hi!
i just moved my betta in my community tank.
i have balloon mollies, cories and a couple of feeder guppies in there.
he was flaring at one of the females ballon mollies but i think it was because she (and a couple of others) was bullying him at the beginning.
do you think he's going to be ok?
sorry, im so worried...
what I found is that betta splendens tend to be aggressive towards fish their own size, mollies, guppies, etc. Some people get lucky and have a very docile betta, some (like me) don't. I had a male and a female betta in my 55 community tank for a while thinking I had enough decorations, hiding places for both. It didn't take long for the male to find the female and start attacking. He would also flare and chase mollies regularly. The eventually found corners in the tank and did a fair job avoiding eachother. All of a sudden I found guppies dieing and was blaming some giant danio's for the crime so they were banished using a tank divider but the guppies persisted to die. One night I went for a glass of water and spotted both bettas using the dark as cover to bludgeon and murder guppies. Guess they were part of a betta mafia, had me fooled during the day. Out they came back in their bowls. You can find some wild type bettas that are fine in community tanks but they don't have the long fins and aren't as easy to find as the splendens. Kyle
I say put him back in the community tank as long as you can watch it for a while!
My betta was flaring at my Angels, they could kill him if they wanted to, but he backed off after a minute or 2.
i guess im not ready for this yet! lol
i remember when i had to move my guppies to HIS tank, he killed one guppy... so as soon as i put him in the community tank, the guppies freaked out! also, the mollies were bullying him all the time...the reason i moved him in there was because i wanted to give the tiger barb, who is sharing the tank's betta, more room...
EMS !! Looks like you are the only person around here who has the most docile betta I wish I too had one of those kind.
I remember when my betta ripped off a good chunk of a male guppy, barely within a minute of introducing him into the community tank - the poor guy died handicapped
Bettas and guppies DONT mix. Especially the fancy guppies. Bettas think they are other bettas because of their great coloration and flashy fins.
The only fish I have so far been able to keep with my bettas and both do nicely are corys and otocinclus. I would recommend keeping bettas with those two fish as the betta hang out in the middle/top of the tank, while the corys hang mostly on the bottom...and the otos are usually hiding and come out mostly at night. You can also keep African Dwarf Frogs with bettas. I have found them to do nicely as well. I imagine that's enough of a combination, what with all the varieties of corys available and the coolness of the frogs, especially if you have java moss and drift logs in your tank.
True some bettas don't get along with guppies. Don't stereotype it to all bettas though. The tank size also has a lot to do with it.
I've successfully kept 4 or more different male bettas with guppies in my 50Gal. Including a lot of females.
Yes, there have been a couple bettas that get irritated, but I've had more get along with guppies than not.
This includes fancy guppies as well.
The tank is also planted which plays a big part in the cooperation IMO.
I'm not saying to keep bettas and guppies together, I'm simply stating that they CAN co-habitate with the right temperament of the betta and the right living conditions and surroundings.
