# betta fish friends



## kaykay1295 (Jul 21, 2011)

I'm getting either a 10-20 gallon tank and i have a blue and white crowntail betta. I've had him for a day  .I'm getting a bigger tank a heater a filter maybe an airator I'm not sure yet about the airator. Any way i don't want to have a 10-20 gallon tank with just one fish in it! to me that seems lonley and I'm aware betta are not schooling fish. But i would still like to know what kind of fish Ican put with my betta. Also how many? Oh and I've asked this question before but no one has answered it, I have a mentally retarded cat, she was diagnosed by a vet so I'm not just saying she's retarded, she really is, it just makes her really clumsy and very domesticated. She likes to sit on my dresser when i get ready in the morning, which is where my fish tank is. She has started to sit there and watch my fish, she's terrified of water so I know for sure she will not eat my fish, she won't go closer to the bowl than 7inches, but could her watching it stress my betta out?:| I'd really appriciate your wisdom and experience because I'm new to this and want the best life for my fish. thanks!!!:-D


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

A lot of people also have neons, and other types of tetras, platy's are good, and normal guppys(fancy males will be attacked) Loaches, Cory's, and snails. Basically most peaceful small tropical freshwater fish who don't look like a betta (super colorful, long fins).

They aren't all that common at pet stores, but if you can find one I'd get a African Butterfly fish, I love mine so much. I keep it with my sorority and it doesn't really bother anyone, you just can't keep them any fish they can fit in their mouths because they _might_ eat them and they are also amazing jumpers so a good hood is important. Thery are very easy to tame, and they'll take food right out of your hand XD

It would need a 15/20g though, a 10g is too small.


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## Impolite (May 12, 2011)

simply speaking, anything super ugly (not colorful, not really ugly haha) would be alright. But since you are new, id try cories and maybe a couple shrimp, if you plant it well 
try a snail  theyre fun


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## kaykay1295 (Jul 21, 2011)

i live in lafayette indianna. any clue where i can get these types of fish? my wal-mart has a bunch of colorfull fish and several tropical fish. but im not sure if it has what i'd need. i'm also getting my new tank from there because they have a 20 gallon tank with heater filter and airrater rocks and pretty much everything u need for $22. i may go to pet smart or aquarium world which has many different kinds of fish even manta rays which i really want one of those but not until i graduate. if i cant find exact breeds mentioned here what are some good guidelines to follow? i read somewhere that frogs are good because they look nothing like a betta and are fast enough to get away from them. and still no one has answered my question about my cat stressing out my fish!


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

Pet smart should have neons, and platys, guppys, loaches and cory's and snails. Wall mart is famous for carrying sick fish so I would be very careful with them, and petsmart is too, but it may be one that has a devoted fish employee. These fish are usually pretty common too.

Everyone says no barbs with the males because they nip fins, and a lot of people keep African dwarf frogs but I don't know anything about them. No goldfish, and no pleco species that get large. 

If your thinking about a different type of fish, google it and see how big it gets, or post it on this thread so we can help you


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## masshiimarro (Apr 16, 2011)

mmm i would say an aerator isnt needed as long as u have a filter, i dont think the betta would really mind the cat. who knows, they might even be best buddies XD
i think you can try any live bearer species, as long as they dont try to nip ur bettas. they can be notorious nippers.. AND, they breed really easily if you keep males and females together. :|
loaches are cute. they are also bottom dwellers, do best in groups. 
cories would work fine if you like bottom dwellers. they clean algae. theyr kinda cute too and do best in groups. 
african dwarf frogs could be companions as well.
you could try neons, but again they need to be schooled. 
apple or nerite snails are a go. they work out pretty well in most tanks and clean aglae.

with that being said make sure you dont try to introduce too many fish at once (maybe just about 3 at a time), you could end up with a huge ammonia spike and that = dead fish.


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## kaykay1295 (Jul 21, 2011)

knowing my cat they will end up being bffs. shes already bffs with my puppy and will randomly put her in a headlock she doesnt bother my sisters fish but hers are rather finicky. and uncared for, i really wish i could make my sis understand that she has to clean her bowl its only a half gallon if that and she has 15 fish in it and never cleans it. its pathetic


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## ChelseaK (Oct 23, 2010)

A half gallon with 15 fish????? How is this possible?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

kaykay, your cat watching your betta shouldn't stress him out unless the cat tries something. Since you said she was afraid of water, I think the two will be fine. M cat watches my bettas all the time, even paws at the tank and my bettas aren't stressed at all. And I have a cat I believe has mental issues too. She was never diagnosed like your cat, but, well, you can kind of just tell. She's super sweet and is the only cat I have who has never intentionally hurt me (did claw me once when she was scared) but she's just not all there in the brain department.


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## kaykay1295 (Jul 21, 2011)

maybe they should breed speacial cats, shes honestly the best cat i've ever had and i love that she leaves my fish alone even when shes watching them, it's entertaining to watch her randomly fall over tho. her problem is in depth perception and balance. shes just not cordinated so tht makes her ridiculoisly domesticated. my betta likes to follow her. because she moves her head when focusing at a single point i've seen my betta move with her head. i think they may end up bffs


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## kaykay1295 (Jul 21, 2011)

idk how its possible, they are very small fish, one of them is pregnant. we think and she plans to keep the babys in the bowl! i cleaned it earlier so it's a little better than it was.. i'm finding out i enjoy cleaning the fish tanks


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

So sweet, sounds like they will be buds all right.  Yeah, I love my special girl. She has trouble remembering where she is and what she was doing. She comes in from the garage and immediately wants to go back out, then immediately wants back in. She starts to jump up on something then forgets in mid leap and just plops back down. She sleeps with her tongue hanging out and yowls for no reason. She falls off things too. One time she fell down behind the water heater where she liked to sleep because it was warm. Had to call my dad home from work to get her out. 

