Tankmates Of Simease Fight Fish

[dudehi]

well my mom says that you cant put anything with the simease fighting fish which im sure is the betta. i thought u could put it with smaller things like neons. i was planning on putting like 8 neons and a simease fighting fish in my 5 gallon but i may onlt go with the simease fighting fish. tell meh what to do

 

[fish_tank0311]

Well neons firstly DONT GO WITH FIGHTERS ONE BIT. They are the biggest fin NIPPERS ever. Secondly, even if they werent nippers, 5gallon for 8 neons and a fighter is too crowded, however 5 gallons is the perfect size for a single betta. Bettas love having their own small tank, to themselves because: If they are in a big tank they get stressed out because they are territorial and they are always patrolling and defending what they think is their territory, and if they have a giant tank they will get too occupied and wont eat, and will act quite weird especially if you have other fish, he will get very upset.

 

[GuppyGoddess]

Neons with a betta is asking for trouble. Aside from 9 fish total, in a 5-gallon, being overstocked, the fast-moving schooling bettas will stress out your betta big time. Trust me on that. I tried putting a few rasboras (schooling fish) with my female betta in a 10-gallon and she turned pale and looked terribly stressed. Took the rasboras out and left her by herself and now she's a dark healthy blue. She patrols the front of the tank and feels the tank is HERS.

Neons also need a well established, cycled tank and probably will die if your tank is newer.

 

[Honeythorn]

If they are in a big tank they get stressed out because they are territorial and they are always patrolling and defending what they think is their territory, and if they have a giant tank they will get too occupied and wont eat, and will act quite weird especially if you have other fish, he will get very upset.

Not really true. It's OPEN space they dislike. Not large spaces in and of themselves . If such a space is filled ( and I do mean filled not just a couple ) with plants to hide in and more importantly rest on, an the betta is acclimated to a large tank properly instead of just being floated in a bag for a bit, then sulking and hiding is very much reduced.


OP - 5 gallons is enough for your betta. It is not enough for anymore fish than that. Adding any more will put too much stress on your filter and make your water very hard to maintain and keep your fish healthy.

Also, there will not be anywhere near enough swimming space. Most small fish like tetras and so on like to be in groups, the more the better. And you don't have space in there for such a group, as they like long , larger tanks to course up and down and behave as a school/shoal.

Leave him as he is with no fish tankmates.

However you could see about adding some invertebrates like adult cherry or amano shrimp to your tank. Shrimp are interesting things to watch, and also produce very very little waste so they are much better for tankmates and wont clog your filter with waste.

Snails are also a thought. A single apple snail or a couple of nerites may work.

 

[dudehi]

i see what u are saying. i may go with a betta and a some shrimp to breed there for food for them or angels or chicleds. also how do you tell what male or female simease fighting fish you have? becuase i want a male one becuase i heard they look more cool and pretty. i want a fish with longer tails, i think the simease fighting fish with short fins look ugly.

 

[hamfist]

also how do you tell what male or female simease fighting fish you have? becuase i want a male one becuase i heard they look more cool and pretty. i want a fish with longer tails, i think the simease fighting fish with short fins look ugly.

The ones with the longer fins are the males.

One other choice for tankmates is a trio of pygmy cories. They are really small, and are a great clean up crew for a Betta's mess of spat out food. IN our 5 Gallon we have a male Betta and 3 pygmy cories, and they are a very happy little community. The cories are small enough to not make the tank overstocked.

A further point is that some male bettas are more aggresive and predatory than others, and some might have a go at pygmy cories. Ours has been fine for several months though.

 

[fish_tank0311]

If they are in a big tank they get stressed out because they are territorial and they are always patrolling and defending what they think is their territory, and if they have a giant tank they will get too occupied and wont eat, and will act quite weird especially if you have other fish, he will get very upset.

Not really true. It's OPEN space they dislike. Not large spaces in and of themselves . If such a space is filled ( and I do mean filled not just a couple ) with plants to hide in and more importantly rest on, an the betta is acclimated to a large tank properly instead of just being floated in a bag for a bit, then sulking and hiding is very much reduced.


OP - 5 gallons is enough for your betta. It is not enough for anymore fish than that. Adding any more will put too much stress on your filter and make your water very hard to maintain and keep your fish healthy.

Also, there will not be anywhere near enough swimming space. Most small fish like tetras and so on like to be in groups, the more the better. And you don't have space in there for such a group, as they like long , larger tanks to course up and down and behave as a school/shoal.

Leave him as he is with no fish tankmates.

However you could see about adding some invertebrates like adult cherry or amano shrimp to your tank. Shrimp are interesting things to watch, and also produce very very little waste so they are much better for tankmates and wont clog your filter with waste.

Snails are also a thought. A single apple snail or a couple of nerites may work.

Could be right, but i read that in a magazine, it didnt say anything about just open spaces, just said large tanks for them are a no-no

 

[Honeythorn]

Most likely because a great deal of your average larger tanks are not heavily planted enough for a bettas preference. Of the many people I've seen complain over the years I've been on various forums, that a betta in say...a 20 gallon for example, did nothing but hide in a corner behind an ornament or behind one of the few plants they had in there and stayed in one area, pretty much none of them had heavy planting with lots of long tall plants, loads of cover and loads of places to rest.

Bettas like hiding, they're not schooling fish who are all over the tank all the time, and they like to lounge about on plants and squeeze thenselves behind things. That's pretty normal for them so not seeing the betta for an hour or two is nothing unusual . Also, as guppy goddess describes, if said betta is in a larger tank wih lots of smaller fast fish, he/she is more likely to be nervous of them and stressed by their zipping about all the time, and will of course hide more to escape the hubbub and busyness.

 

[dudehi]

ok well from what it looks like im heading for a male simease fighting fish in a 5 gallon alone.

from what ive read i think that the betta likes owning its own space.

 

[Tiswas]

When I first got my boy he went in my community tank with 6 neons (amongst others) and they were actually fine together. No fin nipping whatsoever. But i moved him to his own tank to treat him for fin rot and he was much much happier so I kept him in there and he even built his first bubblenest the other day!