Can anything live happily in a 5.5 gallon with my betta?

Ms.Bubbles

Ms.Bubbles

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Sep 26, 2005
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Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a tankmate to share a 5.5 gallon with my male betta. I have no idea if he's aggressive or not, he's been constantly building bubble nests since he moved into his new tank & flaring crazily at noone in particular. I'm wondering if a tankmate might cool him down a little, or just make things worse.

I understand the tank is a little small...anyone house a male betta successfully in a small tank with a tankmate?

Would a female guppy be OK? Would he be better off alone?
 
kyperman said:
Maybe a snail or two...or maybe a female betta....!!
Click to expand...

I don't know about the female betta. I put a female in with my male betta and she tore him to shreds. Snails should be fine or a few ghost shrimp would work.
 
Thanks sumthinfishy--I thought maybe he was suggesting running over my betta with a car to put it out of its' misery lol. Also, thanks for the link, it contains a compatibility chart.

I'm wondering about the accuracy of the chart. It shows bettas working well with: cory cats, danios, minnows, guppies (I'd heard this was not a good match), platies, plecos, rasboras, swordtails, tetras (heard that tetras nipped betta fins or something).

I guess the only way for me to determine a good tankmate (besides asking forum members) is to put in a few fish & hope a fight doesn't break out...
 
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Bettas are really territorial when it comes to other bettas (especially males). Avoid similar looking fish... tetras are OK, fish with long flowing fins (like fancy guppies) are probably a gamble.

I am not sure your tank is really big enough for more fish. I think the "mythical inch rule" should apply here. At 1 inch of fish/gallon of water that leaves you with about 2.5"... I'd stick to a snail (one big enough that the betta won't eat). To add enough buddies for a truly interesting mix you need more space.

At least 5.5 gallons is better than a vase/bowl/smaller tank, but I'd still say it's about the absolute minimum for a single betta.
 
yeah fancy guppy + betta = a very ravaged guppy. I had to take the betta out within 24 hour hours. Don't even consider that one, it was an all out brawl. On that note, a black moore + a betta = a very dead betta (he started the fight and just had more bark than bite)

I need to stop keeping betta's. Or keeping betta's with other fish, I got one solo in a tank and he's perfectly happy, every time I've tried to combine the betta or another fish ends up dead or injured
 
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