Let Betta Decide On His New Tank Mates?

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maryalice81403

AC Members
Oct 2, 2006
51
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0
Salinas, CA
I had another thread going about taking some fish back to the store because I purchased 6 Neons and 6 White Cloud Minnows to put in a 12 gal tank with a betta. Realized after the fact that this was too many fish and was adviced on this board to take one set of fish back, either the Neons or White Clouds. I guess Neons sometimes nippy to Bettas.

Well, I still haven't decided which to take back but I was leaning on taking the Neons back due to the nippy nature. Also, I have been very nervous about adding the Betta to the tank in case somebody did started munching on someone else, but last night I got brave and put the Betta in with all 12 new fish to see if he got along better with one kind or another. Betta was a little stressed out but nobody nipped anybody. If the Neons were nippers would that happen right away or only when they get bigger?

Then I got nervous about having too many fish together and raising ammonia level so I took the 6 Neons out and put them in another tank. Betta is a little less stressed today but doesn't seem to appreciate his new tank mates either. The White Clouds hang at the top of the tank like the Betta does and when I put one of his Hikari pellets in the tank he doesn't eat it and the White Clouds take it and seem to have a really good time playing with it like it is a ball. They toss it back and forth and entertain themselves for 5 minutes with it. Kind of fun to watch I must say but Mr. Betta seems not so happy.

So I was thinking of taking the White Clouds out to the other tank and putting the Neons in with the Betta to see if he was happier with them. I noticed that they hang out at the bottom of the tank and only eat food that drops down to them so maybe they would not infringe on Bettas space as much as the White Clouds. Just not sure if the nippy behavior comes later on as they get older or if I am safe because they seem to be passive at this point?

Does this make any sense at all, letting the Betta decide who he is more comfortable with or should I just take the Neons back and be done with it? Also, if I just took 2 Neons and 2 White Clouds back would that still be too much for a 12 gal tank and would they suffer only having four in each of their little packs? (Although one of the White Clouds seemed to have identity issues and only hung out at the bottom with Neons),

Sorry this is so long!

MaryAlice
 

NinjaPirate

AC Members
Oct 28, 2006
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40
Minnesota
If your tank doesn't have much in the way of objects for the betta to play/hide in (plants and decor wise) then the WC's might stress him out because he can't get away from their shenanigans. I have noticed with tetras that they tend to stay lower in the tank, which is the area of least concern for the betta generally, so they may work out better as tank mates. Just watch to see if they nip at his fins or not.
 

jjanoch

AC Members
Mar 6, 2005
171
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can't speak on the WC's, but I have 8-10 neons in my 20g with the betta. I have 2 amazon sword plants and a rock formation.

Betta doesn't seem to care about the plants, but he loves the rock formations. He is always resting under cover, coming out to swim a bit before heading back.

No stress between the two types of fish, they eat the flake food together when I feed them 1x per day.
 
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