Can I add a Female Betta?

amsherwood

amsherwood

AC Members
Jan 13, 2009
41
0
0
Flemington NJ
10gallon with plants. Residents are 5 cardinal tetras, 1 neon tetra, 2 false Julii corycats, 1 Apple snail, (3 Olive Nerite's coming)

The Apple snail, the biggest occupant, will be moved to another tank with a male betta soon. I'm also moving a couple of the Nerite's in with them, after they're done cleaning up the 10g that is. ...

The tetras are very pretty but really boring I must say... they're such babies! Tough to feed them -- they hide when I approach the tank and by the time they come out the food is on the gravel! Corycats are fat and happy :) The tetras tend to stay in the lower half of the tank, closer to the bottom, and of course the corycats are at the bottom. My thought process was that with a female betta, we will have an occupant in the upper levels of the tank - right now it's just boring empty space...

If not a female betta, is there some other solitary "bigger fish" - bigger than the slim 1 inch tetras, that is, that would occupy the top half of a tank and go well in this very peaceful tank?

Thanks in advance!
 
Guppies are cool. Mine tend to school with the neons and now everyone comes to the top to eat. You might think twice about putting the apple snail in with a male betta. My female pretends like my apple snails don't exsist but I got one for my male betta as a tank mate and he harrassed the snail so much all it would do is bury itself in the gravel and not move. I finally had to take it home and put it in with my other snails. Now it is a happy, growing, camper.
 
I agree, I love bettas and I feel a female would make a great occupant. Female bettas are becoming prettier also I have noticed. I always take a peek at them whenever I go to the LFS and I have seen crowntail females, which they didnt have a couple years ago.

Also, be careful with your apple snails with a betta. I have heard stories of bettas enjoying taking a bite out of the snails feelers.

EDIT: Yeah what jackiomy said =)
 
Oh drats -- on the Apple Snail/Male Betta bit. Will Nerites, since smaller, be a worse idea then? He is such a little Betta guy, figured I'll put the Apple in with him before he gets any bigger and hope that he gets used to the snail. Right now the snail is bigger than him... or does size not matter? Maybe put the nerites in there sooner rather than later so he'll get used to them, too?

Yes, there are some pretty Female Bettas at Petco. I would love to get one.... they've been losing them fast, guy said bec of the temp. So sad... in those little cups, the temp probably fluctuates a lot especially since it's freezing temps here now.

Just googled guppies -- they pretty! Do they need company? Or will one be happy by itself? Reading up...
 
You may be ok with having snails around a male betta. Male bettas vary in their levels of aggression. Some of my male bettas in the past have mouthed on a snail before, then just ignored it after that, while one of bettas started eating a young guppy within 1 minute of me putting the guppy in there, it was horrible! I think you should put the apple snail in with the male betta when you have 30 minutes to an hour to keep a close eye on the betta's reaction to the snail. If you see it trying to tear up the apple snail, you can take out the snail right then and there, and never put anything with your betta again!

Concerning guppies, I think one male would be fine by itself, they've never struck me as a fish dependent upon social interaction with their own kind. You could get one male, or 4-5, but I wouldn't get only 2-3. There may be too much fighting between such a small number of males. If you want the male guppy(ies) to have female companions, plan on having 2-3 females for every male. Male guppies relentlessly chase the females in an attempt to mate, and you want to spread out that behavior amongst many females, for one lone female would get too stressed from all the chasing and possibly die. Don't be worried about being overpopulated with guppy babies if you have both m/fm together, the parents typically eat many of their young right after they're born.
 
Last edited:
If you get guppies get a couple of males. Mine was just to cycle my tank and I got attached to them and when one died I was upset and put the survivor in my 40 gallon community tank where he now thinks he is a neon. LOL Other wise they are livebearers and breed like bunnies.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom