Trying a Betta in a community tank

[Improperbeard]

I'm trying an experiment regarding my male Betta in a community tank.

30 gallon
Heavily planted
6 tetras
One dwarf gourami male
One Betta (now)
Four otocinclus
15 cherry shrimps variants
Two large amano shrimp
Four small amano shrimp
One bamboo shrimp

Biggest worry is the male Betta and gourami. Betta ignores everything else (occasionally trying to catch a shrimp) but will flare on the gourami (day one as of this post).

However once the gourami moves away, he stops flaring and continues on. Betta and gourami are interacting more, with a side of caution on the bettas end. Betta tries to avoid the gourami.

Is this doable? Any success stories of male bettas in a community tank? Is the anxiety worth the acclimation or do bettas truly prefer isolation?

If it's a bad idea all around I'll just move him back to his 10 gallon tank.

 

[FreshyFresh]

It may or may not work out for you. You could get it to work depending on the stocking and food/feeding requirements.

I've never gotten bettas, either a single male or female sorority to last long term in community settings. It never had anything to do with aggression.

Due to the feeding needs of everything in the tank, I found my bettas would overeat, eventually leading to bloat that I couldn't get them out of.

 

[NoodleCats]

Overeating is definitely a major issue with bettas in communities.

But the gourami and betta is also a bad mix. They may seem fine one minute, the next could wind up with one of them killed. Theyre closely related and depending on the gourami species can be very territorial with each other.

Lastly, temperatures. Bettas need 80F which is often too warm for other community fish.

 

[Improperbeard]

I spot feed the betta

The betta and the gourami are now cordial. I heard it depends on the color of the other fish. The betta is partially red while the gourami is partially blue.

I also keep my ta k at 80 regardless. Should I lower it to 78?

 

[FreshyFresh]

That's amazing that spot feeding works for you. Depends on how voracious the other fish are.

 

[the loach]

Well amazing.... he has 6 tetras that probably are waiting until the food sinks, so it's just the betta and the gourami.

 

[Improperbeard]

Yeah, I use tweezers and click them near him, so he became conditioned to it and knows it's feeding time.

Usually the gourami and the betta kind of take a sector of the tank so I just spot feed both, than general feed for the tetras.

Shrimp and snails take care of the bottom and otocinclus/shrimp take care of the wilted leaves.