# Darn neon tetras fin nipping my betta



## dlite

I always wondered why I would find bite sized marks in my bettas elegant long veil tail, but I just caught one of my small neon tetras in the act of nipping his tail:blueworry:

His tail does heal really quickly though because those missing parts seem to fill back in within a day or two and his tail has really come a long way since I bought him at a lfs. All the fish were added together when I set up my 29g tank 2 months ago, don't get me wrong, my betta is the alpha fish between the tetras, guppies and shrimps but those small neon tetras are really quick. It does make me wonder how amazing his tail would look by now if it wasn't being nipped at.

So if you are thinking about adding neon tetras as tank mates to your betta, they are potential fin nippers :-(.


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## Sena Hansler

Most fish are :lol: I could never put Crayola with other fish because his tail was not only super colorful (hence the name!) but his tail was double the size of his body!! I think it's tetras, barbs and regular mollies who are the worse for the fin nipping ><

I do wonder though, do you have a heck ton of plants? and hidey holes? this can break the line of sight more between the fish and maybe help keep them from nipping him... might not, but just saying


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## Bolder

I have 5 neon tetra in with my Betta, 4ft tank and only 5 Tetra.

I did have female guppies in there also, but when our summer comes all guppies go in the outside pond because they love the sun.
Besides, they are dirty buggers when they feed on flakes.

That is the one good thing about Tetra, being bottom feeders they keep the tank nice and clean.


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## Alanthebro

how do u post something? pls help because im a new user of this web


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## Sena Hansler

when you log in, you can click on the "bettafish.com" on the blue area at the top of the page. Then, choose a category, and click "new thread". you can ask questions, introduce yourself, introduce your fish too


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## Alanthebro

i got the 1st part but where do u find the "category" section?


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## Sena Hansler

It's there when you click on bettafish.com. it comes up as "betta fish care", "betta pictures", "introduce yourself" etc.... click on one of those, and then there should be above all the other posts "new thread". 

that's how you make a new thread  I suggest you could introduce yourself in the "introduce yourself" section, and ask questions there so more people can help you find your way around bettafish!


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## Alanthebro

Thankyou very much for helping me start my profile


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## Sena Hansler

No problem


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## 1fish2fish

How many neons do you have? They do best in large groups and can mess with other fish if they don't have a large enough group of their own kind.


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## Bombalurina

Bolder said:


> I have 5 neon tetra in with my Betta, 4ft tank and only 5 Tetra.
> 
> I did have female guppies in there also, but when our summer comes all guppies go in the outside pond because they love the sun.
> Besides, they are dirty buggers when they feed on flakes.
> 
> That is the one good thing about Tetra, being bottom feeders they keep the tank nice and clean.


Are you thinking of cories? Tetras aren't bottom feeders, they are midswimmers.


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## Sena Hansler

cories are bottom feeders, neones are not even scavengers like some tetras can be (blind cave, skirted)


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## dlite

My 29g houses 1 male betta, 2 fancy guppies (1m/1f) 18 neon tetras(10 small/8 medium sized) and about 14 cherry and ghost shrimps. I agree with Bolder, all 10 of my small neon tetras don't touch the flake food until it reaches the gravel:-? I have since added java moss and java fern to my tank to add more hiding spots for all tank mates to reduce possible territorial aggression.


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## Sena Hansler

Whenever adding new fish (such as introducing a betta to neons) rearrange everything. this makes them scout new territory.


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## Bolder

Bombalurina said:


> Are you thinking of cories? Tetras aren't bottom feeders, they are midswimmers.



No, Tetra, yeah they do swim up and down, I see them scavenging on the bottom a lot also, mainly on the bottom.

I have mum and dad out of that tank now as I have put the half grown babies in there, I seem to be getting mostly female Betta.

The Tetra were interested in the smaller fish, no problems yet with them nipping, the girls turn on them in a pack sort of surrounding any aggressor.

I have strange fish, very strange.

I don't think I would add any more varieties of fish since mum and dad went to work again laying more eggs when I put them in a smaller tank, 4ft tank for 2 Betta was a tad wasteful Lol the babies love it.


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## Serai7

I'm glad I read this! I was going to put my betta in a five gallon with neons I"m glad I saw this post first! 
As far as which fish bettas are okay with, my friend has had them with guppies and a pleco for two years with no problems. The only one it has an issue with is the angel fish.


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## harleraven

What about with plakats? Are they bad with plakats, too? I really want to try a plakat in my community tank (it will be neons as hubby is dead set on getting neons). I have a cave, some rocks, a little Buddha statue, and a silk plant in there. I plan on putting in some more silk plants, too, of various heights.


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## Serai7

I wouldn't put any male betta with any other kind of betta unless it was a female of the same species, and even that should be temporary. 
After reading this post I wouldn't put a betta with neons after learning that they nip, but I guess a shorter finned plakat with lots of plants *might* be okay.


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## harleraven

Yeah, I'm not putting two bettas together. I'll have another "in case" tank, but I'd love if they all get along.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Serai7

*How do I acclimate my betta from low temp to high temp water?*

I want to move my veiltail betta from his 62 degree one gallon bowl into an 82 degree 5 gallon aquarium, what's the best way to acclimate him from such drastic temperature differences to keep him happiest and healthiest? I just think the usual floating them in a bag or little cup for 30 mins and intervals of adding new tank water won't be enough? 

p.s. I couldn't figure out how to start my own brand spankin' new post apart from this old one sorry people :roll:


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## Tiannako

Same, I actually had a group of 6 Ember Tetras and 4 Neons (the always schooled together) and caught 2 of the neons cornering my Betta and chasing him about the tank! I have plenty of plants and hide-away so my Betta got away but I couldn't believe Renaldo (my 1/2 moon) just took it! I immediately removed the neons and brought them back to my fish store (as i don't have another tank that they could be moved to) they happily took them. Since the Embers never caused any trouble and always shy away from Renni, I replaced the Neons with 4 embers so I now have 10 embers in the tank. Fingers crossed history doesn't repeat!


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