some fish frequently do some sorts of things (like moving to the human) that humans take to be something they recognize and think of as personality.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Which fish in your opinions have the best personalities?

My recommendation would be to have a look around a pet shop; see what you like the look of and then go away and research them.

 

[loachman]

Bettas aren't hard to keep and fine for a beginner. Many people start with them. Fairly tolerate of most beginner mistakes and do fine in small tanks.

The primary issue with them is that they severely restrict your ability to stock other fish. In a 5 gal tank, it's not an issue but I wouldn't put one in a >10 gal tank (it'd look empty).