# Tank mates female betta



## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

So I have a 10 gallon tank that is going to be heavily planted with a snail and female betta who shows little aggression to tank mates. In fact this is her first three hours with the snail and she has completely ignored it. So what would be some good tank mates for her. Since it is female I am not concerned about fin nippers.


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## pittipuppylove (Feb 23, 2012)

Hm... Maybe a few endlers livebearers? I have a few in my community tank and they're fun little buggers. I know guppy-type fish are generally not good choices with males, but no idea about keeping them with females.
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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

You could try to start a female betta sorority! There are nice stickies on here about that. I've also tried neon tetras and they got along wonderfully.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

I have considered a sorority, just haven't found more females I like yet. Guppies and tertra's sound cool. How many can you keep in a 10 gallon.


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## pittipuppylove (Feb 23, 2012)

I want to say 5-6 guppies if they're the only ones in the tank, but it could be more (before I upgraded to a 15 gallon, I think I had 7 in my moderately planted 10 gallon and it was starting to look a bit crowded to me) - you may be able to have that number in with the female. Endlers, a close relative, are pretty small, so you could keep more of them than actual guppies.
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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

PYGMY Cories.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

Don't need Cories since I have a snail and honestly snails are the best cleaners around so I hear. Plus you need them schooled and 10 gallons is too small to keep a proper number even of pygmies.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

PYGMY cories are not bottom feeders. They are considered Mid water swimmers. Neons are good too.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

They are considered bottom dwellers actually and would compete with my snail.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

They spend more time in the middle. But Neons work.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

what about zebra danios? I know they are a major no with male but with a female would they be alright?

Also female guppies? Someone said male guppies wouldn't be an issue with females but I think with such long beautiful tails even a female may pick at them so would female guppies and a female betta do well together? I was also thinking perhaps ramshorn snails since they are pretty but my mystery snail is pretty big and i think that may be a problem from smaller ramshorn snails. He's also a pig too and eats a LOT.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Male guppies may work Zebra Danios are for 20 gallons.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

for tetra's or guppies 5-6 would be okay for a 10 gallon with a snail and planted right? I may not get more fish until my plants are fuller and everyone has better hiding spaces when fights break out. So far Nix is proving she is a peaceful betta like Aquarius. She has left the snail alone aside from one investigative little nudge but there was no bitting. She then decided the snail was boring and her little Asian hut was more exiting and the java fern was more fun to try and swim through the roots....so she could get stuck and freak me out. T.T


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I would try 3. You could fit 5-6 though. But I would not reccomend female Guppies.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

males then? Without female guppies (even if there is a female fish in the tank) should the males leave each other alone or will they fight over the female betta simply because there is a female within the tank? I hear if guppy males outnumber females too much they will fight so even without female guppies in the tank will they fight over the presence of a female fish no matter breed? Again their fins are so beautiful and delicate I would hate to have them rip each other apart.

Also with tetra's if I go that route I will need at least 5 correct? Can you gender them? If it's too hard what is the likelihood of me having to control tetra population in a well planted tank? Will I have babies I have to cull? Magical populating tetra's who over run the tank? Or is their fecundity pretty low in captivity?


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I have more males than females. But females are growing in. I would doubt the males fighting. I have seen guppy fights. They are not even worth fearing. It depends on the Tetra. Neons are pretty hard to breed. 5 will work.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

Okay good to both, I am at a crossroads now xD guppies alone are beautiful fish but tetra's when they school are beautiful. I guess it comes to if a school of 5 would be as impressive as my friends 100 gallon tank with his school of 100 which move so beautifully. Minus having a smaller tank the guppies may be a better choice look wise now I just need to figure out which would get along more with a betta, granted it will be by then a well planted tank.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

It would be safest to put your female in a floating box. Add the fish in and see how she reacts. Schooling is a predator defense.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

I know of that, the fish move together so individuals can not be picked from the group but it makes it no less beautiful when they move in perfect unison making nothing but a mass of shimmer through water. It's an extraordinary sight if ever you get the opertunity to actually see a large school. Unfortunately most people never will.


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## pittipuppylove (Feb 23, 2012)

Personally, I'd probably go with the guppies based on my belief that tetras are active enough fish that they should have a tank that's at least 24" long (I know that many people on this forum disagree with this, but that's how I feel so please refrain from trying to tell me to think otherwise). But it's your tank and you're going to do what you decide is best under your circumstances 
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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Guppies are great fish. I would be careful though. Many are very inbred. My ten gallon is probably more than 24" long.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

Can you mix colors or if you get say the green verity do they all need to be greens? Or can they be say one green, one blue, and one yellow? I know at petsmart they separate by color and then have one tank called 'fancy' where they pretty much just look like a mess of color.


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## pittipuppylove (Feb 23, 2012)

A standard 10 gallon tank is 20" long x 11" deep x 13" tall. 

No reason you can't get different colors, they're all the same species. I'm not entirely sure why Petsmart seperates them out as the guppies certainly don't care if their tankmate is the same color or pattern.
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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Some females will attack and kill guppies. My fiance's female is notorious for killing tankmates. I think I actually posted about that on a similar thread earlier today.

A small school of pygmies (about 5) would be fine in a 10 gallon, since they require less space than a bronze for example, and 5 bronzes (or similarly sized cories) is recommended as the max for a 10. They do spend a lot of time midwater, and they are still bottom feeders (we have 8 in our half-planted 30 gal guppy tank).

I kept my male with platies recently, and didn't really have any issues. The only problem here is that I think they're recommended for 15gals up.

If you're going to try guppies, I would buy commons (feeders) first and see how it goes. That way, if it doesn't work, it didn't cost as much as a group of fancy guppies would've. Plus, commons are really interesting.

