# lonely betta...



## fishman1126 (Apr 12, 2012)

i right now have one male betta, and he is very lonely. now i was wondering, can i have a male and female betta, or multiple female, along with other fish?

this is my planned setup, tell me if you recommend anything different, or oppose to anything.

10g tank
1male betta
1 female betta
1 taquilla sunrise guppy
(ive also heard that guppies need to live in schools. is that true?)
2 black mystery snails
2 glowfish
and a mini catfish of some kind.


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

bettas don't really get lonely. :I

but, if you wanna try him out with something else, in a 10 gallon, you could have a small school of 5-7 cory catfish or neon tetras, or a trio of guppies(1 male to 2 females). just be warned that not all bettas like tank mates, and some will NOT tolerate guppies at all.


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## Jessicatm137 (Mar 22, 2012)

Ok... First of, that would WAY over stock the tank...
Male and female Bettas can NOT live together!!! Never put them together unless breeding! And breeding needs years of experience... 
Bettas sometimes don't tolerate guppys as well... As for the Glofish, they need schools of at least 6, and are a little nippy. Also, because of their bright coloring the Betta might attack them, and even more so with the guppys.

What you could do is maybe 5-7 Neon Tetras and your Betta, but tetras can be nippy too.
But I recommend 6-7 pygmy corys, and your male Betta. Cory catfish are great tank mates for Bettas, and the pygmys are small, so you fit a proper school without overstocking the tank. You could probably add the snails too.

I'm really sorry if I sound rude, but that not an ideal set-up, and I don't want your fish getting hurt, and/or you waking up to dead fish one morning.

Also, one other thing. As Luimeril said, Bettas don't really get lonely. I thought my Betta Fin was lonely, so I got him some Cory friends, but it didn't work out...

Hope this helps.


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## LebronTheBetta (Apr 23, 2012)

As, Luimeril said, Betta Fish seem lonely but sometimes they are not. If there is a female Betta Fish, there is a chance that she would get egg-bound.
Betta Fish will OR might mistake a Guppy for another Betta Fish and will try to kill it. You should NOT try to add a Guppy school or ANY Guppies at all.
Glofish are the same thing as Danios, so they are a SCHOOLING fish. They can NOT be kept in groups less than 6. They should be kept in at LEAST 20 gallons. If you plan to get catfish, they are a schooling fish as well and the minimum is at LEAST 4. 
The Mystery Snails are fine, I guess.


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## ForbiddenSecrets (Aug 15, 2010)

Betta's don't really get lonely as they are a solitary fish, though they can get bored [in a sense. Not really the same as humans]. Rather then stressing him with a bunch of tank mates you can spruce up the tank with a lot of plants [fake or real], caves, and other such things for him to explore and swim around. 

Tank mates really depend on the betta himself as well as the others. For instance one of my bettas lives with platys and guppies, another lives with loaches [a huge girl bigger then the boys D:] , and one shouldn't be housed with anything but himself and a plant. However like the posts above me have said that suggested set up really isn't a good idea. 

Another idea for the tank would to be put in a few ghost shrimp. They may or may not get eaten but they are fun to watch c:


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## xjenuhfur (Jan 30, 2012)

You should never house a male and female betta together unless you are breeding. And even then, the female will need to be removed after spawning.
Two males cannot live together either, unless divided, which you can do with a 10gallon tank.
If you looking to do a community you could always try the smaller version of cory catfish, like the Pygmy. You might want to try reading this forum and use aqadvisor.com for your stocking. Which include your tank size and your filter. Keep in mind the bioload of the fish your considering. Some fish are messier than others.


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

Others have covered the issue of males and females, so I'll just reiterate that I concur. 

About the stocking plan. Generally in a 10 gal tank you only have enough room for one schooling fish. This means either glowfish or mini catfish (Cory cats _Corydoras spp_ fall into this category). Guppies do benefit from being around other guppies; they are also not tolerated well by most betta due to their bright colors and long fins. I think you best bet would be to get a school of bronze cories. They will stay on the bottom and leave your betta to the top. This type of setup seems to have the most success.


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

glofish are just genetically modified zebra danio. they get to be pretty big themselves, and really do better in a tank over 10 gallons. the fact that it's a 10 gallon really limits you to smaller fish such as neons, cory catfish, and guppies.


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## fishman1126 (Apr 12, 2012)

ok thanks all, but if i increase the power of my filter, could i keep more fish. i have a 30 gallon filter as well. 

also with the info i have collected here is my new setup
1 male betta
3 guppies
2 cherry shrimps
3 neon tetras
2 black mystery snails.

again if anything does not fit please object.
also, the betta is very socialy fond, and seems to do quite well with any fish.
finaly, will the cherry shrimps bother or eat the other fish?

thanks.


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

fishman1126 said:


> ok thanks all, but if i increase the power of my filter, could i keep more fish. i have a 30 gallon filter as well.
> 
> also with the info i have collected here is my new setup
> 1 male betta
> ...


Increasing the power of the filter just makes the water turnover faster. It doesn't mean you can stock more fish. Fish need room to swim, and even with the best filtration in the world you can't add more fish than physically need the space to swim. 

Your biggest problem is with the neon tetra. They are a schooling fish and become very nippy and stressed in numbers less than 6. I would just remove them all together and add another male guppy (if you will have all males) or female if you have a mix of males and females.


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## fishman1126 (Apr 12, 2012)

great!
this will be my setup!
you have been very help full.
now do you think thew betta will be comfortable with brightly colored fish like the guppies. im planning on getting a taquilla sunrise, and a few others?


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

You can try your betta with guppies. Sometimes it seems to work and sometimes it doesn't. Just be prepared with a backup plan. Or you could get all female guppies. They aren't as colorful and aren't usually targeted.


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## nicebear24 (May 7, 2012)

I do NOT think you should add guppies because they look too much like a betta, and your betta will try to attack it. You could add catfish since they stay low near the gravel and don't bother the betta much. I had a cory with my betta and they were fine, my betta didn't really care much for the catfish. You could add snails cos they can hide in their shells if the betta try to attack it. And for glofish, it really depends on the temper of your betta.



Good LUCK!


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Why not try male Endlers as an alternative to guppies? They are still colourful but seem to excite a betta's anger less.

Before you stock, though, you should take note of the pH and hardness of your water and choose fish to suit.


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