poppet

Hi, it's Poppet again. I have been reading about betta's and how they fight with other males. I am wondering if I could put a female betta in with my 2 platys. So far I have a pair a male and female platy (which are just beautiful) and I am going to get another female tomorrow. I also want to add some more cory cats, a silver shark and some guppies. Will they all be able to live together and will the betta be ok with them. By the way I wont get the rest of the fish (except the platy) until my water has cycled properly as I dont want to be responsible for the deaths of other fish. I am just looking to the future and trying to plan my fish family.

COBettaCouple

Silver sharks reach 13" and need a tank of at least 40 gallons. It's not recommended to have fish small enough for them to eat in their tank. A female betta might get along with the platys and guppies, but it would depend on her personality and aggressiveness. The cory cats are probably the most compatible fish for bettas.

bbfeckawitts

Like FLbettacouple said, Silver sharks get huge and need atleast a 55gal+ tank. The betta may be fine, or it may not. Just make sure you have somewhere else to put it so that if a problem erupts no one gets hurt. Brianna

chickadee

I am so sorry to say that the members of the Betta Board have found lately that the Female Bettas are even worse with tank mates than the males. In my own personal experience, I had a female who killed the other 4 female bettas and 3 Cories, and 2 Otos with her and ended up having to have a tank to herself until she died. I have not had a male that vicious and I have had many. I would hesitate trying to make a Betta into a community tank fish. They are not raised to be and do not have the natures for it. The sharks are also on the aggressive side of semi-aggressive and do not need to be placed with peaceful fish for them to make a meal of. And it is so true that they are going to outgrow your tank and you are going to find that any aggressive fish becomes MORE aggressive as they feel move crowded and feel they need more space and there are intruders in THEIR way.

Rose

COBettaCouple

That's true.. our 4 females in 1 tank disaster illustrated the aggressiveness of female bettas. Despite what the 'fish expert' at Petco told us (his idea to put 4 females in 1 tank sounded good to ignorant us at the time), female bettas will 99% of the time not get along together. That misinformation along with "females aren't as aggressive as males" seems to be common in the LPS/LFS.

poppet

Thanks for the advice, I think I have now decided against silver sharks and bettas. We have a 50 gallon tank so I think there is plenty of room for some more little fish though. Now I am thinking of more platys, (since the 2 we now have are so cute) cory cats, guppies and some neon tetras. What do you think about this mix. Will they get along ok. Since I am new to all this I see a lot of fish that I like but just dont know what will live together well. I certainly don't want any of our fish fighting or being eaten!

COBettaCouple

I think that mix sounds good.

poppet

Thanks for the advice once again...

bbfeckawitts

It will be a beautiful tank! Brianna

Fishface

Poppet, just for the record

I have three female bettas in a comunity tank together and they get along just fine!

Thenipped and flared the first few days, and I used a three way breeder to acclimate them to each other

But they are all different colors and have such inquisitve personalities! It's worth it

(I have heard it can vary between individual fish, though!!!)


Ashley

COBettaCouple

Do you know if those females were raised together? You've gotten a 1% situation going there, so congratulations on it.