I basically hold the same philosophy for bettas that I have for piranhas, "Don't house anything with a betta that you'd mind losing". Every betta is an individual, and some (like Mushu) will tolerate tankmates while some (like Jade) will kill everything else.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

I'm pretty confident she would be fine. She has left the snail well enough alone now aside from rubbing on it a few times or watching it crawl along the glass. When she was younger she was hyper and mean but now that she is matured she's a lot calmer like my boy. In fact I think she is a little afraid of the snail, he's bigger than her. Nix is also small because of stunted growth. I got her as a fry at petco and I kept her fairly well socialized by making sure she could interact with my male when she was a baby side by side with him and his frog. I was actually surprised by how cool she is with my snail. Now the plant is another issue. She isn't sure she is cool with the moss balls....they seem like they are up to something clearly as she is always obsessively watching them because they randomly roll.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Snails and other fish are two different things, and inspire two separate sets of instincts. A snail she'll ignore, or see as food, but other fish might make her territorial.

I'm not trying to discourage you at all, I just don't want you to be disappointed if she doesn't take to tankmates like you want her to. There's a pretty good chance she'll be fine, but expect the unexpected and you'll be prepared for whatever outcome!


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Many People keep Neons in 10 gallons. It would probably work. My 10 looks longer than 20".


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

there really aren't alot of choices for a 10 gallon out there. I know you said you are having a hard time trying to find females that you like, but I really think that'd be the best bet.
If not then I would go ahead and give guppies a shot, of whichever sex you want.
Dwarf rasboras and white cloud minnow's could work as well, they are both schooling species but I think you would be fine with 4 of them plus your female and your snail.

a good website to check is aqadvisor.com when you are stocking a new tank to see if you are overstocked.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

Thanks for the info

And I am always prepared, reason I am skittish about a sorority is they have good chances of going south fast. Plus I don't want to risk another female betta killing my snail.

As for if things go wrong with the guppies I'm only getting three like Choc brought up so if it goes bad I have a spare tank to put them in. 20 gallons. Never set it up because it's a lot of work. I am sure 3 guppies and some tetra's would be okay in a tank like that. xD


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

make sure you keep your male to female ratio 2 ladies for every gentleman. lol or, DON'T make our mistake and just go for a "bachelor" tank...

We're constantly swamped with babies (they can have up to 200+ babies per "litter"), it's to the point where Mike fished out 60 babies and put them in the frog tank, and this was after 2 weeks of feeding fry to the bettas... They put rabbits to SHAME! lol


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

I think all boys sounds more attractive my the second. Nix can have her own group of fish guy friends to swim around with.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Mike had tried feeding a pair of young common males to Jade, and she kept both of them around until we put Mushu by her, then one of them mysteriously disappeared. The other one went into my frog tank with all of my common girls. lol

You should check out platinum guppies, they're one of my favorite varieties


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

Are they fairly common at petstores?


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

I've only seen one place that's carried them locally, but we live in a very small town, your area might have more. We also have half-blacks, cobras, and "Variatus" aka Fancies of no particular variety (or mutt guppies)


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

Cobra's I have seen at our local petshop. They tend not to have healthy fish though.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

because people inbreed them to death. That's another reason I like my common guppies so much, they tend to be the result of outcrossing strains, and they go from fancies to an almost wild form. They're a little less inbred (although all fancies tend to be too inbred) and are generally used in breeding programs to "deepen" the available gene pool.

I currently have a nice magenta and yellow male with a flag fin. He came in a big frog fodder purchase, and I really like the look of him. My other "big" male is all pastel pinks and blues, and from the same batch of breeders.

they also don't take long to recover from bad conditions at the petstores. We have a variatus (fancyxcommon) who survived 3 months in my 55 degree goldfish tank! (Mike tried feeding his excess fry to the goldfish and they missed one) She is now my son's pet fish, and her name is "Crit" after a "crit roll" for survival (D&D).


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Guppies are so Inbred most can ONLY live in freshwater.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

Are the mutts a little healthier then? Because they are bred from various varieties? I think the mixed tank with all the guppies who have mixed colors are mutts and are cheaper than the yellows, greens, ect.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Mine are mutts and no genetic birth defects.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

I think I will try to go for some mutts then, three little mutts and see how they work out. Since they are cheaper if they die before 2 week qt is up it won't be too bad for my paycheck at least.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Mutts look cool too. Mine are dwarf with black bodies and red fins.


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

Hope I can find some cool looking ones. So excited, I want my plants to grow faster so I can go puppy shopping now


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Mle feeders if quarintines are cool. Look up Male wild type guppies.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

my "Fancy" mutt - Mullet









My Common guy - Banner


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

You have Feeders too. Feeders have stopped being born for me.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

I think my frogs or my filter just ate all of my new babies, but I just had 4 litters of commons, and Mike had 3 of plain-colored fancies.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

The Guppies ate it.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

my girls won't eat fry. Some do cannibalize though


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

How do you know? Guppies make the most sense. I thought my old Betta did not eat fry. She left and more Fry came.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

We just transferred 60 babies from the guppy tank to the frog tank, and they were all gone within 3 days.

I think I need to specify, they moved from the tank of guppies, to my tank where my pair of African Clawed Frogs live.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

AFCs they grow huge aggressive and will eat anything.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

yup, that's why he moved all of those babies in there.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Wow 20 gallons is the Miniumum that is big for that frog.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

This is derailing LadyVictorian's thread.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

She seemed to have got the info she wants.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

be that as it may, I'm not hijacking someone else's thread


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## Fishybitty (Dec 29, 2012)

ChoclateBetta said:


> Male guppies may work Zebra Danios are for 20 gallons.


 
Zebra Danios only get about 2inches.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

They are extremely active and need a 20G.


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