Betta Tankmates

[SDRoach]

Hi. Thanks to everyone for expressing your sympathy at lossing my 8 algae eaters this morning.

Since my little female Betta, Rainbow will be put back into her 20 gal tank in about a week or so, I am wondering what fish I should get for her.

She is a very small Betta. I'd say she is only a little over an inch long. I bought her from Wal-mart 19 days ago.

Her tank is heavily planted with 6 corkscrew Vals, 7 mondo grass, 3 Java Ferns, 1 apongo (bulb from Wal-mart), and 3 micro swords. There is also a large, medium, and a small cave in the tank as well as gravel, some rocks, a heater, air stone, and a filter.

Since the glo-lite Tetras I have attacked my male Betta, Flame I do not want to put her with them.

Any suggestions would really help. This is my 1st time ever having fish. Thanks!

[Jenny]

You could try getting more female bettas and trying that. Sometimes thye get along, but others fight too much. It really depends on the personality of the fish. I wouldn't worry too much about yours being small. There are some who find that their smallest female is the dominant and aggresive one. However, since the algae eaters, you may want to wait awhile until she is better before introducing anyone new. Also be sure that you have enough containers to house your new girls in case they don't get along.

[ana]

i always suggest corys first, theyre so peaceful and wont bother her at all, nor her them, ive never heard of algae eaters fighting, i have bristlemouthed, they just suck walls and are quite boring but cute

i got danios, theyre getting along very well with my gouramis but my bettas were not impressed, they move too much and seemed to tease the bettas to get them to chase

large numbers of any kind of scaled schooler can run as a pack and be a worry and nip a lot, i would avoid that

good luck, i would do corys first, but besides my bettas, my juli corys are my favourite fish

and never gouramis, theyre anatabids too and things would probably get nasty

[ana]

oh, and yes, tetras can be very agressive, especially in large numbers, they can be very nippy fish and betta fins are so tempting, i wouldnt really suggest anything fast moving, bettas seem to need a peaceful tank

[AmberD]

I'd go with Jenny and suggest a few more female bettas! In a heavily planted, 20 gallon tank, I would think you'd be able to put several in there with no problem, especially if they're all pretty young. I have a 10 gallon with 6 females, all but one were from Wal*Mart, and I didn't have any problems (there are pictures on the picture pages:)). With 20 gallons (wow, I'm jealous!), you could have some female bettas and some cories... and a couple African Dwarf Frogs, even

Amber