Topic: So many fish, what choices should be made

[Derickandbuddo]

I currently put 4 cory's in my 55 gallon tank with my girlfriends betta fish. The betta i have is way to aggressive to put with anything and the betta leaves the cory's alone. I was now wondering if there was anything else i could put in the tank with these fish. As i kindof mentioned the betta in the tank is a very peaceful and slow moving fish and doesnt bother to much he just sorda lives in his own little world which made me wonder if i could put anything else in the tank. I really like giant danio's but heard that they will bite the fins of the betta and eventually kill him is this true and if so do you guys have any other ideas for tankmates.

[JC]

It's hard to tell. The betas I've had were realy passive and were usually housed in a tank with a whack of neons and /or zebra danios. I think probably your best bet though for a beta tank mate woudl probably be livebearers or small tetras. Skirted tetras are pretty nippy so that's not a good idea but neons, cardinals, glowlite... that range shoudl work out good.

[Adam]

Like JC said, Mollys, platys, and swordtails will probably make really good additions.  And privovide free food for your fish too, unless you want to try and rescue the fry.  Dwarf gourami's would probably be fine, as well as pretty much any of the smaller species of tetra/danio/rasborra family.  Are there any kinds of fish your interested in trying to keep?  If so if you list them we could give you our opinion on whether they will make good matches or not.

[Derickandbuddo]

I think that giant danios are really cool but i heard they wouldnt go with the betta and that they would kill him is this true.

[Dan]

They are a ;little aggressive for a community fish.  they may nip at the fins of your Betta too.  If you like Danios,  there are many kinds.  Zebra,Leopard and Pearl danios are cool!  Or may a whole slue of Cardinal Tetras would be cool!  What else do you like.  there is plenty to choose from.

[Derickandbuddo]

I do like the zebra danios too but the lady at the pet store today said that they would nip and the fins and that they were to aggressive to go with a betta but a lot of you guys have mentioned them so am i safe in guessing the she was full of "...." or is she right?
P.S. thanks for all of your advice guys keep it coming.

[Dan]

Every now and then Danios, Tetras, and Rasporas  are gonna nip at the fins, but not as much as say maybe,  a Barb would. Cardinal Tetras and maybe Dwarf Gouramis are you best bet, if you're worried about that.  Maybe a Blindcave fish, or even Scissortail Rasporas.   They are hardy and have never been nippers, when I've seen or had them.  They get a little bigger than most Danios or Raspora's too.  Friendly fish!

[JC]

I do like the zebra danios too but the lady at the pet store today said that they would nip and the fins and that they were to aggressive to go with a betta but a lot of you guys have mentioned them so am i safe in guessing the she was full of "...." or is she right?
P.S. thanks for all of your advice guys keep it coming.

Sorry but I've never run into an aggressive zebra danio yet. The ones I"ve had tended to stay well away from my betas.

[Dan]

I agree that they aren't aggressive as say a Giant Danio,  but they will every once in awhile, nip at a long-finned fish. When I was younger and had a community tank,  they used to nip at the Angel's fins sometimes, but it's purely minor regardless, so if I were you,  I wouldn't make it stop me from buying them.

[raven]

Zebra D's do nip at fins, but not in an aggressive way, they just love to play tag, no joke! Another nice little fish that you could have in a decent sized colony would be those Mountain Cloud minnow things. (Sorry! It's been so long, I can't remeber the right name!) They are really pretty, and are small and non aggressive, and would look fabulous in a large school. Hatchets would be neat too. Why not get a female Betta for Mr betta, then you can watch them breed. They make little bubble nests, and lay their eggs in it. If you do that, though, skip the Hatchets! They'll be toast!
Fancy guppies would be nice, too. They are pretty, and make lots of babies, like cons! LOL. Seems an awful waste to have a Betta and 4 corries in a 55! You could downsize to a 20 gal, and still add more small fish! Then you could use your 55 for an Oscar, or some other, larger fish. Just an idea! 

[Adam]

Its my understanding having talked to commercial breeders of Bettas that the males and females cannot be housed together perminantly, they can only be put together when both are conditioned to breed and ideally only when the male has already build his bubble nest.  If you put them in before that, either the male will kill the female, or the female will kill the male.

[Dan]

You know Adam,  it's funny you said that, because I was always wondering, when they had a tank full of females or a tank with a few females, why there was never a male in with them.

[raven]

I have also heard this, but only after my own experience with them. I had a male, and then proceeded to add a female. They got along fine. They began to act as though they were pairing up. I was pretty excited about it. I added an apple snail to their tank. I dunno if it was the snail, or just the Bettas bein' Bettas, but they did make a bubble nest, and laid eggs, and he began fertilizing, but that friggin' snail kept devouring the nest, eggs and all. They kept trying and trying, but eventually the male freaked out and killed the female. I was so dissapointed. So now I'm left wondering; was it just that this is the way breeding Bettas are, or was it the snail stressing them out?
I will be trying this again soon, and will have a seperate tank in case the aggression starts up. Needless to say, there will be no snail!! IME, not everything stated in Adam's post was applicable to my own situation, as I just bought a random male, and added a random female afterwards. They did attempt breeding with no prompting of any sort from me. But, the male did kill the female later, however, so there is some truth to it. I have not read anything on the net about this behaviour in Bettas, but I have heard this information before. I guess in the end it's whatever happens, happens.
When I do start my little 7.5 up with Bettas, I'll let you guys know how it goes.
Adam; do you know if it's possible to have more than 1 female with the male at a time, like a colony, or are they "pair only" breeders? I only know as much as my own experience has taught me... not very much yet!

[Adam]

I dont know... I have talked to one commercial breeder and 3 amateur breeders.  And all told me exactly what I repeated above.  THe put the females in for only as long as it takes them to breed, never longer then 48 hours, and usually as quickly as 4 hours.  They tend to house them in adjacent bowls/tanks so that they can see each other but not attack each other, this usually promotes fast breeding when they are introduced.  If you want to try building a colony you can, but everything I have heard says dont do it.

[JC]

Yeah I"m kind of on with Adam with that one. Most of what I heard of betas, to promote fast breeding , the females actuallyhad to witness a male fight (though not to full term, but just to see one fish disappear for her to get  the idea that one was dominant) and win to get ready for him.  Sounds pretty chauvinistic I know. But whaddaya want. It's all in hte genes right?