# Introducing Betta to New Fish



## LittleDeer (May 12, 2013)

(I'm sorry if this isn't the right place for this question, I wasn't sure.)

Hello everyone. I was wondering if you guys had tips for introducing new fish to a Betta. I already have two Cories with my boy, Benny, in a ten gallon. I discovered after getting the Cories that they prefer larger groups so I am planning to get a few more when I can afford to. However, I'm not sure how well Bettas deal with new fish being added to their tank. Benny and the Cories were added to their tank at the same time so I never had trouble with them. Benny seems to be very tolerant of them and seems to enjoy their company, often looking around in the gravel with them to grab any scraps of food they miss. But he has never attempted to harm them. He has very briefly flared at them a few times but only because he gets very close to the Cories when they eat and a couple times it looked like they accidentally got his tail trying to suck up food. Benny is very happy, healthy, and calm so I don't think I'll have any problems. However, I would like to do my best to avoid any problems. I don't want anyone getting hurt or stressed. This is my first time having a Betta with other fish, so I'm a bit unsure of how these things should be done.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Hey there LittleDeer 

Okay so when you get the cory's, I would say no more than 2 more since they can have a large bio-load and actually won't help your tank very much. But when you get them, let them float in the 10 gallon with all the fish, Benny will probably come up and inspect them, or flare at them, whichever.

Let the cory's acclimate (get used to the temp and then add in half a cup of the tank water to their bag every 10 minutes or so so they get used to the new tank water. Then dump out half of the water in the bag down a sink or something [make sure they don't jump or fall out] and then continue adding in half a cup of tank water to their bag while they float in the tank. I use a Chip Clip to keep the back at the edge of the tank so they don't float away or the bag tips)

After that, take Benny out and keep him in another container, a cup or an extra tank or something while you put the new cory's in. Give them some time to explore the tank and get used to their new surroundings, 15 minutes would probably fine, if you want to wait more that's fine too.

Move a few things around, any decoration or plants or whatever you have there so that when Benny is introduced again he won't have a "territory" and the new cory's won't intrude on his "territory" to make him angry.

And that should be it!  Good luck to you ^^


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

A note to add to lilnaugrim's advice: make sure all you cories are the same type! E.g. if you have peppered cories, get more peppered. If you have bronze, get more bronze (or albino). They should be in groups of the same type. 

It's also worth looking at upgrading: cories are pretty active fish and do better in larger tanks.


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## Darth (Nov 19, 2012)

I always get asked this question and my answer is always the same, the best companion for a betta, is breeding time to another betta, bettas can live withother fish however it isn't a good life for the betta, most times they are in a community tank with nippy types like Danios, or tetras on top of that your male betta wil view anything with long fins as a sparring partner not to mention the fact that most filters have far more current than a betta likes so my answer is none, there is no happy way to keep a betta in a community tank.


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## Catw0man (Jan 24, 2013)

I first fell in love with bettas when, as a child (many long years ago, when dinosaurs still roamed the earth), my family had a ten gallon community tank. There would be the usual fish....some guppies, neon tetras, swords, zebra danios.....and one betta. Oh, I was entranced by those beautiful pet store veil tails (no HMs or CTs back then).....the colours, the flowing fins, the way they would swim up to you and look right at you. But, they never lived very long.....6 months maybe.....and then we'd be back at the pet store picking another one.

And now that I'm a mature (on a good day....) adult with a ton more knowledge and experience with these gorgeous fish I love, I would not ever keep one in a community tank. Now, I know some people do it successfully.....it's not impossible by any means.....but I don't think it's the best choice.

Have you thought of maybe dividing the tank and getting another betta?


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

I have to disagree with Darth completely, although Catwoman does provide a nicely balanced look at the issue.

Cories are totally compatible with bettas. In the wild, bettas will share their water with bottom feeders (not cories, obviously) but things such as loaches, snails and other crawlies. They ignore bettas. Bettas, for the most part, totally ignore them. Those of my bettas who don't ignore them actually swim with them and even seem to enjoy investigating. 

Cories aside, all of my females have lived very happily in community tanks with mid and top swimmers as well as bottom feeders. After their initial investigation, they totally ignore the other fish (except to occasionally eat the Endler fry). Their behaviour indicates that they are no less content than they were in individual tanks. 

