FishProfiles.com Message Forums

I've looked at several articles and spoken with several people at the lfs and I've always gotten different answers as to whether a betta (male or female) can be placed in a community tank of mainly tetras. I have a 60 gal (hatchets, glowlights, black neons, one flying fox and bushynose pleco) and a 40 gal (black tetras, albino corys, 2 flying foxes and a bushynose pleco. Any thoughts? Thanks!

Yes and no

Brilliant isn't it? Ok, completely useless to you, but it really does depend on the other fish and the betta itself. I've had a few females that tear shreads out of other fish, and had a few danios that attack anything that moves and so on and so forth.

Tetras CAN be ok, but avoid the black widow body type as they are generally the most nippy. Black widows, Serpaes etc.

Neons, glowlites, cardinals, black neons etc are generally ok, but its going to still depend on the group dynamic and the betta you choose.

I'd try it with your 60 gal, probably go with a plakat male to make sure that swimming around the tank dragging a lot of tail isn't exhausting and to make sure nothing finds him extra-irresistable for munching on. This depends on the hatchets, i've never kept them so i'm unsure how they react.

The 40 is probably OK depending on what 'black tetras' are.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I've recently added a female betta (crowntail) to a community setup with pearl gouramis, tons of hengli rasboras, and a few other small fish, and it's working out better than I thought it would - even with the Gouramis.

However, I do think that it depends a great deal on the individual fish. The only way to know for sure, is to try it, and keep a fairly close eye on your tank and be prepared to remove the betta if there are signs of trouble.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

it also depends on the betta type, as short tail males like short tail females are better suited to swim in a commuity tank than a long fin male or long fin female.

the reason i would say "no" to must people i meet in a lfs is b/c they tend to buy only long fin males would would have swimming disablities in a tank with a power filter.

also again the personallity of the betta is important as like stated some males and females are morea ggressivet han others.

Two of my LFS always have their Bettas in community or a single species sales tank. As Chris refered to some Bettas can be more aggressive than others.
My Betta is very happy with the Cardinal Tetras, and the Khuli Loaches. If you do your research corectly you should have no problems at all,
Finally when selecting a Betta and he/she is displayed in a community/species tank this will give you an idea of that Bettas behaviour.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

The Black Tetras are Black Skirt Tetras. They seem to be on the shy side even though there is a dozen of them. I realize that all fish are different to a point. I had 6 penguins fish in the 60 gal years ago that just terriorized everything else in the tank. I may try a female in the 60 gal and see how that goes. I'd really like to add the color. Thanks for all the feedback!