# Insanely aggressive betta



## Skal10 (Mar 17, 2017)

Hey everybody! I just recently bought a beautiful deep blue and red betta fish and have him in a fully cycled 10 gallon tank with a nice living plant and 2 more bulbs that will hopefully sprout soon. His water parameters are perfect except his Nitrates WILL NOT go down. They're at about 35-40 at all times, no matter how many times I do a water change. My tap water is about 25 nitrate so that would be one of the issues. Any help with that would be appreciated but my REAL issue is Velvet's aggression. I want to get him a ghost shrimp and maybe a snail but... the fish literally has gotten into a fight with his plant, his own reflection dozens of times, and even his toy boat. I'm scared that if I put anything with him... he'll kill it! Do you think I'm right in assuming that or is it possible that he'll act differently towards a living creature? Would he try to kill or fight a snail? Thanks guys! -Skal


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## ryry2012 (Mar 31, 2015)

If you get a lot of fast growing plants and floaters, they will consume some Nitrate. Shrimp are sensitive with water parameters. I don't think ghost shrimp can tolerate Nitrate that high.


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## RickyTan (Jan 26, 2017)

Betta fish will usually flare at their own reflection, fix your lighting if possible to prevent unwanted flaring, also ive never heard of a betta attacking a plant. Betta fish don't really react to snails in my experience. However bettas might attack shrimp out of curiosity, as well as the shrimp's vulnerability while molting makes them a bad candidate for betta tanks.


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## thanatopsian (Apr 6, 2017)

I've found that with enough plants to break line of sight can do wonders for keepong bettas with tankmates. Most reccomend you add the betta to the tank last. If you put the betta in first, anything else you ad becomes an "invader". If you ads th betta last, they become "furniture".

In a 10, I reccomend red cherry shrimp(rcs), snails, and heavy planting. RCS breed in freshwater. Maybe 5-7 Celestial Pearl Danios (CPDs) or Ember Tetras. I only reccomend these schooling fish becase they are extremely peaceful. Believe it or not, bettas are vulnerable to schools of fast-moving fish. Fish like Neons and rasboras will confuse the betta as a school and individuals will come around behind and nip its fins.
I recommend cpd's as they are more suited to a betta's water conditions and make a better fit in a Southeast Asian themed tank.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

No shrimp. Parameters are not stable enough. Also, if you want shrimp get a TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) meter. High TDS will kill a shrimp faster than anything else. Most don't understand that shrimp health and molting is directly tied to TDS.

If you want to try tank mates you need to have a stable tank and a back-up plan. If you think your Betta is too aggressive then let him be unless you don't mind taking a chance with the lives of the other fish/inverts. Even snails can suffer with an aggressive Betta; especially those with long eyestalks. Tank mates are for our enjoyment and not a Betta's, anyhow. They're a nice addition but not necessary for a healthy, long-lived Betta.

Caveat: I have eight Betta-based community tanks so I'm not against them with a non-aggressive Betta. I do have one tank with nothing other than a Betta so if one I buy is aggressive I can swap them out.


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## Skal10 (Mar 17, 2017)

Alrighty, thank you. I had always heard that bettas need tank mates or could die of loneliness but if that's not the case then there's no way I'll buy him anything that he quite possibly will eat. Not that type of pet owner!


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

There is media you can buy that absorbs nitrates. Put in plants, that will help.

buy spring water from the store when you do water changes.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Skal10 said:


> Alrighty, thank you. I had always heard that bettas need tank mates or could die of loneliness but if that's not the case then there's no way I'll buy him anything that he quite possibly will eat. Not that type of pet owner!


Good for you! I've had, probably, five or six Betta that did not do well with tank mates. I had my first Betta-based community maybe 45 years ago. I've had several that only tolerated bottom dwellers.

If you do decide to try snails I would suggest Assassin Snails. They are small and unobtrusive. They will help clean up excess food and are quite small. Your Betta would love them because they would give you the excuse to feed frozen Bloodworms on occasion. And, if your tank ever suffers from bladder or pond snails the Assassins will eat them. Another plus is they don't reproduce like rabbits but produce only one baby at a time. I like them more than even my Nerite and Mystery Snails.









Can you post a photo of your tank? Thanks!

Forgot to add: Falcon is right, there are additives which will absorb Nitrates but so will lots of fast-growing stem plants. Instead of planting you can anchor such plants along the back to cut down on reflection.


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## Skal10 (Mar 17, 2017)

I'm on it! I gotta figure out how to add pictures first though... I think I'll try going with a few more plants. Seems the easiest and most beneficial idea.


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## Skal10 (Mar 17, 2017)

Here's the aquarium and here's my buddy. He gets 8 hours of light and the rest of the time, I keep the light off.


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