Can I put another fish with my beta?

Question

I have a 6 gallon tank...would the beta eat the other fish

if not, what other fish can i get

thanks for your responses guys, always appreciated :)

Answer 1

i had an aquarium full of different little fishies including a Beta/Siamese fighting fish. One word of warning, dont mix the Beta with little fish like Guppies or BumbleBee Gobies etc... the are attracted to biting the colourful fins of the of Beta. But generally, my little hub of an aquarium did all good with one Beta (male) plus gouramis, guppies (found out the hard way about the beta thing though my beta still lived happily) and things i called 'grubbies' i cant remember what the heck they were but they were awesome... kinda like minute catfish!

Answer 2

The betta will feel territorial towards any fish introduced now.  He's been living there for a while, so introducing a new fish now would be like if someone moved into your living room without telling you.  You would be concerned, and would kindly usher the person to the door, then give them a solid boot on the behind and tell them to get lost.  For this reason, you should introduce both fish at the same time to the aquarium.  Take your betta out of the tank, and put him in a temporary tank for a week.  Rearrange all the decorations in the tank he was in so that when he comes back, he thinks he's in a new place.  

While you have a week, this is a good time to condition your betta to his new friend.  Only use gentle fish who won't nip his fins.  Fin nipping species are a big no-no because they'll pester your poor betta.  Also avoid fish who are of a great size difference (big fish eat small fish).  Put your new fish in a tank next to your betta for a week to get them used to one another.  Let them both see one another.  You'll notice that the betta will flare at first, then not flare so much later.  This is a gradual taming process and will lower your betta's aggression over time.  It is extremely important to tame your betta.  Any betta who lives alone and unable to see other fish goes a little crazy from the solitary confinement and is very aggressive.  By taming your betta, you are lowering his aggression and therefore the risk to both fish when you introduce them.  

Now, I don't think six gallons is necessarily the best place for you to start adding fish.  Maybe you might like a ten gallon tank?  You can have a lot more fish live comfortably in that and have a heater and a filter and live plants and a light or two.  Personally, I have seven female bettas, a female guppy, and a male betta in my ten gallon.  That's a little too many (I'm a tad overstocked, which means I have to clean the tank weekly instead of biweekly), yet everyone in the tank gets along and there aren't too many ripped fins.  The key is to have plenty of hiding spaces, introduce all the bettas at the same time, and to let them have enough bettas to establish a hierarchy of dominance.  Kind of like how you never see only two wolves together.  You need like six wolves to have a wolf pack, and alpha wolf and his/her follower beta wolves.  So that's another reason to go with the ten gallon.  Edit:  Only have one male in a tank.  I mean the wolf thing about female bettas, how shouldn't have only two female bettas together but having six is just fine.  Sorry that wasn't clear

These are just some suggestions.  I'm no expert.  But I do love bettas and I love having a whole tank of them, colorful, energetic, and happy.

Answer 3

Beta's will rip your other fishes fins off and start ripping it apart  so dont out any fish with you beta

Answer 4

NOOOO don't put another fish in there!!! Trust me, from experience,  beta + other fish = fish floating at the top of the bowl, esp. with male betas.

I don't know what other fish you can put in, try going to petsmart and they will tell you. All I know is that female beta get along well, you could try girls instead of boys.

Answer 5

Yes, you can put fish in with a betta. Bettas should mainly be kept in a group of one, unless you want to have females, then it is 2 females for every male you get. I will be right back with my approved list of tank mates for your betta!!

Ok, so the following are all very compatible tank mates for your betta.

Bala Shark, Catfish, Glofish, Molly, Pearl Gourami, Platy, Rainbow Shark, Red Tailed Shark, Swordtail, Three Spot Gourami, Upsidedown Catfish, and the Zebra Danio, alog with any other danio.

Once you find the fish that you would like as a tank mate, please email me and I will tell you what size tank is best for the fish to live in and anything else you need to know.

Best of luck! :)

P.S- The main reason for aggression in bettas is when the little guys are crouded in with too many fish. They also cannot go in with guppies, because guppies have a very similar decorative tail like bettas do.

EDIT: You can easily tell the gender of bettas because of how decorative their tails are. I will show you an example with pictures. Female bettas will have shorter, stubbier tails. Males will have gorgeous long, flowing tails.

Here is a great example of a beautiful male-

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/an...

Here is a great example of a female-

http://www.oneworldinternetcafe.com/bett...

Answer 6

no way! you cant put any other fish with a beta! theyd kill each other

Answer 7

Not other male bettas

But you can if the fish have small fins. Because bettas have bad eyesight, and anything that has big fins or tails I'd keep away from.

Answer 8

i have a beta fish i had to remove from my main tank, i have put him in with the sharks in a 5ft tank i have and he seems alright in there........

the males have larger fins and more colour while the females are much smaller

you can put a female in with your male but if the breed then the male will kill the female so you'll have to keep an eye on them

Answer 9

Yes you can keep other fish with a betta, but in a six gallon tank you are a bit limited. Most of the compatible fish are schooling species that need a group of 6 or so, or grow too big for a 6 gal tank.

If you only have a 6gal tank, just stick with the betta, it's a great tank for him, and he should live in there happily for several years.

If you had a 10-20 gal tank then many small community fish could go in with your betta. Cory cats, White cloud minnows, bristlenose pleco, neon tetras, golden barbs etc.

Ian

Answer 10

Yes, you can put other fish in with a betta as long as the other fish does not have longer fins.You also have to be careful of fin nippers such as tiger barbs as they will harass your betta. Good tank mates for bettas are cory catfish, danios, minnows, mollies, platys, rasboras, swordtails, and tetras. They do not get along with gouramis, sharks, or guppies. Males bettas do not get along with other bettas, but females can get along with other females. If you do add more fish, I would only add 2 or 3 because you don't want to overcrowd your tank. Right before introducing new fish to your tank, rearrange the decorations so that your betta is less likely to be territorial.

Male bettas have long fins http://www.petco.com/Shop/AlternateImage...

http://www.petco.com/Shop/AlternateImage...

Females have shorter fins

http://www.petco.com/Shop/AlternateImage...

http://www.petco.com/Shop/AlternateImage...