Your generalisations simply don't apply to plenty of people, Darth - bettas can do extremely well in communities provided that the betta is calm, the filter is gentle and the community fish are well-chosen (e.g. not nippy, not long-finned).


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## LittleDeer (May 12, 2013)

Thank you guys for all your tips. I respectfully disagree with the posts about not Keeping Bettas with other fish. My Benny seems to have grown somewhat attached to the Cories and I have no intention of separating them. I would rather not divide my tank either. I wouldn't feel right taking space away from Benny after moving him to a nice big tank from that awful tiny bowl at the store.

I do very much intend to upgrade my tank at some point. I just need to make sure my 30 gallon holds water still. But it's a heavy tank so I can't do it myself. 

I think I will definitely follow lilnaugrim's method of introduction. I don't foresee much trouble though. Benny seems very tolerant of the current Cories and has never seemed unhappy or stressed out. He sometimes even "cuddles" with the Cories. 

Every Betta is different, however. If you have not had luck with keeping Bettas with other fish, it may have just been your specific Betta. In the end, I know that I know my boy best. I can judge how he will react the best, because I know how he behaves and reacts to certain things. I want what's best for all my fish, and I do believe keeping him with Cories and adding a couple more will be the best for the entire group. And if not, I am prepared to make necessary decisions to move the Cories to another tank or return them if need be.

I do thank you all for your concerns and advice, though. Even though I may not agree its still helpful to see what other people think.


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## Catw0man (Jan 24, 2013)

LittleDeer said:


> Thank you guys for all your tips. I respectfully disagree with the posts about not Keeping Bettas with other fish. My Benny seems to have grown somewhat attached to the Cories and I have no intention of separating them. I would rather not divide my tank either. I wouldn't feel right taking space away from Benny after moving him to a nice big tank from that awful tiny bowl at the store.
> 
> I do very much intend to upgrade my tank at some point. I just need to make sure my 30 gallon holds water still. But it's a heavy tank so I can't do it myself.
> 
> ...


I think in your case, it would work just fine.....you already know your betta's personality and you know which fish would make good tank mates. I think those are the two key ingredients in doing it successfully. Not every betta is suited to community living (some are just way too aggressive to anything and everything) and not every type of fish would be ok living with a betta and leaving it alone (not nipping its fins, etc.). But, if you get those two things right, you're set. Good luck!


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## Agent13 (Apr 23, 2013)

I have really enjoyed watching 1 of my bettas with his psuedo community of corries. I did get to know his personality really well before I added him with corries and he was the calmest of all my bettas and seemed really interactive with me and the tank beside him of community fish. He now has 3 corries(would like more but not till they are moved to the 20gallon). He got each rommie at different times and they all integrated peacefully but he is most interested in the albino. They seem like best buddies. They are a super active group that searches the bottom all together all day long. I think given that yours already enjoys the corries I think you'll be just fine.


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## Darth (Nov 19, 2012)

Bottom feeders do not seem to be an issue, it is other fish platys, swordtails, neon tetras etc etc stuff pople usually have in a community tank, I am just offering the opinion of someone who has been a betta breeder for 30 or more years.


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## LittleDeer (May 12, 2013)

I do thank you and respect your opinion, Darth. Although I did initially say in my post I was specifically adding Cories, not live bearers or other mid level fish. I also have absolutely no intention of breeding Bettas (referencing your post saying "the best companion for a Betta is breeding time with another Betta"), so having that type of companionship is not going to happen unfortunately. I do not have the knowledge nor the space or resources to breed and care for 100+ Bettas and then separate them all. And I would definitely not feel comfortable selling them to anyone but people I know will care for them properly, and that would be a difficult feat with limited space and 100+ fish. At most I will have one Betta in each of the five varying sized tanks I have. Possibly a sorority in my 30 gallon once I feel comfortable and confident that I get females that will be comfortable with eachother. But I'm not near that level of confidence in my fish keeping abilities yet. Plus I would have to actually cycle the 30 gallon before even thinking about it, and I still don't even know if it holds water yet. But for now I'm happy with my group in my ten and they seem happy as well. And if anything should ever go wrong I have several other tanks to move fish to if I have to. Like I said, nothing should go wrong but I am prepared to take necessary actions if I need to. And I am pretty good at judging when my animals are stressed, regardless of species.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Well spoken LittleDeer. But yeah, they should be fine together  Let us know how it does turn out.

