Can you put other fish with Bettas?

Question

If so what fish?

Answer 1

Bettas are very territorial, but mainly it is against other bettas, and fish it thinks are bettas. Bettas are also carnivorous, and never stop eating, so they can try to eat some fish.

Bettas are upset by "aggressive displays" in other fish. Bettas tend to be more aggressive if they are brightly colored, and before they attack, they waggle their tails. Thus, bettas think most any fish that is brightly colored, and waggles it's tail is an enemy.

Bettas are especially upset by closely related types of fish, such as gouramis. Some of them also try to pick fights with fancy tail guppies.

Bettas generally do not have many problems with dull colored, or earth toned fish, and are less aggressive to bottom feeders.

I had a very aggressive betta, which would attack my fancy tail guppies, and my neon tetras. My roommates would occasionally slip another betta in to fight it (What a bunch of jerks!) but my betta always won.

I kept this nasty bugger of a fish in a community tank of 15 gallons, along with a small pleco, two corydoras, an upside down cat fish, and a pair of gold snails. I never saw much of the upside down catfish, but he didn't die. Teh betta would sometimes try to intimidate the other fish, but they would just bat him with their tails, and swim on as if nothing happened. He actually got to realizing that the pleco's tail batting hurt, and left him alone.

Once, when I first got the gold snail, he swam over to try and scare it away (since it was bright yellow, I guess.) and after several unsuccessful passes, he went to the other side of the tank, charged the snail at full speed, and nipped at the head of the creature. The snail got a dent the size of my pinkie nail on his shell, retracted inwards for two seconds, and then continued on his way as if nothing had happened. The betta smashed on into the glass, floated sideways for five seconds before twitching, and righting himself, and then never bothered the snails again.

Later, I added a few small puffer fish (each about the size of a pea) which my pleco never even tried to bother, but they didn't mix well with the poor snails.

A betta does limit the kinds of fish that you can keep successfully, but to be totally honest, they are far less dangerous to other fish than... say... my puffer fishes.

Answer 2

I've put them in with other fish -neons, a small golden catfish, for instance ...no problems as long as there's enough "community" and they don't feel crowded. Some are more trustworthy than others, though! Ask-the-vet has info on it, and so does ehow.com (quoted below):

"Betas by eHow Friend
Under no conditions can male beta fish be in the same tank, an experiment was made where two male betas were put in a lake, on two different sides of the lake, they met close to the center of the lake, and one beta killed the other. Another thing, beta fish can be hard to have in a larger size tank, their natural habitat is usually around air pockets in the water. They are use to a smaller closed in space, and tend shy from other fish, but because they require to breath out of water, they stay toward the top. It would be hard to find a hiding place at the top of a large tank. One last thing with betas, each one has a personality of its own. Some betas can be mixed with other fish and get along fine, some beta fish will kill everything else in the tank, more so if they do not have a place to hide and shy away from the others. "

Answer 3

audrey is exactly right. it is a myth that bettas will kill any other fish that they come in contact with. you can keep them with other fish as long as the others are not bigger than the betta and they are peaceful, non-aggressive fish. generally they will leave each other alone. the same goes for females. just make sure the environment is peaceful and none of the fish are very aggressive or territorial. for example, DONT put a betta in a tank with cichlids, then you will have problems to say the least. also dont put him in with any other long-finned fish, as he will nip at them. good tank mates may be some smaller plecos, provided you have a big enough tank to accomadate them, or some less feisty tetras. try fishlore.com for some more info. hope i helped!!

Answer 4

People are going to tell you that you can't because they are "fighting fish" and will try to kill anything in the tank with them. This is NOT TRUE!! Males will attack each other, and the males will attack the females if they are not ready to mate, but will not usually attack other fish.

Bettas outside of their own species are generally a very peaceful fish. They will get along with any other small, peaceful community fish. However you want to avoid guppies or any other long finned fish, as the betta will get confused and think it is a rival. You also want to avoid fin-nippers as part of a bettas appeal are their beautiful fins.

Answer 5

Yes and no bettas are terriorial with other bettas male, and female. They will also try to fight other fish that look like bettas. Fancy guppies for example. In general I wouldn't put any fish in with a male betta in a tank less than 10 gallons with lots of hiding spots. Females are generally less agressive overall, but they still will fight with other females at least initially until they work out a pecking order. (I keep my females about 1 per 10 gallons, and avoid adding or remove them to prevent a violent reshffling of the pecking order.) The females do fairly well in a community tank. With male bettas in a community tank I generally see other fish picking on him. (Male bettas aren't fast or strong swimmers, and their flowy fins make a tempting target.) Males and females can't generally be kept to together unless you have a huge tank (50+ gallon) with lots of hiding places.

Some betta are just plain pycho, and/or mean. I've had bettas who killed snails in their tanks, and one that were afraid of females. I've owned female who happily bullied 4 inch sailfin mollies, and would fearlessly investigate my hand when I cleaned the tank. It really depend on the temperment of the betta.

Tips on bettas with other fish:
1)Bettas are territorial putting a betta into a tank with fish will work better than put fish into HIS tank. Removing him into a jar for 3-5 days, and reintroducing him can work wonders.
2)Betta's agression is visually stimulated. If a fish can hide for a few second the betta will forget he was chasing him. Be sure the tank has lots of places to hide.

Answer 6

You can if the other fish doesn't have trailing fins or tail, and is not too slow. I have done this, I have had a betta with goldfish and zebra fish and I don't remember what else. Just don't put a betta with another betta.

Answer 7

I've had 2 bettas with a divider in one fish bowl, and they would sometimes... some how... get into each other's side of the bowl. They never killed each other though. It was kinda strange. I figured even though they were both suppose to be boys, one was probably a girl.

Answer 8

indexed decrease than are soe do's and dont's for ya enable me initiate with DONT's placed the betta in a tankwith rapid moving water, it is going to at last rigidity and kill the betta. placed any fish that are agressive to any point, alongside with goldfish. they might do high quality for a short jointly as yet as quickly as the goldfish reaches a undeniable length, they have a tendency to alter into nasty and nibble at slower moving fish such as a results of fact the betta. attempt to evade fish that have vast particularly fins like the betta. betta's a jealous creatures. lol. attempt to evade sharp decorations that the betta might run into and shred his fins. and the obtrusive "dont" placed it with yet another betta. DO's attempt to maintain him in a tank no greater advantageous than a 10 gallon, yet no smaller than a 5 gallon, with a good filter out, without rapid moving currents. if the currents are too solid, placed plant life in there to assist defuse the currents. floating plant life are great. in case you opt for to place fish inthere with him attempt neons, rummynose tetras, rasboras, silvertip tetras, african dwarf frog, small non aggressive fish. do make valuable that the temp would not drop decrease than seventy two. anyting decrease is in simple terms too on the threshold of possibility. seek for a good water heater. umm i think of i ran out of recommendations, yet neways be careful whilst introducing a betta with different fish. it particularly is sort of valuable or pass over sort of deal. as a results of fact that bettas are actually not meant to be with different fish. good success and desire this helped.

Answer 9

Yep. I have my male betta in a 55-gallon tank with two silver dollars, three zebra danios, three fancy-tailed guppies, five cory catfish, three African dwarf frogs, and seven neon tetras.

As long as there are plenty of hiding spots and your tank is large and well-planted (be it with fake or real plants), your betta can get along with many fish.

Good luck.

Answer 10

NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!If you put a betta or any fish with another betta,The betta will kill the other fish.You can put them in different tanks but not the same!!!!!!!!!