# Male Betta In Community Of 20+



## BettaLovesEveryone15 (Apr 21, 2011)

Me and my roommate have recently bought a 29 gallon fish tank. We have had it for about a month now and i would consider ourselves still pretty amateur, we dont know too much about this stuff yet. However we do have our male betta living with a community of 20+ fish and everyone gets along totally fine. I have searched the internet and can not find anything like this occurring before, especially in such a small tank (29). We have plenty of things in the tank for hiding and stuff. I recently went down to our local river and got some good drift wood and added it. I just want to know if anyone else has done this before. Dont worry i will post pictures once i can get some good ones. But here is everything we have in our 29 gallon tank:

1 male betta 
3 Guppies
2 Mollies
5 Neon Tetra
7 Zebra somthing small fish, like neon tetra
2 Clear fish, again dont know name, about inch and half Ghost Catfish
1 Shark, all black, red back fin Red Tailed Shark
1 Shark, All red fins, Grey body maybe called Rainbow Shark?
3 Ghost shrimp
2 bottom feeder fish
1 Pearl Bailey maybe Gouami (sp)
1 Silver Dollar
1 Angle Fish
1 Frog
1 Clown Loach (sp) loch?
1 River Monster, thats what we called it, think its a Plecostomus

But like i said i could not find this happening anywhere els online, and with this small of tank but everyone does fine, no fights ever, it does seem like a lot of fish unless they are all hiding. We have a lot of fake plants, 1 peice of drift wood on bottom, 2 suctioncuped on sides, 1 lava like rock, and 3 plastic store bought cave things. I just want to konw if this is really amazing or if were just lucky. Like i said they have all been living together for about 1 month now. Betta was the first to be put in tank for a couple days. Will post pictures if anyone comments on this, my first post btw. Please give us your feedback!

ps we really want to add one more betta, they look so cool, horrible idea?


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## Ethan (Dec 3, 2010)

All I have to say is............. I think you need a 45+ with 33 fish! Gouramis can not go with bettas! They are to much related! if you really want to know why they don't fight is because they're so close together and can't see each other! You, cannot add more bettas since you bought a male. 

(ps we really want to add one more betta, they look so cool, horrible idea?)-sounds like you already know its wrong sorry saying all this but it is absolutely the truth....... but you can get more bettas in 2.5+ gallon tanks the bigger the more decorating you can do

Please do more research before adding anything else! And please get a 45+ gallon tank I think you may need a 60. Besides some of those fish do NOT go together.

But besides all that welcome to www.bettafish.com! I hope to see you asking more questions and adjusting your setup.


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## BabyFishie202 (Apr 9, 2011)

Ethan you dont know if the betta and the gouramis will fight. I have housed a gourami and a betta in a 20 gallon tank and they were perfectly OK. It all depends on the fish


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Sorry...but you are not only overstocked but poorly stocked and its just a matter of time before things go bad and the tank crashes......

You have 5 species alone that will need at least 125gal or bigger and several species that should not be kept together, species that need to be kept in schools, species that have different chemistry needs and the list goes on.......

I strongly suggest that you take all the fish back to the pet shop-do lots of research and start over.......

Welcome to the forum.......


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

BabyFishie202 said:


> Ethan you dont know if the betta and the gouramis will fight. I have housed a gourami and a betta in a 20 gallon tank and they were perfectly OK. It all depends on the fish


So far you have been lucky....its just a matter of time.....you may not see any physical fighting...but the stress level can get to a point that the immune response is compromised and fish start getting sick........Its important to meet the needs of all the fish you keep based on adult size, social needs, chemistry, water temp, territory...etc......


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## Ethan (Dec 3, 2010)

Wow OFL I thought I was being a little big on those tanks 125 gal. is huge! That is way to much for any college room I have heard of! I agree with OFL that you absolutely need to bring them back to to store! BabyFishie202 I have been reading for 2 years straight you cannot keep a betta with a gourami :lol: if I didn't know that I would be keeping bettas & gourami together :lol: my dad loves those! like OFL said its bound for a fish fight  when a betta and a gourami start they never end......why I know this is because bettas & gourami are like the most territorial fish :lol: never keep those two together it spells 
d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r 


OldFishLady-Do you think I did a good job summing it up besides the tank needs :lol: I've been learning from you since I entered this forum


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Ethan said:


> Wow OFL I thought I was being a little big on those tanks 125 gal. is huge! That is way to much for any college room I have heard of! I agree with OFL that you absolutely need to bring them back to to store! BabyFishie202 I have been reading for 2 years straight you cannot keep a betta with a gammori :lol: if I didn't know that I would be keeping bettas & Gammoris together :lol: my dad loves those!
> 
> 
> OldFishLady-Do you think I did a good job summing it up besides the tank needs :lol: I've been learning from you since I entered this forum


You did a good job.....

