Betta in Freshwater 10 gallon tank...

[reignman40]

Carlito is the second betta I had in my 20 gall community tank. Mr. Fish, the first one, would attack everything. My personal opinion, contradictory to what others think, was that Mr. Fish had the tank to himself for a couple weeks which I think gave him a little god complex.

I think it does depend on the betta. Also Carlito is a smaller betta then Mr. Fish was. That might help their temperment as well if they aren't so much bigger then the other fish. Of course all this is theory, but I know it's possible more often then not. Every LFS in town including the bigger chains like PetCo and PetSmart all keep bettas in with other fish. I've only once ever seen aggressive behavior at the fish store.

In closing I want to say I have no doubt that if Carlito ever actually caught one of my cardinals that he would kill it. However being a much faster fish the chances are slim and in time the fish will get more comfortable with one another.

Curtis

 

[thesydmonster]

I have a male betta in a 10 gallon with zebra danios and they do not even pay attention to one another. When I first put the betta in he chased the dominant danio a few times and flared but never caught her. It's been 5 months now and everyone gets along swimmingly

A resounding NO on the shark.

 

[MCF]

Thanks.....

If I upgrade to a 29 gallon tank (30" x 12" x 18"), would that be large enough for a Red Tailed OR Silver Tailed? My brothers always had them when I was yonger and I love the way the looked and swam, but I don't want to put them in and cause havoc or harm to any of my existing fish....

 

[reignman40]

From all my personal research I probably wouldn't put a red-tailed shark in anything less then a 55 gallon. This is a very territorial fish. If there is enough space for it to have it's own area it will help control the aggression from what I've read. Although I have no personal experience with this fish, it was my primary objective when I got into fishkeeping to get one of those so I have done extensive research on it.

Unfortunately I just don't have a big enough tank at the moment. But others with experience might want to jump in and prove me wrong =).

Curtis

 

[Holly9937]

I have a rainbow shark, which I've heard have pretty similar temperments and he was fine when it was in a 35g tank. That being said, it is still pretty young, only about 3-4 inches and really skinny, so I don't think he knows hes mean yet :laugh: !!! There were also alot of hiding spaces. If you do get one, I would recommend more hiding spaces than fish who like to hide, that way theres always an empty retreat. I would also make that the only "large" fish in the tank, since thats about the smallest you would want to go tank size for one of them.

 

[DaveinSF]

I have read in a number of places and in a magazine that it is safe to put a single male Betta in a community fresh water tank...mine is 10 gallon. I have two Zebra Dions, one neon tetra, one diamond tetra and one bright red tetra (can't remember name). The Betta has been living very peacefully with all the fish except the bright red Tetra...he flares up and chases the red tetra around every so often (couple times a day). Any thoughts?

It sounds like the Betta is confusing the red tetra for another Betta. I've heard that mixing Bettas with any fish that are somewhat similar ends up being a problem.

I have a Betta in a healthily planted 10g heated tank. I keep it at 76 and feed the Betta sparingly-- a Betta bit a day, maybe two. There are three Otocincuses and they have plenty of places to hide. He leaves them alone, even when they are in plain sight during the day. I also had a bamboo shrimp in there at one time, and he always seemed to leave it alone.