Badmans Tropical Fish Message Center: archive:
Betta splendens
cq
Thursday,
June 28, 2001 - 04:09 pm
Please
help me if you have ever kept a betta in a community aquarium. I
am planning out the contents of my aquarium. Right now, I have platies
and am planning to add a couple of small gourami along with some
catfish in the future after cycling completes. Can anyone tell me
if introducing a betta to this tank will create chaos?
Kick
Thursday,
June 28, 2001 - 08:33 pm
I
wouldn't do it. Bettas are better off left by themselves. Their
long flowing fins attract the others, and you will see in a very
short time, the betta has no fins left. They are a more stationery
fish, and don't swim alot, giving the aggressor ample time to
attack. And with gouramis and cats in this tank, I definitely would
not add this particular fish.
Anonymous
Friday,
June 29, 2001 - 02:30 am
But
would platties be a problem for one?
Kick
Friday,
June 29, 2001 - 08:36 am
About
the only thing that I can tell you regarding platys is to try it.
I just prefer to keep my bettas as safe as possible, and keep them
in their own quarters. I learned very quickly years ago with my
first betta. Placed him in "peaceful" community tank, and
everything seemed to be going great for everyone. However, the next
morning, my betta had absolutely no fins left. To press the point
further, I removed him immediately, but he was so beat up, he did
not survive. Taught me a big lesson about what may happen after
lights out, and I have just never taken the risk since.
Laura W.
Friday,
June 29, 2001 - 11:27 am
Kick-
off that subject, but did you get to actually post your message?
Working now?
cq
Friday,
June 29, 2001 - 01:30 pm
After
watching my platys for the last couple of days, I am leaning towards
agreeing with you. I have three right now in a tank that just finished
cycling and my male has become agressive towards his two "girlfriends".
He is continually chasing them around and I have caught him nipping
at their tail fins.
marie6749
Friday,
June 29, 2001 - 05:38 pm
cq-
I also have 3 platys in a tank, they are the only fish in there.
My male is doing the same thing to his "girlfriends". Constantly
chasing them and occasionally nipping at their tails. I added some
more "hiding spots" to my tank. Now at least they can get
away from him. He has just started this and I don't know why.
Just thought it was odd that we are both having the same problem.
Kick
Friday,
June 29, 2001 - 06:56 pm
What
you are seeing is the male trying to breed with the females. Seeing
this would only confirm that a betta is not a good choice for this
tank.
Kick
Friday,
June 29, 2001 - 06:57 pm
That
message went okay. Now I will try another.
Well, it appears to be working at this moment. I guess I will try
some other topics to see what happens.
Carlos
Saturday,
June 30, 2001 - 03:39 pm
Oh
wow, no more incredibly annoying pop ups every time I go to a new
page...
This sounds a lot like my very first question, about betta tankmates.
One day when I have a bowl on hand I'll find out if bettas work
with small tetras, and then I'll get back to you all.
cq
Sunday,
July 01, 2001 - 10:04 am
I
tried posting a question today and had the same error. I am really
getting tired of this!
jeff
Sunday,
July 01, 2001 - 12:17 pm
cq..we
are really sorry about your message posting problems..badman is
working on it..it does not seem to effect everyone.. his server
plus the pop-ups(he didn't want)..seems to cause problems
too..so please be patient..we are tryin hard..jeff(moderator)
Saturday,
July 14, 2001 - 10:45 am
I
have had a lovely betta for about 4 months. He is in a fairly large
fish bowl with no filtration or additional air. He has river stones
in the bottom and seems OK. Is there any other fish we can add that
he would enjoy interacting with? Dumb question?? He seems healthy
and he's lovely
joycedonley
Saturday,
July 14, 2001 - 10:52 am
Kick
is the betta expert and she will probably reply to your post when
she get a chance. From reading her betta input, I would say NO do
not add any other fish. Goldfish are very messy and will pollute
your water. Tropicals need heaters and filtration. Also most fish
will chew on your bettas fins.
Kick
Saturday,
July 14, 2001 - 05:38 pm
Can't
really add any others with the betta just being in a bowl. Gouramis
are also anabantoids (get their air supply from the surface
of the water), but these do not usually go well with bettas
and grow too large for a bowl. Stick with keeping him by himself.
All other species that "might" possibly work need aeration
in the water that cannot be provided in a bowl situation. Sorry.
Anonymous
Thursday,
July 19, 2001 - 02:06 am
Hmm...I
have my betta in a 20 gallon tank with two bronze cory cats, and
they seem to get along just fine...there's no other inhabitants
at this time, so perhaps it is just amply roomy. Who can say with
those tricky bettas...you all may have already seen this website,
but this lady seems to know alot about bettas... http://www.bettatalk.com/
good luck
Anonymous
Thursday,
July 19, 2001 - 06:37 am
so
does kick!
joycedonley
Thursday,
July 19, 2001 - 07:34 am
Are
you guys two different anonymous people?
Kick
Saturday,
July 21, 2001 - 10:33 am
To
anonymous No. 1 (how about some names here...we won't bite!!!)
The corys will usually be okay with bettas, however, the cories
get their air supply differently from the betta, and if you don't
have any aeration or filtration for them, they won't be lasting
long. (Read my previous post.) You "can" keep certain
species with bettas, but you need to pick and choose wisely if you
want the betta's fins to remain intact.
boofish
Monday,
July 23, 2001 - 12:27 pm
oh
yes there is filtration etc (I'm not talking about a fish
bowl.) I was too lazy to pick a username, I'm sorry. My
betta really loves the aquarium, he swims all over the place. Thx
for advice. Have any of you ever kept any tetras with a betta? What
kinds? What kind of results did this bring?
