# 20g Tank - When to Stock: Betta and Tetra



## BrittHenderson94 (Jan 4, 2015)

I've heard Betta and Tetra can get along and I was wondering if they can be introduced to the tank at the same time or if one should go in before the other. I've never had anything else with a Betta in a tank, but I have also never had the room. But now that I have a 20g tank and a fresh canvas, I would like to try.


----------



## Netti (Apr 25, 2014)

Personally I would not recommend Tetras with a Betta. Personally I would not keep a Betta in a community tank either way, but I once did keep a Betta with Kuhli Loaches and they got along fine. 

Bettas are by nature aggressive and putting anything with a Betta is hit or miss, so you need to have a plan B at the ready in case you need to separate the Betta from the other fish. 

When you are trying to keep a Betta in a community tank it is best to add the Betta last. If he is the first in the tank he will claim it as his territory and will not like any additions at all! But even doing this, in time the Betta may decide the tank is his, and his alone, and will start harassing and attacking the others.

Another reason why I do not like to keep Bettas with other fish anymore, is that it can be difficult to make sure the Betta does not over-eat. At least that has been my experience.


----------



## BrittHenderson94 (Jan 4, 2015)

Thanks for the response Netti. 

If I do end up mixing a Betta with anything I do have another tank at my disposal to move the Betta into. But the more I think about it, I'm not sure I will mix fish. I may just stick to putting other fish in the 20g and eventually get another bigger tank (since I only have a tiny 2.5g, on top of the 20g, at my disposal) for a new Betta.

I recently lost my Betta, Marvin after having him for just over two years. Which is the longest I have ever had a Betta and I'm still a little sad about it. 

Plus I have issues with water evaporating to the point I have to add more almost every day, and keeping a constant temperature (since the 2.5g tank I was using is too small to stick any of the heaters I have found in it). 

Anyway, thanks again and I shall let you know what I end up doing in the next few days if you'd like.


----------



## Crossroads (Jun 28, 2014)

I have a betta in with black phantom tetras, the only chasing out of the betta is toward the guppies in the tank. The tanks previous betta inhabitant only went after my baby guppies. However, like Netti said, bettas are hit and miss with tank mates. My females would mercilessly attack snails, my orange dalmatian VT hates snails but only flares at them, my oldest guy Mako nearly beat a pleco to death. I thankfully got home in time to intervene and the pleco is alive to this day. However, Nereus and my new guy merely gave a little chase to guppies. Nereus would sleep on cory cats. One of my guys, Phobos, doesn't even notice tankmates.


----------



## BrittHenderson94 (Jan 4, 2015)

Crossroads,

Over the handful of Betta I have cared for in the past, I have learned that they do seem to have their own quirks and personalities. I've actually got in arguments with people about how fish aren't all the same ha ha.

Anyway, even though I know tetra are schooling fish and that it's best to have at least six or something like that, I was wondering if putting half that many in be somewhat of a test to see how the Betta would react to having some tankmates.


----------



## BettaBoy51 (Nov 13, 2013)

Netti said:


> Personally I would not recommend Tetras with a Betta. Personally I would not keep a Betta in a community tank either way, but I once did keep a Betta with Kuhli Loaches and they got along fine.


not true i keep bettas with guppies tetras and in every community tank. 3 of my bettas are in community tanks right now with no problem.and the male guppy cant live with male bettas is not true they can a do fine together


----------



## BrittHenderson94 (Jan 4, 2015)

BettaBoy51,

Well I guess it couldn't be too bad to give it a try. I do have the means to separate the fish if I must so I think I might just go for it. Planning to go out and get some fish tomorrow or Wednesday on my days off. 

I assume the filter won't effect the Betta in anyway, will it?


----------



## BettaBoy51 (Nov 13, 2013)

not really if its really strong baffle it but it shouldn't be a problem!


----------



## Netti (Apr 25, 2014)

BettaBoy51 said:


> not true i keep bettas with guppies tetras and in every community tank. 3 of my bettas are in community tanks right now with no problem.and the male guppy cant live with male bettas is not true they can a do fine together


My eldest son keeps one of his Bettas with Harlequin Rasboras and they are all doing fine too, the other is solitary because he is more aggressive.

Personally I would not put tetras with a Betta but have heard of people having had success. I have also heard of people having success for a while and then things went really bad, resulting in injuries and even death. That's why I would not recommend it.

With our first aquarium (4 yrs ago) I followed the bad advice of a sales person and put 6 Rummynose Tetras with my Betta. Shortly after I had to invest in a second and bigger tank, because it seemed to stress both the Betta and the Rummies. Then I added Kuhli Loaches to the Betta tank (10 gallon) and this combo was fine. 

I can't comment on your Guppy/Betta combo from personal experience, but have not heard good things, so I wish you continued luck.


----------



## BettaBoy51 (Nov 13, 2013)

Netti;.
Personally I would not put tetras with a Betta but have heard of people having had success. I have also heard of people having success for a while and then things went really bad said:


> still not true i had 6 neons with my betta for 2 years and my little cousin dumped the whole bottle of fish food in there and i dident notice untill the next day and they all died but they do fine together the neons may nip AT fisrt but after a little bit the betta will chase them away
> 
> also i have a betta with some guppies in a 10g and the betta has his own space bubble the other guppies wont come with like 5in or him lol and i just added him 2 days ago!


