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The only thing i've ever kept with my bettas are some female guppies. and thats it, so I can't really vouch for anything else. But I have heard from other people that paradise fish and bettas do not get along well...

i have a male in with paradice fishes, now with no problems. but yet that this is only one male.

I recently posted about keeping a betta with neons and was told that wasn't a good idea, that the neons would nip at the betta.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

The problem is, a whole lot of schooling and shoaling fish will nip at bettas, whether the fish are supposedly "peaceful" or not. Sometimes that nipping occurs only periodically, other times not. Some of the fish in your list that may nip too much:

Any danio- depends on how many you have; whether they pay more attention to the betta or themselves. Still, danios can be pretty nippy to fish with long fins.

Loaches- some of the more aggressive loaches (ex. skunk loaches and Botia modesta).

Rainbowfish- same as with the danios. Some of the more active ones would be happy to nip at betta fins, though smaller rainbows are often okay.

Swordtails- I've heard horror stories from customers about swordtails (especially males) killing other tankmates. Bettas with their attractive finnage would probably be one of the first targets.

Labyrinth fish- supposedly they aren't good choices to keep with any betta. Other folks on the site have tried this; try to find out what their experiences were with this combo.

Blind cave tetras- they will nip your hand if you put it into their tank, I assume that they would nip betta fins.

Pesonally, I think that neon tetras would be fine with a betta. It is true that they will sometimes nip at the betta, but that goes for just about every tetra species. Back when I had my betta, the lemon tetras took a hunk out of his fins every once in a while. Yet, I would consider them "safe" betta fish. So long as your neons weren't stressed from being kept in too-small numbers, they wouldn't turn *that* mean towards a betta and constantly nip. Some nipping is bound to happen; it is when that nipping gets out of hand that I would worry.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I assume we're talking about longfinned male bettas here?

Angels and bettas don't mix. One of them is bound to get nipped because of their flowing fins. Male guppies can also get mistaken for other bettas and shouldn't be kept with bettas. All of the cichlids can't be pairs or the betta will get harassed. Because of their fins, they probably wouldn't be able to get away as readily as other fish. I've found male swordies to be aggressive too, as well as mollies occasionally. Other labyrinth fish don't belong with bettas as they occupy the same strata and may fight over territory. Also, other betta species, even peaceful ones, will be mistaken for B. splendens almost undoubtably. Barbs, danios, and most larger bodied tetras aren't to be trusted with flowing finned fish such as bettas. Smaller bodied tetras like neons and such are probably safe for the most part. Almost any fish will nip occasionally.

The problem with this list is that bettas don't work with most fish because of tank requirements. The filtration has to be adequate for the bioload but not too strong for the bettas. Most people aren't willing to specialize a tank around one fish like that. It means a low stocking level for the low filtration, unless a canister is used.

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They shade the glow of it with their mossy-misty costumes,
They wear masks of silk, porcelain, brass, and silver,
So as not to mislead with their own, ordinary faces.

Guppies don't always work. Whenever I put a male betta with guppies the betta chases them everywhere and the guppies are scared of it, they hide in the corner a lot.

we have ours in with 3 plattys and 4 zebra loach, all seems good so far.
i have been told cherry barbs would go well with a betta

nvm, bad idea, seeing how bettas are all different and have there own aggression.

I had 6 cherry barbs in with mine and they were a bit nippy. Managed to move 4 to another tank and the final 2 seem fine with him.

hembo666, how are the platys with your Betta? I've read everywhere that they aren't compatible but I can't see why? I wanted to put another betta in my community tank but the platys (on paper) always seemed to be a problem. I would be interested to hear how they're going. cheers.