Kick
Monday,
July 23, 2001 - 06:18 pm
Boofish,
(thanks for the name, and it is pretty cool BTW)I usually
don't keep anything in with my bettas. I fear the results as
posted above and just dont' take the chance. However, I do know
folks who have had cories in with them and they do fine. Also recently,
I have experienced much algae in my divided betta tank and purchased
some oto cats. Low and behold, they basically ignore each other,
so I know otos will now work too. Some of the tetra varieties like
to pick and chase the betta, and about the only thing you could
do to see is try. I will warn you, however, that things could look
great in the daylight, but when lights out, they might perform "undercover"
and create problems for the betta. If you do try this (or maybe
someone can tell you for sure), let us know how things turn
out.
Tuesday,
July 24, 2001 - 05:44 pm
just
thougth i add my experience....I have neon tetras(four)
in a 5 gallon tank with a betta. He chased them at first bc he was
so spoiled all by himself in a five...But for about three months
all seems well. No fin damage.
boofish
Tuesday,
July 31, 2001 - 06:34 pm
thanks
guys, i will let you know what i try.
cq
Tuesday,
July 03, 2001 - 12:22 pm
Noticed
something weird in my tank today as I was feeding. I noticed one
of my fish going after what looked like a really tiny piece of flake.
I was amazed to find that the "flake" avoided the fish and
darted away. THis happened a couple more times until it dove down
into the substrate. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a really
tiny white speck in sort of a triangular shape. Does anyone have
a clue as to what this might be?
peter
Tuesday,
July 03, 2001 - 05:16 pm
have
you ever watched or read "Horton Hears a Who"?
If you turn off your filter and stay quiet for a while, you may
be able to hear them faintly chanting, " We're here! We're
here! We're here!"
jeff
Wednesday,
July 04, 2001 - 12:01 am
cq..flat
with kinda arrowhead shape head?..could be planaria...feeding on
waste in substrate..
cq
Wednesday,
July 04, 2001 - 09:35 am
Thanks
Jeff. Are they dangerous to fish? Should I be doing anything to
get rid of these things? I noticed more today
Kick
Wednesday,
July 04, 2001 - 09:44 am
Testing
to see if I can post here. I can't seem to post on any of the
other topics but this went the first time so will try to help here.
If you have live plants, they may have entered the tank in this
way. They will not hurt anything as long as their numbers are kept
in check. Siphoning the gravel surface, "underfeeding" the
fish or getting a gourami to eat them will help reduce them. I don't
know of a product right now that will kill them, but maybe Jeff
will have an idea.
Overfeeding and poor maintenance of a tank are the reasons these
critters develop and mulitply.
jeff
Wednesday,
July 04, 2001 - 11:21 am
cq..you
didn't confirm that's what I described..if it is planaria(most
likely)..as kick said usually overfeeding is the problem..simply
stop feedin for a few days of try the blue or 3 spot gourami as
kick suggested..
cq
Wednesday,
July 04, 2001 - 02:28 pm
I
really don't know Jeff. How big do planaria get? These things
look like little triangular shaped specks. I did a little research
on planaria on the net and the pictures I saw don't really correspond
to what's in my tank. They literally are little tiny specks.
I will keep a close watch and let you know if I see anything new.
At any rate, thanks for all your help
jeff
Wednesday,
July 04, 2001 - 03:56 pm
cq..no
prob..I just wanted to be sure is all..planaria can get to about
1/2" long..if you can just suck some out of your substrate and
look at them through a magnifying glass if you can..then we will
know for sure
Kick
Thursday,
July 05, 2001 - 10:01 am
It
may not be planaria or maybe they are in the juvenile form right
now and eyeballing them can't tell you exactly what they are
yet. As Jeff mentioned, if you can catch one, look under mag glass
and describe further, you many have some kind of "bug" instead.
At any rate, if it "avoided" the fish, maybe the fish you
have in the tank will eventually eat them. But I would hold back
on the feeding some to diminish their food supply. If you think
planaria is not what you have, email me and I can send you some
pictures and maybe you can decide from there what is swimming around
"unwanted" in your tank.
Anonymous
Friday,
July 06, 2001 - 01:26 pm
It
sounds like it could be a sea monkey (juvenile ghost shrimp).
Do you keep any shrimp? They make good food if that's what it
is.
cq
Friday,
July 06, 2001 - 01:50 pm
Don't
keep any shrimp. I have been keeping my eyes peeled for these things
the last couple of days and have seen nothing. Maybe my platies
are eating whatever they are (God knows they eat everything
else that gets in their way). BTW, I now have a tank full of
platies: 3 originals, 3 juveniles that survived from the last batch
of fry, and around 10-15 new fry and one of my females is pregnant
again! Very overwhelming. Should have done more research on livebearers
before I bought them. I either need to find a fish that thinks little
platies make a great afternoon snack or find someone to take all
these fish off my hands when they grow up!!
cq
Friday,
July 06, 2001 - 01:50 pm
On
the bright side, looks like all the posting problems are fixed.
No problems today or yesterday
joycedonley
Friday,
July 06, 2001 - 10:49 pm
Cq
sometimes the parents will eat the fry. Are you saving them all
or are your platy just being 'nice' parents? I know if you
had swordtails in there they would chow them down. Platy are less
likely to eat fry than most of the other livebearers.