A couple of those species get over 2ft and bigger....125gal would still be too small...

Also, when I see post like this OP....It remind me of *TROLL* like behavior....maybe we shouldn't post any more until the OP responds and provides some pic


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## Ethan (Dec 3, 2010)

True.......thank you  

2 ft. wow that's long!

Ok, I'll wait until the OP responds


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## BettaLovesEveryone15 (Apr 21, 2011)

I have to wait until dark to get some good photos! But i have no idea what a troll is referring to but i am certainly not one! and dont worry when the fish get big hopefully we'll have enough money and have another tank to put them in. I am not trying to be evil, they all really do seem to get along fine. Ill post pictures in 2 hours when its dark. But how do you post pictures on here.. is it easy? and what about video?


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## Burd (Apr 10, 2011)

Posting videos has to be done on youtube and you'd link to it in your post.
Pictures can be uploaded when you make a reply.

And while I don't want to add to the chanting, your tank really is over stocked... They might seem okay, but that's all they are - "ok". They're not thriving and they will definitely not be thriving in a few months/years time when they're full grown.

The internet has a general rule of thumb: 1 inch of fish per 1 gallon. This works okay with smaller fish. Once you get to 12"+ you're talking one humongous tank or many large tanks to house all the fish you currently have. At this point, I agree with what OldFishLady said... take them back and start over, especially if you're new to this and just went OMGFISHIMGONNABUYEMALL.

I hope you haven't taken what anyone, including myself, has said as ranting or insulting. I can't speak on anyone else's behalf but.. I do believe all of us here are concerned fish lovers who just want the best for the little fishy people we choose as companions.

----

BTW... a troll on the internet is a person who goes onto a forum or a chat room and makes themselves purposefully into a nuisance and incites flaming, insults, or (what they were assuming in your case) posts an outlandish situation that was meant to stir trouble. If you genuinely came in peace, disregard! But now you know what a 'troll' is.


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## artes (Apr 14, 2011)

You can't just keep two sharks together - they'll eventually try to kill each other. I would normally say you need a group of them, but in your case, just one. Plectos get huge. Clown loaches need to be in groups, and they get huge - same with silver dollars. Also, mollies tend to be fin nippers, and might go after your betta.


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## BettaLovesEveryone15 (Apr 21, 2011)

Got some decent pictures. Hope they come out well on here. What you can mainly see is our Betta with different fish. Mostly with Guppies, Tetras, Mollies, Silver Dollar and Angel fish, you can see the Pearl Gouami or whatever in the background of a few, have to look close though. Also there is the Red Tailed Shark in a few. 

And so far i have one big question: Can they live together or like another month till we can get another tank or half of them?

If these dont come out right on here you can see them at: http://s1184.photobucket.com/albums/z324/Bettaloveseveryone/


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## artes (Apr 14, 2011)

If everything is going fine now, they'll likely be fine for another month or two. But I would work on another tank quickly.


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## jespenguin (Feb 13, 2011)

You would have to get multiple huge tanks to be able to keep these fish. The pleco is the fish that can get 2ft long, which would be a 125 gallon. The clown loach would be a 55 gallon. Silver dollars require schools of around 6 to be happy, grow to 8 inches, so there is a 300 gallon. Ghost catfish also prefer to be in groups of 6. Angel fish grow huge to about 6 inches. Frogs are blind and will not be able to out compete all these fish for food, so the odds of him starving are really good. You really want to find out what your sucker fish are, because if it was sold as an algae eater at petsmart (which carry all the fish you bought so im assuming thats where you went), there are really chinese algae eaters and also grow up to be HUGE and aggressive, might be nice and small now, but they eventually suck to fish and eat their slime coat. I'd say keep your guppy, tetras, mollies, and get a couple more ghost catfish and you'd have a very happy community tank. Right now you have a hodpodge of community up to extremely aggressive fish in there. When you shop at petsmart/petco they have their fish color coated as to what tank youd be going for, community, semi-aggressive, aggressive. Some are HIGHLY mislabeled so do your own research. But really your going to want to find homes for these fish. Also did you read about cycling your tank properly, and how did you add these fish, as in all at once or 3-6 at a time every 2 weeks.


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## BettaLovesEveryone15 (Apr 21, 2011)

Alright that was really good advice, thank ya. I'm open to alot more. But ya i got all these fish at petco but there were not any stickers or anything. But i added them all throughout hte course of a month or less. About 5 at a time, letting them rest on top for a while then putting each kind in seperately. I have no idea what cycling a tank is i would be glad if you told me. But do i really need those big of tanks, that sounds ridiculous and no one would ever be able to get any of these fish without spending thousands. Also i dont get why they get along so good right now, cant they grow up and like eachother since they have been together since a young age and get feed regularly. some animals can do that, for example we also have a cat and a pitbull that get along great and even play. Fish capable of this? Haha sorry if that sounds crazy. But i am totally open to any fish advice that you guys think beginners don't get told and need to know. Thanks.


