What to put with male Betta

[Sumpin'fishy]

My mother had a male Siamese Fighting Betta (all red), in a vase that held about 1/2 gal of water. She fed it, but that is about it. She would (very infrequently) change the water and wash everything with soap and water. It sickens me to think about it. I already saved another fish from her and then I find this one in poor conditions. No more fish for her!!!

Anyways she let the water evaporate to about 1/4 full and it was disgusting in that water. Can you picture stagnant water that has gone for over a month with no water change? I couldn't bear it any longer and she was tired of taking care of fish, so I adopted him this evening. I took him home in a tuperware-type thing of clean water and I'm currently getting a temporary home available for him. I'm putting him in a large (about 3 gallon) clear bucket like container with gravel and and airstone and few fake plants till I finish re-syliconing a 15 gallon I have sitting around. It's an old beat up tank, and I may as well get some use out of it.

I plan to lightly plant it and have sand gravel and a few rocks. I would like to get a few female Bettas to add to it and a few other fish. I'm looking for good candidates to add to the tank with him. A few fish I'm interested in are: corys, tetras, ghost catfish, maybe some shrimp or khuli loaches....something interesting, docile, and small. Any help?

Also any equipment suggestions would be great! For instance, what would be a good filter and turn-over rate. I have a cheap HOB 200gph filter, is this too much current? I assume there would be little current near the bottom since my 15 gal is so tall for it's width.

 

[ChilDawg]

Keeping male and female bettas together at the same time is not a good idea, as the male will kill any females who don't want to mate with him.

My experience with Betta tanks is this--my Betta ("Mo") likes living with four Cories and one Otto ("Methuselah", he is the longest-lived of the three which I have had) in a 10g. You could conceivably add six Cory cats and 3-5 Ottos to your tank and your Betta would be happy.

If Ghost Catfish are those clear ones also called Glass Catfish, they like to be kept in schools, get moderately large (4"), and like very clear, flowing water. Bettas don't appreciate that, especially if they have the long fins not suitable for use against currents. I would recommend that you stick to Cories (clean-up crew) and Ottos (algae removal). Just make sure that you feed the Cories well and do not add the Ottos until there exists a good quantity of algae for them to eat (so let the tank mature a little bit).

I have read that Ghost Shrimp and Bettas get along well, so they might be another option if you are interested in something else besides those three.

Congratulations on rescuing a Betta! Besides large tankbusters and goldfish, they might be the most-abused fish out there. A filtration unit, a light, a small (50-75W) heater, some food, and a 15g tank will make sure that your Betta is in his idea of heaven!

 

[goozy]

I want to add my two cents

Not that I'm an expert or anything but I've had good luck keeping my betta in a 5 1/2 tank with 3 cories, nothing else. I have a nephew (25 years old) that had a betta in a vase and he was led to believe that the plant was providing the betta with food too. He won it at a carnival. I told him that was totally wrong and I gave him a complete 5 gallon set up, gravel, light, heater and filter. He was very apprieciative and excited about providing his betta with a proper environment. It's terrible the way bettas are treated. They are such nice intelligent fish too.
By the way, about the female bettas. They can only be together to mate, even after mating the male may kill the female.

 

[Frank_Carr]

In a larger tank with a power filter, bettas will usually hang out at the top of the corner with the least current and look uncomfortable. You might find that a betta will be more comfortable with a UGF or even a corner box filter. Of course, this will limit the load you can put on the tank.

Bettas will also like a lot of plants and other things to break up the scenery. Ours stays in our plant clipping and snail production 5 gallon. There are 2 or 3 ghost shrimp in there with him right now.

As for companions...

Female bettas are out. They'll fight and one or both will be injured. I'd also suggest avoiding dwarf gouramis since a betta might view them as territorial competition. Fancy finned fish, like male guppies, may also trigger an attack.

Cories work good. I've had a couple of them in with our betta while I was getting a new tank setup. Ottos wouldn't be bad either. With a 15 gallon you could get enough of either of them for a small school which they would prefer.

Glass catfish love a stiff current and your betta doesn't. We have a pair of them in one of our tanks and they hang out almost exclusively in the bubble wall next to the power filter intake/output. They're neat fish and probably would get along with a betta, it's just that the environment requirements for one would make the other miserable.

Smaller tetras (neon or cardinal) might do OK. I'd worry about fin nipping or other aggression though. However, a well planted tank with good territorial markers would most likely prevent this.

Ghost shrimp aren't a bad choice. More aggressive bettas might attack them, but most won't. You may find it hard to see them and you'll need to make sure you don't have a dead one floating around, poluting your water.