What type of schooling fish are Ok with Bettas??

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Hb2000

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Aug 26, 2003
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Hi
I have a 12 Gallon Eclipse tank and am presently cycling it. I am planning on putting a betta in the tank and would like to know what small schooling fish would be OK to add in.

I have read that the betta may attack any small fish with flowing fins. (ie. long fin white clouds or some guppies). I have also read that some small schooling fish may nibble at the bettas fins. (ie. danios or some tetras)

I would like everyone to get along and not pick on each other. Any reccomendations on a small schooling fish I can add with the Betta??
Thanks
 
In my experience the perfect schooling fish with bettas is good old white cloud mountain minnows. The bigger the school the better. With a 12 gallon tank I would put in a school of 6-7 white clouds and then 3-4 cory catfish on the bottom, I did this in my 10 gallon tank and it worked well. Keep the temp around the low 70's F. When I first put my betta in this mix he swam around flairing at everyone but soon settled down. He would then do a once a day chase of the others but nothing major. No nipping. I would also suggest putting in live plants. Line of sight blocks are great for calming everyone down.
 
ya any thing that would not nip the bettas fins and is bigger than the betta should be ok... black widows, searpe tetras, tiger barbs are out cause they nip, and some bettas are go getters when it comes to food and neons aren't safe with them... depends on the personality of the betta
 
I wouldn't worry too much about flaring and charging, just biting and nipping. My betta would go after one of my cories and flare at him a lot. Then he would get bored and leave. The funniest was when he tried to flare at my blind cory who couldn't tell and couldn't care less about it.
 
I have a male betta in a 20 gal. long with 6 neon tetras, 7 cory cats, 3 otos, & 2 opaline gouramis with no problems. It wasn't always like this though. Before the male betta, I had a female betta in the tank, and she was always harassing the corys.
 
If you decide to get some minnows with the betta (and cories) I would keep the tank water @ 76-78 degrees. Minnows can have a wide range of temperature and cories & bettas prefer a warmer water temp (76+) so there really is no reason to keep the tank cooler. ;)
 
White Cloud Minnows do have a wide range of temp but high 70's F are a bit much for those guys. Will they survive? Sure, just like goldfish will survive in 80F water. It is just better for them a little cooler. That is why I stick my tanks at 72-74F. A good comprimise.
 
I'd have to look into that. I am not saying your wrong TKOS as I've found you to be correct in many cases but my minnows have been kept in high 70's for 17 years now...when I started keeping minnows! :eek:

Minnows to my understanding can live without a heater but can greatly benefit from one kept in the 70's. I'll check into this matter as I dont want to say I'm right or you're wrong...
 
I definatley would suggest keeping a heater, if only to keep the temp constant.

IME I have found that those days the tank creeps higher towards 80F my minnows seem very listless and when the temp drops back down they get a bit more energetic.

Perhaps they just get used to the higher temps and function better.
 
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