----------



## Crossroads (Jun 28, 2014)

I think the difference lies in the tetra species. Some, like blind cave tetras, are naturally more aggressive, and are notorious fin nippers. I found this when researching different types for my community. Bettas are also notoriously unpredictable so I wouldn't say it wasn't true, just that I think it highly varies. My black phantoms for example are fairly shy around my other fish and hover mid tank while the guppies and pencilfish dominate the upper levels. Betta goes where ever he pleases and the cories inhabit the bottom. On the subject of filters, it should be okay. I baffled my Top fin internal 40 against a huge sword plant, and it breaks the current enough that baby guppies and an EE deltatail can swim around without much trouble. Filters with spray bars are great and I personally love the topfin internals because the spray is adjustable to an extent.

On the note of the tetras, when I say shy I don't mean afraid. They tend to hang out by my driftwood while the others cruise the front
However, at feeding time, where most aggression flares in most tanks, all fish eat well and have their share without all that aggression. The most I see is my dominant male pencilfish chasing off my sub male


----------



## Netti (Apr 25, 2014)

BettaBoy51 said:


> still not true i had 6 neons with my betta for 2 years and my little cousin dumped the whole bottle of fish food in there and i dident notice untill the next day and they all died but they do fine together the neons may nip AT fisrt but after a little bit the betta will chase them away
> 
> also i have a betta with some guppies in a 10g and the betta has his own space bubble the other guppies wont come with like 5in or him lol and i just added him 2 days ago!


This may be YOUR experience up until now, and is your truth, but you shouldn't discount other people's truths because it does not match with yours.
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=177370 (just an example of other people's experience)
Food for thought: What are you going to say when someone has an injured Betta and/or dead tankmates on her hands after following your advice? It would be better to state that this has been YOUR experience, but also offer caution because bad outcomes are possible.


----------



## owagner2501 (Sep 10, 2014)

I have a Betta in 20 long with 7 Von Rio Tetras , 6 Harlequin Rasboras , 4 Cories and a German Blue Ram - > This is one extremely peaceful community tank... It's a pleasure to sit back and watch the happenings 

Before adding the Rasboras, I tried adding Red Rummynose Tetras. That did not go so well - they were stressing out the betta. 

Good luck with your tank!


----------



## BrittHenderson94 (Jan 4, 2015)

I am aware from other fish I have had in the past that fish in general can just be quite unpredictable. I had a school of Zebra Danio for the longest time. They were peaceful then all of a sudden, one decided it was going to go on this killing spree. And I still have this one in a separate tank because I don't want to just kill it. It's taken quite nicely to living by itself since anything else I put in with it winds up dead. 

Anyway, I am going back to it generally being hit and miss with having anything in with a Betta. I will be getting fish tomorrow and even though I am still quite undecided on what I will be getting, I am glad for all this feedback. The pet stores close to me are so useless for information. 

I may hold off on a Betta and just get other fish, or I may just get a Betta by itself. I just love them so much and miss having one, but with the bigger tank I feel like I need to put more in it, if that makes sense. 

I will be sure to let you all know what I end up doing tomorrow


----------



## ellekay (Nov 11, 2014)

I thought about doing a community with a betta, and ended up buying two betta (a baby and an adult). Each are in their own tanks right now, and platy inhabit the 10g at the moment (until this week when the filter for the 29g comes in). Once I move the platy to the 29g to start the community, I'm splitting the 10g and putting the betta in there. I plan on using a divider that tetra and other small fish can still use.

It does depend on the breed and the personalities of each fish as to whether they will tolerate tankmates. It is always a risk putting any fish in a tank together, even in the same species. As long as you are aware of all risks involved and are prepared to react accordingly, you're fine.

Happy fish shopping!


----------



## JessikaSky (Sep 6, 2014)

My friend has two of her male bettas in with tetras one is in with black tetras and the other with normal, she had her normal tetras in with her eldest fish and had, had them in his tank for a year now maybe two, and wanted to change things up so she swapped the normal tetras and put them into a new tank with a new betta and he was flaring and following them around so she swapped them and put black tetras in the new bettas tank and everything seemed to be fine. 

I think it's a bit of a hit or miss, I don't have any tank mates for my boys but I have their tanks next to each other with a magazine down the side so they can't see each other and remove it on occasion so they can, only for half an hour a day one of my boys couldn't care less, he's like "Oh another male betta, awesome, how boring human, feed me instead please"


----------



## BrittHenderson94 (Jan 4, 2015)

ellekay: omg why did I not think of a divider?!

JessikaSky: "Oh another male betta, awesome, how boring human, feed me instead please" Betta of the cat world right there


----------



## BrittHenderson94 (Jan 4, 2015)

Did not end up getting a Betta. They all looked pretty sickly :l Instead I got 3 black Molly, 3 albino corys (although one has not moved since we got home so I am worried he's dead), 6 cardinal tetra, and a butterfly hillstream loach which will be kept in my other tank that holds the serial killer Danio until my new tank begins to grow algae.


----------



## ellekay (Nov 11, 2014)

Yeah RussellTheShihTzu has done some for her tank out of acrylic (like from Home Depot/Lowes) and drilled a certain size hole in them so the little fish (like tetra and guppies) could get through but the betta couldn't. You'd have to ask her the specifics. I know she posted it somewhere, but I'm not about to search the site for it


----------



## JessikaSky (Sep 6, 2014)

BrittHenderson94 said:


> ellekay: omg why did I not think of a divider?!
> 
> JessikaSky: "Oh another male betta, awesome, how boring human, feed me instead please" Betta of the cat world right there


Hahaha! yes  
He really just doesn't care.. if only he was orange I would totally change his name to Garfield :lol:


----------

