Asked on the Fish Forum by Haydenfishie9 on 3/3/03, 3:37 pm
Q: male Bettas
Can you put male betta with other kinds of fish? Or is it that you just can't put them together with other male bettas.
Answered by SiameseCentralBreedersAustralia on 3/3/03, 5:09 pm
A: male Bettas
well you can put males with other fish but the only fish i really reccomend are guppies and comet gold fish , if you put in fan tail gold fish the male betta will tend to attack them and rip eyes out because of simular finnage.
Answered by BuddyHolly on 3/3/03, 6:04 pm
A: I disagree strongly
> Can you put male betta with other kinds of fish? Or is it
> that you just can't put them together with other male
> bettas.
Bettas can be a pleasing part of a community tank if the tankmates are chosen from species the betta is known to get along with. Having said that, even with species they can share a tank with, they must be watched very carefully until you know there won't be any problems. Different bettas have different personalities and some may be very mellow with tankmates and other may tend to attack any other fish.
One thing that is absolutely not true is that it is ok to put bettas in with goldfish. Goldfish are coldwater fish and bettas are tropical requiring water temperatures between 75-80 degrees Farenheit. Goldfish do much better at lower temperatures. It's never a good idea to mix fish that require very different water temps, salinity, pH, and hardness.
Also, if you are going to try to mix a betta and guppies, you must be sure to NOT buy the type of fancy guppies with long flowing tails. You also need to make sure the guppies or any other fish you put in with the betta cannot in any way fit into its mouth and vice versa.
Some fish that have worked with bettas are cory cats, tetras, and some danios. Here is a link to a site that addresses which fish are compatible with bettas:
http://aquaria.port5.com/siamesefightingfishcompatibility.htm
There are others you can find by using www.google.com and typing 'betta fish compatibility' in.
Also, there are other experts here at PPC that have extensive experience with mixing bettas in community tanks. Post the question to Shark or Shanna. Good luck!
>
Answered by shanna22 on 3/3/03, 10:07 pm
A: I agree with buddy holly,
SHE is absolutly correct, in stating that goldfish are a no no for bettas. There are MANY good fish, Another Expert here, Tviokh, has a community tank with alot of fish, with her betta.
Mine personally will not tolorate any colorful fish, he was fine with gouramis, pleco, and the danios, but when I got the platies, (very orange) he had to be removed, because I was afraid to leave them alone!
Whatever you do, make sure your fish are compatible, and your tank allows enough room for all fish.
If you want to give us some details on size, temps, ect you keep your betta at, we can help reccomend some good fish :)