I recommend neons, rasboras, or cory cats for your tank. I have panda cories in my tank and because they're bottom feeders, my betta doesn't bother them and they don't bother her. You can put probably 5 bronze or albino cories in a 20 gal tank. Rasboras are peaceful schoolers, could get maybe 10. Neons have been known to nip fins but otherwise they usually work well. A big school of neons is pretty, you could probably have 12-15 in a 20 gal. For a 10 gal, you can have 3-4 bronze or albino cories, or 5-6 rasboras or 8 neons.


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## kaykay1295 (Jul 21, 2011)

i got a ten gallon. i had it all set up and was letting it cycle when the filter broke for no aparent reason! oh wel i bought a new one, i think im going to start a communtity tank, any idea if they have forrums for them aswell i really like the betta forrum.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Well, you can always post on the betta forum's parent website
www.tropicalfishkeeping.com
But I like the people on the betta forum best. You can try posting in the lounge. Or try the "I Have No Self-Control" thread. We talk about just about anything there so we'll help you there, too.


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## kaykay1295 (Jul 21, 2011)

thankyou, i really enjoy the betta forum. it is very helpful and the people are friendly. i've learned so much in just 2 days i love it! much better than trying to shift thru a google search!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

No problem. I love the people here. I'm a member of another fish forum but I never post there anymore because the people just aren't anywhere near as nice as here.


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## kaykay1295 (Jul 21, 2011)

and everyone on here is helpful. i have a yahoo answers acount, and it sometimes takes WEEKS before ill get a single answer and its rarely helpful. on here i usualy get a helpful reply in minutes!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Yeah, this forum is the best. And people here actually know what they're talking about most of the time.


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## kaykay1295 (Jul 21, 2011)

ikr! i went to go buy some companion for my betta and i asked the salesman his oppinion he looked at me and laughed!!! i said wtf he said you can't put betta with other fish!! i said you wanna bet?! so i bought my ghost shrimp with him chuckling, i plan to take pictures later this week to prove him wrong


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I'm surprised you didn't throw some dirty tank water at him. I hate when people are like that! It's like, no, they can't be with other bettas or anything that can eat them. Sheesh, you'd like to think fish salesmen know what they're talking about but I learned a long time ago most of them don't.


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## kaykay1295 (Jul 21, 2011)

seriously!!! and i learned the sadness of wal-mart today. my town has 2 walmart and 1 across the river. i go to the one closest to me aka 350 i was impressed with their fish skills, no visible disease no dead fish clean tanks it was perfect! then i go to this new fish store with the ignorant salesman and just about every tank has atleast 2 dead fish, i was like WTF WAL-MART DOES BETTER THAN YOU!?!?!! YOUR A DAMN FISH STORE!! YOUR SUPPOSED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS AND CARE FOR THE FISH!!!!!! then i went to the walmart on the other end of town aka the 26 walmart and most of the fish were dead/dying the tanks were filthy it was awful. honestly the only store ik of in my town that actualy realy cares about their fish is aquarium world and they change the water often feed them well iv never seen a dead or diseased fish and if i did it was because they where getting it out they are wonderful to their fish, the only reason i dont buy all my fish their is because their care comes at a rather high price.


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## kaykay1295 (Jul 21, 2011)

oh ya now that i have a 10 gallon how often do you think i should clean it? i have 4 ghost shrimp in with my beta


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

The only pet store close to me that keeps good care of its fish is the Pet Club. I've only seen a dead fish in their tanks once and it was 10 minutes after the store had opened so they didn't even have time to get it out. My Wal-Mart actually takes better care of their fish than my Petsmart. I hate my Petsmart, they had one tank so overcrowded it was unbelievable, I couldn't even see through the tank there were so many tiger barbs in there. There are always dead fish and the guppies I got from there had worms and I returned them. 

Did you get a new filter? With a filter, 25-50% once a week. Once it's cycled, you can probably do only 25-35% a week. As you add more fish, you'll want to keep an eye on the ammonia levels to make sure the filter/cycle doesn't crash. With the four cories and one betta in my 10g, I change 35-40% of the water once a week, same with my 10g sorority of 5 girls.


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## kaykay1295 (Jul 21, 2011)

how do i check amonia?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

You'll need to get a test kit from a pet store. You can get test strips which are cheaper but some people say they aren't as accurate or you can get a liquid drops kit that is a bit more expensive but you get more uses out of it.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

This is the liquid kit by API that I have: 








And here are strips:


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## kaykay1295 (Jul 21, 2011)

ok, i got my tank settup im trying to upload photos to my profile


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Cool, sounds awesome.


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## kaykay1295 (Jul 21, 2011)

it wont let me upload any photos


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

How big are the files? You may need to resize them in a program like photobucket or Adobe.


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## kaykay1295 (Jul 21, 2011)

3.23 mb


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Yeah, they'll definitely need to be resized down to about 100 kb. I use Photoshop but I think most everyone else here uses Photobucket.


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