betta companions?

[themuffinbandit]

do bala sharks do well with bettas? like if i had 3 of them and they grew up, would they nip the betta and get into fights? are they okay tank mates?

[graceluvsplatys]

bala sharks get big, like 15 inch right?
Im assuming you dont have a 100 gal betta tank, so i dont think so

I would try af dwarf frogs, i hear they do okay.. fem or male? females get along better, i think males are better alone. i have a nasty female right now though...

[Dave66]

For a while, yes, as they are calm fish. Down the road Balantiocheilos melanopterus reach 16 inches, and would be a danger to the Betta by their sheer mass. Also, Bala 'sharks' are schooling fish, so you'd need at least six for natural behavior and long life. Thus, you'd need a tank in the hundreds of gallons to keep them.
Rasboras would be a better choice to keep with your Betta, as they are small, schooling and would ignore your Betta totally.

Dave

Dave

[cocoa_pleco]

Dave nailed it, i recommend rasboras also

[MeganL3985]

I think with any situation it depends on the individual fish....but for suggestions, I will also back Dave on the Rasbora's.

[themuffinbandit]

i see. thanks for the advice... dont want a ginormous fish with my betta... haha... what other types of fish go well with bettas in a 20g tank? i know zebra danios can go in there if they are in a group. is there anything else?

[MandyL]

Most tetras would work - depending on the betta on any tankmates of course. They are pretty much all fine with cories and otos though.

[MeganL3985]

I think platys generally go well also

[cocoa_pleco]

bettas can mistake platys for other bettas and might fight, i actually tried it and the betta went nuts

[Kayla-Bug]

My Bettas have the attitude that as long as it's not bigger than me and it doesn't fight back, their cool in my tank. =]

[angelcakes]

bettas can mistake platys for other bettas and might fight, i actually tried it and the betta went nuts
agree with you there i had that problem.............bettas seem to hate platys:14:

[kaoticice]

As stated, its possible to have bala shark with betta when they are young as these are very peaceful schooling fish. But once it gets bigger, it could easily eat a betta without even realizing it. so.. a no no!

Other tankmates for betta can range from, white-clouds, rasboras, some tetras (rummynose), etc.
Generally small fish that are not fin-nippers (betta fins are so delicate) and does not have vivid coloring (usually gets mistaken as another betta).

How big is your tank? and what types of fish are you looking at ? general schooling fish?

Ed

[Hailey]

you could get some corys too. they should be fine in there.

[angelcakes]

As stated, its possible to have bala shark with betta when they are young as these are very peaceful schooling fish. But once it gets bigger, it could easily eat a betta without even realizing it. so.. a no no!

Other tankmates for betta can range from, white-clouds, rasboras, some tetras (rummynose), etc.
Generally small fish that are not fin-nippers (betta fins are so delicate) and does not have vivid coloring (usually gets mistaken as another betta).

How big is your tank? and what types of fish are you looking at ? general schooling fish?

Ed
what size is your tank?
if small rasboras as suggested and corys possibly pygmys,do not go with the dwarf frogs as these are fin nippers and likely to cause problems,

[Ghostknife]

My Betta didnt even like the neon tetras, they were always at each other, thats why I had to get a second, but way smaller tank for the Betta. I imagine the catfish would go well with him, provided the tank was big enough!

[themuffinbandit]

my tank the one i have right now is a 20, but its more my friends... im just keeping my betta in there till i get my 10g cycled so i guess my tank size is 10g.

[angelcakes]

my tank the one i have right now is a 20, but its more my friends... im just keeping my betta in there till i get my 10g cycled so i guess my tank size is 10g.
10g good size for a betta.......if its any help my bettas in a 5g with 2 shrimps just another idea on youre stocking with betta,just remember no fin nipping fish,barbs etc........corys would be good:19:

[kaoticice]

10 gallon can get u a school of panda or pygmy corydoras 6 species. And some schoolings like livebearers or neon tetras.

[dgoulston]

now and again my Betta gets to go in my 90L with my:

neons,mollies,pleco & catfish, and never any arguments!

