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Hi folks,

Being the Betta Baby that I am I thought I would ask some advice here...

Got a new shorttail betta this afternoon, but he doesn't have his own tank yet. Being the logical person that I am, I realized that putting him in a cup until Friday just wouldn't do -- that's heartless.

So I did the next obvious thing and put him in a 42 gallon tank with my silver dollars. The tank is VERY peaceful with no fin nippers. My question is how do you think he'll make out in such an environment? I'm thinking he'll be fine. Plus, it's only till Friday.

Hit me with some feedback.

Jazzy:88)

Should be okay. If you notice any nipped fins just take him out.

-Nemo

[span class="edited"][Edited by N e m o 2004-06-06 16:20][/span]

Bettas do fine in communities IF there is little water movement, no fin nippers, and no fish that look like a betta to a betta (some bettas attack gouramis, some don't :%)).

[span class="edited"][Edited by Racso 2004-06-06 10:44][/span]

No other long-finned fellows in the tank. There is water movement, however that is essentially from the two Aqua Clears on the tank. I removed an airstone I was previously using.

I have my betta girls in my community tank and they seem to love it... They adore the bubble wall, have fun investigating the cories (who are seemingly oblivious to everyone, even those they run over!) and generally love being the focus of attention.

My girls are really non-aggressive, so I don't really worry about them. A male may or may not have the same reaction. They do take time to get used to new additions (especially another betta girl), but they are insatiably curious about their tankmates.

The only thing I noticed is that I had to disrupt the outflow of the filter (biowheel 170 on a 20 gallon long) so that they weren't blown around the tank. They love to play in the bubble wall, but like to be able to escape the push of the filter.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

I have my male betta in my 29g community tank, and he does fine...he's a little skittish sometimes and he picks on the otos occasionally, but he's doing okay. I'm going to move him to my 2.5g tank when I get it all set up and everything.

Thanks for the feedback.

I had my crowntail in a community tank for a while and he was fine, but unfortunately he picked up finrot that would NEVER go away - even after I put him in his own tank and treated with everything imaginable. The community tank was cleaned regularly.

I guess if you keep a lookout for any nipped fins or disease then he/she should be ok.

i keep all my betta's in community tanks, and they are all fine, great colors, only one has ever had a disease, which it came with. My red male betta live in a 55 with rummynose tetras and corys and he loves it. best colors he has ever had, not shy at all in their, and sometimes even enjoys playing with the rummynose tetras, by following them around, and then running away when they turn around, its pretty funny to watch.

in 10+years of keeping bettas, it's been my experience that betta's enjoy tanks and do much better in them. but like i said this is my expeirence and oppion, so please don't like spaz on me and say they do better in bowls, etc.

For months I've been wanting to put one of my bettas in a community tank. Finally, I just now moved my betta into a 40 gal. community tank with the following:

2 bolivan rams
1 small chinese algae eater
4 black fantam tetras
2 blue neon dwarf gouramis
2 bamboo shrimp
5 cherry shrimp

So far he seems to be doing okay and the gouramis don't seem to care that he is in there. If anyone sees a possible problem, let me know. Thanks!


[span class="edited"][Edited by lemmex 2004-07-05 18:17][/span]

i had betta with my guppies and swordtails, they were fine together. just avoid fish with similar shape and colour to the betta. and avoid fin nipping fish

Do you have any male gouramis in that tank?

They're both bubblenest builders and there "may" be a conflict. Best to just keep watch to see how they interact. A 40G is a nice size tank for slow moving fish to get lost in, especially if there is a lot of plant life, wood, etc.

JazzyB:88)

There's plenty of places for the betta to hide. So far he's been hanging out at the top where he rests on several tall plants. He hasn't been moving much at all. I have't seen any type of aggressive interactions between him and the gouramis. I'm not sure if the gouramis are male or female. We've had them for several months and they have never built a bubble nest.