Ashdyre

i know that you can't put two male betta's together in a tank... but i really like bettas, they are so pretty! could i do something to make a 50 gallon tank look interesting with a betta in it? and what other fish would i add?

Thanks!

fernival brainard

I have a betta in my 55, he lives with some bala sharks, guppies, platys, um....gouramis (2 kinds, one of each, an opaline and another one whose breed I do not know) a clown loach and a couple of plecs.

before that, he was in my 42 with a ceverum, fw flounder, and horsefaced loach. the ceverum nipped at his frilly fins so I eventually had to move him to the 55.

I tried a betta in my 10 gal frog tank, but they are small enough that a large frog (like mine) can and will eat them.

IMO a Betta goes great in any community tank, I would be weary of adding one to a tank with aggressive fin nippers though.


fern

Irish563

Another thing to watch for is that the fish that you put in with the betta arent to close to the bettas shape or coloration. I have had a couple of bettas attack because they thought there were other males in the tank.
Some females would also be nice.....

Irish

Tommy Gun

Irish has a good point about similar looking fish and I would also add that you would want to stay away from any fish that also had larger fins like sailfin or lyretail varieties to name just a couple.

You also, of course, want to stay away from any 'nippy' fish like tiger barbs. In general, any community fish that is listed as 'semi-aggressive' is going to be nippy, however that is not the tell-all method either. Even neon tetras are nippy from time to time, same with danios. Some completely 'nice' fish will also be more aggressive than their species is usually 'labeled' as, so you might find the need to trade one fish back in just to get another one of the same type.

I would also make sure that you have an area in your tank that has some 'dense' fake plants that reach almost to the surface of the water for the betta to hide in if need be. They are not usually found in nature in a place that they have to deal with large schools or schoals of active fish, so they tend to stay to themselves a bit more. You can help promote some activity by offering more saftey and security near the top regions of your tank with plants like I explained. I have read in a few different places that these fish can actually be stressed out by being in a large, open area with active fish and no where to hide, so keep that in mind as it could help you avoid problems later on, which is always a good thing!