Introducing a Betta into Community Tank

[douce101]

Hey hey. Well, i just gave my girlfriend my only angel in my 20 gallon, since she wanted a bigger fish to contrast all her mollies and platies in her tank. So now my tank is kinda needing something a bit bigger to fill that empty spot the angel left. I was wondering, my lfs has one betta already in a community tank thats not aggressive at all, and i do like it a fair bit. But half of me wants to give one of the bettas in a cup a try. My tank has a few plants in it that im sure it'd love, and they arn't claimed as a territory by anyone, as the angel was who tended to keep the plants to herself. The only fish that was ever nippy is the angel, so besides my danios, who just play with eachother, theres no other fish i could imagine even thinking of harrassing the betta. Infact, im kinda more worried the betta would harrass the other fish, lol. Any oppinions on weather or not i should give a betta a try? And just so everyone knows, this would be my first time with a betta.

[Miltonic]

I recently introduced my Betta into my community tank with 6 Angelfish, GBR and multiple kinds of tetras and I haven't seen any major problems. When I first introduced him the Angels were very curious towards him but after a few days they don't even notice him. He did seem to be attracted to my GBR lol

[Sharon]

I wouldn't try a Betta in that tank, if there's an African Clawed Frog, as in your signature. I'm not sure if this is the tank you're referring to....

[douce101]

Yeah, the tank does have the ACF in it, though he has always been extremely gentle. I've had him in a 5 gallon with the black neon tetras and guppy fry, and besides the odd fry here or there, he never touched a single fish. Any chance he might cause problems with the betta though?

[Sharon]

I'd be a little concerned about the Betta...actually I'd be a little concerned about the others, too. How big is the frog?

[douce101]

I wanna say he's almost, if not, 1, 3/4 an inch from his head to bum.

[douce101]

Ps: I've had the frog for probably 3 months now.

[Sharon]

He's still small, and I'm thinking will be a problem as he grows. I've never had one, so I'm just advising based on what I've read. Someone here does have one, but I'm not sure who it is right now...I think Mrs. Fitzpatrick had an issue with her ACF eating small fish...

[douce101]

Yeah, I gotcha. I'm hoping in the very near future i'll be getting a bigger tank, in which case i'll be putting the ACF in it. So as long as that works out, I think it should work out ok, or atleast, I'm hoping it will, aha. Thanks for the advice though.

[Sharon]

Good plan....although the 20gal would be great for the frog, all by himself. You could get another tank for the fish...:ssmile:

[douce101]

Well,i might be getting the tank from my stepfather, who has a few tanks in storage, so odds are im getting more then one according to him, so in that case, I might just set up a frog tankthumbs2:

[Sharon]

Great plan...thumbs2: ...the frogs are pretty cute little guys!! I'd love to have one, but all my tanks have fish, and I just CAN'T get another tank!

[s72450]

I had a betta in with my community tank before the ice storm when I lost all of them, but honestly it didn't work out so well for me. I had some cherry barbs who were very curious about him and after nearly a week of letting my betta have a few hours in the tank, I noticed two cherry barb females attacking my betta. He was nipped really bad and so stressed out that he never recovered and died the next day.

I wouldn't so much worry about the betta as I would the other fish in the tank. I've heard this was a freak accident since cherry barbs tend to be very gentle and easy going, but I wouldn't chance it again.

If I were you, I'd get the betta that is already in a community tank, just to be on the safe side. I wish you luck!

[douce101]

Yeah, the fish store i always go to only has one betta already in a community tank, and its a nice fish, but not something i completely love. I heard getting smaller, younger betta's might help since they tend to be more gentle when younger. If this is true, would getting something a bit younger mean it'll grow up in a community tank and maybe get more used to it by the time it grows up?

[Sharon]

Bettas are by nature solitary fish. Some have put them in community tanks, and have had it work. I do think the Betta prefers to be on it's own in a small tank, which is why a community setup often doesn't work...