Also can you not build a fish tank? Me and my roomamte have been thinking about this latley, they are not cheap. Could you just glue the glass together if you think you were capable? Also do they not have the thick see-through plastic like at big aquariums and couldnt you build a tank out of that? Tell me if i'm missing something here..


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## tracyalexa (Mar 29, 2011)

Can't address the fish issue because I think the experts have already explained the dangers. But I can address what you just said about your pit and your cat. I had a pit rescue for years. I had a cat & 2 pits that grew up together since they were all 10 weeks old. They slept together, ate together, played together. Never one issue.....never until one day we went out and came home to a dead cat. This was 4 yrs into their lives. I knew better. I'd heard the stories, I knew. Yet, I hoped, mine would be different. They weren't. A pit bull is bred and good at what it's bred for. Can you home them with other animals, sure you can. Are there cases where it never happens? Sure. But in the end, a pit is a pit and there is nothing you can do to change that. You can't love it out of them, you can't say "but mine is the sweetest thing ever". Mine was too, mine slept with my infant child. Mine is still living happily with my ex but guess what? She's killed 3 more cats since then that were let roam into her yard....I promise you, a pit gives no warning and will snap a kitty's neck and then come lick you without thinking it ever did anything wrong. 

****Sorry for the off topic rant guys.....just wanted to offer that bit of info.*****


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## artes (Apr 14, 2011)

300 gallon is overkill, I think, but you would need at least a 75 to house the plecto/clown loaches/a couple more silver dollars comfortably. What I would do is split this up into two tanks - keep the guppies, mollies, betta, neons, danios, and one shark in the 20 gallon (it would be preferable to upgrade that to a 30, but 20 would work for now). Then, move the loaches, plecto, silver dollar, and 1 shark to the 75 gallon. Get at least three - four more silver dollars and clown loaches. Add some driftwood and decorations for the loaches/plecto to hide in, and that would be a lovely tank I think. Making tanks should only be done by experienced people who have researched for a long time. Tanks are very, very easy to screw up. I would search Craigslist for a cheap 75 (make sure they prove it holds water before you take it home), and a 30-40 if you wish to upgrade the 20.


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## jespenguin (Feb 13, 2011)

Go to the monster fish keepers forum, 300 is not overkill. And people do spend thousands on these fish. And having 4-5 8" fish in a 75 gallon tank sounds cruel when you look at. As far as the growing up together part, maybe if you were looking at the neons and angel there have been success stories. But there are just as many fatalities. You have to look at it as if it were nature, some of these fish are down the food chain to the others, its like your baiting them with delicious treats.


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## jespenguin (Feb 13, 2011)

And for cycling tank, the basic breakdown is that fish produce ammonia from their waste products. An uncycled tank does not have the bacteria to break down the ammonia and it continues to build until its toxic and burns the gills and scales killing your fish. To cycle your tank you need an ammonia source (for you its actually having fish, google fish in cycling). Your going to need a good water testing kit (API Masterkit is HIGHLY recommended). In order for your water to be consideded safe ammonia needs to be below .25, along with very low nitrItres (also toxic to fish), and 10-20ppm in nitrAtes. You can go on about a cycle all day, but a good google search will help. To keep everything low you'll probably need to do daily partial water changes, if your tank is cycled everything but nitrAtes will be at zero. But you NEED to do this or all your fish are going to suffer.


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## artes (Apr 14, 2011)

I'm on MFK. 300 is still overkill. Personally, I would pick a 90 for those fish, but a 75 would work fine. You have to work within people's budgets - if they're going to keep these fish, which it seems like they are, the 75 gallon would house them fine. Three loaches, four silver dollars, and a plecto could be perfectly happy. They may not be the most comfortable fish in the world, but heck, I'd be more comfortable in a mansion too, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't live in an apartment in the meantime. With proper filtration and water changes, they would be fine.


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

artes said:


> I'm on MFK. 300 is still overkill. Personally, I would pick a 90 for those fish, but a 75 would work fine. You have to work within people's budgets - if they're going to keep these fish, which it seems like they are, the 75 gallon would house them fine. Three loaches, four silver dollars, and a plecto could be perfectly happy. They may not be the most comfortable fish in the world, but heck, I'd be more comfortable in a mansion too, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't live in an apartment in the meantime. With proper filtration and water changes, they would be fine.


That is the thing though… in the mean time. Will the OP get an even bigger tank after they outgrow the 75-90? 

Also, regardless of the overstocking, some of these fish are incompatible. Not to mention the starving frogs...

I personally don't think multiple fish upwards of a foot long will be comfortable in a 75 gallon. If you can't keep a fish totally happy, healthy, and comfortable, then why have them at all? Why put them through the stress? 

Bettaloveseveryone, I really think you need to take some of those fish back to the store.


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