Need a playmate for my betta..

I also do a little excersice sp? every now and again with my bettas, i put up a mirror for only about 5 min to start , it fill make him flare, and then look around for the bad guy . LOL ~~ this wouldent stress him, just NEVER leave it up, only max out time of 10 min . just so he gets some excitment . but its true even my bettas in my community tanks, dont care for the other fish' , they mostly just lay around on a leaf somewhere .... laadeeeedaaaa ~~ thats thier life :) I love all my bettas thow , I just lost my oldest red male :( that was bad, i had just found a perfect female to try and breed him with too ... O, well I will find her another younger male . Good luck , and HTH ~
 
chenwb said:
Bettas don't enjoy really the company of other fish. They just tend to ignore them, or get spooked by them. To achieve the purpose you want I'd just try to keep water quality good, improve diet,etc.
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gotglock said:
Betta's are solitary fish. VERY solitary. He would be much happier without tank mates. The only thing in my betta's tank is a nerite to help with algae and an MTS snail and pink Ram to eat leftovers.
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These are very very sad myths about Bettas, The truth is that many are very happy when they are in a community tank, You just need to stay away from fin-nipping fish and fish that have colorful/long flowing fins (such as guppies). It also depends on the individual Bettas personality.

To the original poster, do you have a heater in your Bettas tank? Bettas are tropical fish and would be much happier and more active if they had water heated to a constant temperature of about 78 degrees Farenhiet.

I also feel that 2.5 gallons with a Betta in it is too small to add more fish to.
 
Yeah, they can do well in a community tank without fin nippers, I agree with that. Their aggressiveness is overstated. But this guy just wants to get a tankmate so his betta won't be lonely, are you saying bettas feel lonely without tankmates? That's simply not true in my experience.
 
If he's listless I'd recommed giving him more swimming room and a current. Hex tanks are narrow and tall, bettas need wide and shallow. Once bettas build up some strength after being stuck in a small tank forever they like to play around in the filter current. Maybe you could throw in some live food. Hunting would give him something to do.

I agree that bettas make great community fish but you can tell by watching them that they could care less if they have neighbors. The only time bettas ever interact with other fish is when they're chasing them away from an established territory.
 
chenwb said:
Yeah, they can do well in a community tank without fin nippers, I agree with that. Their aggressiveness is overstated. But this guy just wants to get a tankmate so his betta won't be lonely, are you saying bettas feel lonely without tankmates? That's simply not true in my experience.
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It all depends on the individual Betta.

Also how do any of us know for sure whether or not a Betta is lonely? I know I would get lonely if there was no one else around, but then again I am not a Betta.

My point is it's impossible to know for sure if a Betta is lonely because we are not Bettas.

I personally think that Bettas probably do get lonely But I can't know for sure. But I am not saying that he has to get a tankmate or put him in a community tank, I myself keep a Betta in a 2.5 gallon bow front but he does have some pond snails in with him that came with some plants and I make sure to interact with him every day (play follow the finger (or try),etc.) so that he does not get too lonely.
 
the mirror idea is a good one. a few minutes a day or so was what i did when i used to keep three males all housed separately in 10 gallons each and they had snails in their tanks but pretty much ignored them.

but the best trick is to hold the mirror in one hand and the camera in the other........
 
Sorry guys, kinda forgot about this thread.
First of all, I'm a she.. not a he lol

And as for my betta, I managed to transfer him back into my 20 gal community tank with my guppies and a couple bn's. So far he is doing great and is leaving everyone alone (except for the new guppy fry, but I don't mind if he eats them as they breed too often anyways and it helps keep the stock in check).

My plecs just spawned for the first time so I'm watching the betta closely to make sure he doesn't get to the eggs, but so far he doesn't seem interested and the daddy is keeping them pretty locked up and safe in the cave anyways. Once they hatch I am moving them to a different tank so that there won't be no problems.

But other than that he is doing great. Thanks everyone for the help and suggestions.
 
Good to hear! I bet he is as happy as a clam :)

Kristina
 
I'm with Kristina...bettas are not that solitary. They seem stimulated in larger tanks and having tankmates, BUT (a big but) they need floating plants to hide beneath up top and lots of plants (fake or otherwise).

Buy some watersprite...it floats up top, easily grows and creates baby plants (which you can skim off and toss as need be...but it means you can start with one or two and have some nice cover), you don't need high light since it sits up top, and it grows long cool roots that fish like to hide in). Plus, watersprite is great for cleaning your water...it's a no lose situation.

A 10 or 15 gallon tank with a betta and 6 harlequin rasboras (or galaxy rasboras if you're lucky enough to have them at an LFS near you) makes for a great tank. Or, a betta with 4 smaller cory cats is fun, too. Or, a betta with 6 kuhli loaches can be fun, too.

Eric

Eric
 
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