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I have a co worker who as told by LFS that a Betta will not tolerate a Glass Cat (Silurus bicirrhis. Their general needs seem to be very similar but my only question is are the cats movements to similar to that of an actual betta or can they happily co-exist thanks

"No whammy, No whammy, No whammy, STOP!!"

1984-Michael Larsen On Press Your Luck

Depends on tanksize really. 15 gallons and up and they should ignore each other, less than that and the betta will consider the space his own and attack the other fish.

Glass catfish should really be kept in shoals, single specimens may wane and die. Unless the tank is large not only will there not be enough room to keep this species happy, the constant movement around the betta will probably drive it nuts.

Glass cats dont really go into the teeny tiny tanks that people put bettas in. They are more sensitive to water quality, and thats often tanksize related too.

It could be made to work, but it would take a betta keeper used to exceeding the needs of his species. You can scale bettas up, but you cant scale the catfish down in terms of tanksize , water quality , and space for normal activity.

No glass cats in 5 gals or less please.

I don't see them getting into too much of a confrontation, although they are on the opposite ends of the stick as far as current goes. The betta would prefer calmer water where the glass catfish would like strong current. The glass catfish I had stayed at the top of the tank swimming into the filter output most of the time. I haven't kept the two together so maybe I am missing something, but they should be compatible. Hopefully others will have experience with the two together.

What does that mean, Bob? "Till the cows come home." Where have the cows been?

Currently he has 5 glass cat and a BN in a 10gal so he may be pushing it. Hopefull some here as mixed them.

"No whammy, No whammy, No whammy, STOP!!"

1984-Michael Larsen On Press Your Luck

I wonder if he is aware that glass cats reach 6 inches in length, and are much more suitable for the 55 gallon tank.
These fish I would classify as "expert" due to their need for extreme fast water speeds and super low nitrAtes.
If the nitrAtes pass 20 ppm, its likely the glass cats will all perish.
The betta would be fine with them,
but they need a bigger tank.


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