Darren

[themuffinbandit]

how do panda cory's and upside down catfish get along?
http://www.petco.com/product/102904/Upside-down-Catfish.aspx
b/c i think it would be cool if i had a few fish that would eat the uneaten food at the bottom of the tank. Not that i wouldnt give them their own food but its nice to have if they clean up... lol... do the upside down catfish do that? and i know... i wont buy them from petco.. haha

[themuffinbandit]

ooo i remember...it was a pleco...those algae eating ones...do those go well with bettas...???

[MandyL]

Upside-Down Catfish get too large for a 10gal, as do any species of Pleco. The only algae eater that could work are Otos, and you need a few of them at least so they're in a group.

[angelcakes]

a bristlenose maybe ok??????

[themuffinbandit]

okay so for my 10g tank which is almost done cycling i think... i'm definitely going to put my female betta in there... however... i wanted to put some more stuff... which is why ive been asking what is compatible. so, with all ur guys suggestions, i think im going to go with the betta (of course...lol), like some otos (idk how many? how many do ppl usually put together for this type of tank?), and some neon tetras or something? idk if i can fit too much..lol... but i know that the neon tetras are schooling fish so like 6 of those or so.

[kaoticice]

Yeh 6 neons are ok in the 10g tank.

A word of advice, why not have a sorority female betta tank? you can get 8 - 9 female bettas in there, very colorful and full of personality with minimal aggression.
Ed

[invadertoast]

Yeh 6 neons are ok in the 10g tank.

A word of advice, why not have a sorority female betta tank? you can get 8 - 9 female bettas in there, very colorful and full of personality with minimal aggression.
Ed

I was just going to suggest this! My female bettas are my favorite fish (I have 4 in my 29) A tank full of bettas is like a dream come true... lol

[kaoticice]

^ yup i had them before, and it looked gorgeous with all those strong coloring. With planted tank, the color of these fish are just irresistible. :18:

Hmm i may just make a 40 gallon sorority tank instead :hmm3grin2orange:

[Arkie]

agree on the all female betta population. i have two in my 10 gallon tank at the moment, definately getting some more to join them on pay day. aswell as some mystery snails for clean up duties :19: :19: :19:

[themuffinbandit]

ooo.. i do have two females but i have tried putting them together before... they go at each other like no tomorrow... haha... ummm i did want to put them together though but they seem to like stealth attacking each other when one's back is turned and stuff. i mean their small 2g tanks are next to each other right now and its no problem but when i put them both in a different 5.5g tank just to see if they can get along, they go at it... any suggestions on how to make them get along?

[Arkie]

get more and introduce at the same time. ?????

[kaoticice]

Yup at least 5 females are needed to establish a pecking order. Anything lower than that can be a chaos. Recommended is about 8 - 9 females.

Introduce them all at the same time.

[invadertoast]

^ I agree!! Definately get a group and introduce them all at once, they will fight for maybe a few days then once they establish a pecking order it will stop. I had 5 and when my heater malfunctioned I lost 4 of them. I bought two more, but one turned out to be male so I went back and got another girl and introcued them together. A week or so after that I added one more and I had absolutely no issues with fighting.

My girl that was left from the original 5 is a little territorial about a rock cave in the tank, but she rarely does more than a short chase. The other three girls like to hang out in the plants around her cave and usually she just gives in and lets them, lol.

I have been pretty lucky with really mellow females, you just have to watch and make sure nobody is being overly aggressive (some torn fins are normal in the first few days though)

[themuffinbandit]

o btw are the wild types more aggressive than the veil tails and stuff?

[kaoticice]

you mean like the plakat traditional fighters? yeh they're generally more aggressive in nature and this is due to a number of reasons:
One they are obviously breed for fighting,
2) They do are not genetically engineered to look good and colorful, no lonfinned variety. Thus, they do not have long fins sticking out everywhere that makes them harder to swim. Additionally the traditional coloring can easily blend into darker media such as driftwoods, making the easier to retreat during fights.
All these attributes makes the traditional betta a much stronger and more aggressive in nature then the long finned variety. But then it all comes down to the individual fish, I had a halfmoon that beat up my plakat. Lol

Ed