chipster55

I have a 55 and 75 gallon tank. The 55 is cycled and stocked with community type schooling fish(danios,tetras,etc). I also have 2 betas I would like to add to each tank. My 2nd tank will also be non-aggressive fish. I also have a red tail shark. Will betas be OK in these tanks..Thanks in advance.

Chip

chickadee

The tetras are fin nippers and cannot be in the same tank with Bettas or you will have a Betta with fin rot or infected fins before long.* There are some owners who have gotten by with it, but as a general rule you will be taking a horrible risk by placing them together.* I do not know if I am misunderstanding you, but you do not intend to put 2 Bettas into the same tank do you?* If this is the case, then that cannot be done either.* They will at the very least injure each other, and will probably one of them will be killed.* I do not know the reaction of the Bettas to Danios as I do not know a thing about them, but if they have any length of fins at all, I would wonder if the Bettas would mistake them for other Bettas (even females)* When I looked up their pictures, I find that they should not pose a problem fin wise, but they will probably be chased and harassed by the Bettas when the territorial rights are being set up.* As far as the shark goes, I would not put the two together for the same reason as the tetras,* I am so afraid there would be fin nipping and you would be better safe than sorry.* Bettas are just really not fish for a community tank often.* They really do much better in a tank where they are the center of attention with just a couple of Otos or a small shoal of Cories depending on the size of the tank.* You must remember that Bettas have been seperated from other fish and from each other almost from birth and do not know that other fish are allowed to share their water.* They are much closer to their human owners and acquire a wonderful personality because of this.* You will not find it easy to find a fish that they relate to.* There are some owners on this forum who are lucky enough to have Bettas who love their tankmates but they are few and very far between, so please proceed with caution and if possible have other tanks at the ready just in case the additions do not work out should you decide to go ahead with the additions to the bigger tanks.

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Rose