What kinds of fish can you put in a tank with a MALE betta fish?

Question

It's a 10 gallon tank so there's room for more fish but I don't know what kind to use.

Answer 1

You're best looking away from other fish with flowing fins. Some males will beat up on such fish as angels (out of the scope of a ten gallon tank, anyway) and fancy guppies, so I sure would shudder at recommending that. On the reverse, stay away from anything with the last name of "barb:" Tiger barbs, cherry barbs, and the like--these guys are fin-nippers, and will literally love your beta to death. You can, however, put many types of tetras with betas (neons, head-and-tail-light, rummy-nosed, bleeding-hearts), and many livebearers such as mollies and swordtails don't seem to object to the male betta, either. The majority of bottom-feeding fish work well, too; cory cats come into mind instantly. (Actually, you'd do well to avoid anything with the last name "shark," but most bottom-feeders are peaceful.) Just be sure that any tropical fish you add to your tank have a good, steady, temperature in their water. Nothing beats a reliable heater!

Answer 2

There is a common misconception that all Betta fish, especially males, are so aggressive that they will tear apart any other fish in their sight, which is far from the truth. You will often see male bettas in large display tanks at your local aquarium store.

In reality Bettas are loner fish. They tend to really mind their own business in the tank and could care less about the other fish around them. However, they are semi-aggressive to aggressive in nature, so you need to know what type of Betta you have.

One: Observe your Betta, when you bought him was he flushed showing his defensive pose? Was he bitting at other Bettas in the little tanks/bowls near by? A Betta who is more calm in his tank/bowl is not going to be bad around other fish.

Two: Read up on the types of fish you buy. You cannot put 2 aggressive or semi-aggressive types of fish together. Angel fish and Bettas are a big NO-NO, Bettas and Jackdepsies are a NO-NO. Most aquarium shops will have descriptions of the fish breed and ratings of their aggressiveness on the display tanks.

Three: No more than 1 male Betta in a tank. Also, try to avoid fish that LOOK similar to bettas (again like angel fish). Keep reflective surfaces and mirrors away from your Betta to keep him less aggressive.

I have bred and owned Betta fish for over 10+ years and I love them. When you understand the personality of the fish you'll find them to be well worth the hype.

Answer 3

Betta Males are generally easy going toward other species of fish, so go with anything peaceful and non-territorial that won't get too big for your tank. How about a a school of 6 cardinal tetras and a school of 4 cory catfish? I currently keep both those species with a male betta in a 15 gallon.

BTW, use plants, real or fake, as all of these fish, including the betta, like them.

Answer 4

Typically bettas are put in to a bowl by themselves since they don't require a filtration system. Since you are keeping it in a tank, you can pretty much put any type of "community fish" in the tank with the male betta. Use a little caution because bettas are known for tail biting (but it's not that big of a deal IMAO). try getting community fish that are fast swimmers. The only fish you definitely don't want in there... if you haven't heard yet... is another male betta. They'll fight till death. Some community fish I suggest are platys, gouramis, all kinds of tetras, any bottom feeder (corydoras are my fav), and rainbows. Good luck.

Answer 5

Basically you need to under 5 things:

1)Betta are mainly aggressive to other betta, or fish that look like them. Fish like fancy male guppy are prime targets. Also keep in mind this includes females. A male can't be kept with a female, and females tend to fight.

2)Betta vary in aggression. I have a betta who will kill snails, while the rest of my bettas pay them no mind.

3)Bettas are territorial. They need to a place in the tank to call their own. In 5 gallon tanks, and smaller this is often the whole tank. Also it's better to put a betta in a tank with fish, than fish in a tank with a betta.

4)Betta aggression lessens the longer the betta sees the other fish. Putting the betta where he can see his future tank mates for a week may work wonders. (I use a breeder, or isolation box on female betta in my community tanks with multiple female bettas.)

PS- Avoid fin nippers like barbs, and large tetras. Neon tetras generally work, but sometimes they fin nip, and sometimes a betta thinks they are small enough to eat. Gold fish are bad in that they are slow, and often showy in the fins. Also the ideal temps for bettas is 75-85F, and below 72F for goldfish.

Answer 6

You can put any community fish in an aquarium with one male betta. You run into problems when you have more than one betta in there. I think you can also put some low semi-agressive fish in. I had a ten gallon for years with some tetras, a couple algea eaters, a shark and a betta. I even had a betta and an angel fish in there too. I didn't have any problem.

Answer 7

A betta is a tropical fish so you can't put coldwater fish like goldfish and white cloud mountain minnows with your fish. Currently in my tank, I have a female betta and a cherry barb. I know a lot of barbs are fin nippers but for some reason, mine isn't, maybe I just got lucky. You want to avoid putting in fish with big fins. Since your tank is 10 gallons, I don't reccomend putting more than 2-3 fish max.

Here are some fish that are compatible:

Platys
Cory Catfish
African Dwarf Frog
Sword Tails
mollies

Answer 8

Ten gallons is still considered a small tank when dealing with a semi-aggressive fish, which a betta is, even towards other fish of different species.
I would only try bottom dwellers, such as frogs or cory cats. Don't add anything too bright or with longer fins.


PLEASE do not put a goldfish with a betta. Their temperature requirements are very different, and though bettas can live without filtration and can stand dirty water fairly well, goldfish produce a heck of a lot of ammonia, which without proper filtering will definitely kill off everything in the tank.

Answer 9

Loads of things! Bettas are only highly aggresive with other bettas, so don't add another betta. Other than that most any peaceful community fish is fine. Stay away from fin nippers like barbs though. Live bearers, tetras, rasboras... all of those and many others are just fine with a male betta.

MM

Answer 10

Ugh, you got really bad answers. First off, male bettas can go with ANY fish other than another betta. As long as the other fish isnt agressive. Male bettas are only aggressive to other male bettas. They will very rarely nip other fish, particularly those that are bigger than it. Like Gold fish. I reccomend gold fish btw. So theirs your answer.