And hey! If you ever need advice on a sorority, I've got 9 girls (soon to be 11) in a 33 that's been set up for a month and a half now ;D Love me some Betta girls! :lol:


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## Darth (Nov 19, 2012)

Even in Betta sororitys there is a pecking order and territory boundaries.
Females get along, but they Can and DO fight, and sometimes it gets intense.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yup I know.


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## LittleDeer (May 12, 2013)

If I do need sorority advice, I'll definitely talk to you lilnaugrim's. I do thank you very much for offering your advise and expertise 

I'm going to be getting a couple more Cories today. I'm getting them from the same shop I got the rest of my fish from, and this place takes excellent care of their animals and are very knowledgable about them. So I'll hopefully be getting some nice happy, healthy little guys. I have my fingers crossed they have Bandits. They don't usually have many, if any. But I know they got more fish in the other day. I'm so excited. I have a friend coming to help me pick out the best ones because I can be very indecisive.

I'll let you guys know how the introduction goes later


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Oh good, glad to hear 

Make sure you get the same type of cory you already have. Generally mixing them is bad because they won't shoal together. However there have been some exceptions (but what is a rule without exceptions?). So if you do have Bandits, keep with the bandits


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## LittleDeer (May 12, 2013)

Definitely keeping with the Bandits for now. I don't know why but they're my favorite type. Although I do like Leopards as well. I just really hope they have some Bandits. I took the last of what they had of them when I first got my pair and the last time I visited to get another plant and some more food I only saw albinos and bronzes. But with ther new shipment they should have some I think.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Ah okay, just making sure!  Yeah Bandit's are adorable! I love Skunk's too but my ultimate favorites are Dainty Cory's (Corydoras Habrosus) they're just so cute and spunky! And they love to play in the sand in my 33.

Well good luck! I hope they have the shipment in!


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## LittleDeer (May 12, 2013)

All seems to have gone pretty well with the new Cories. I ended up getting three more so I have a group of five. Benny isn't being agressive although he has flared at the new ones a few times. But hasn't tried to hurt them and is mostly ignoring them. However the two I had before seem to be sticking together and the other three are kind of staying in their own little group.

Only problem is, one of the new ones seems to have a pectoral fin completely missing and most of the other one. I don't notice this until I got them home. He seems to be getting around okay so maybe he will be alright. But if he isn't I have my receipt and I can bring him back and exchange him for a healthy one if he dies or doesn't seem to be doing well over the next five days. He does seem to separate himself from the group a lot too. I can't tell if he is injured or if he is actually deformed. I'm keeping a close eye on him. If he'll be fine, I don't want to bring him back just so that no one will want him because he's a bit handicapped.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

There are times bettas can be with fish like tetras and whatnot... However... You have to be careful and always have a backup plan. I got two "semi aggressive" gouramis, and haiwaii platys. Those darn platys pestered my poor gouramis to death! And the gouramis were twice their size....... -.-; THAT right there proves how dangerous it can get. I have had regular platys before and loved them. These ones? Nuh uh! They found a home so I could make a sorority instead. (In the sorority three plakats were removed for violence x.x). Bettas, are by far one of the hardest fish to find the compatability for. Especially when they have their own individual desires, and quirks.

Spartan was fine with most fish, as long as they did not pester him. This included danios, who learned he was boss and left him alone. But would I try that again? Probably not... :lol: Mainly because they take up the same water space. Top level. Bettas tend to stay near the top but travel all over.

Best matches: Bottom dwellers. African dwarf frogs, cories, and shrimp. However, cories tend to love more space... Longer the better. Besides their bioload, they are skittish, and can cause harm to themselves by panicking... and do best in groups of 4+. I'd love to get some again!! ADFs are nice, and again better in numbers (socializing). I have had one munch the fins of my betta though... x.x Shrimp, are usually delicious snacks! :lol:

But, it depends on your betta :3 If you can, try getting a 20-30 gallon, to hold the bioload of what you have, plus the extra few cories you get. Easier on you and them 

Forgot to add... I treat adding new fish like adding a female to the sorority. I rearrange the decor during a water change, may or may not place the betta in a breeder's box/net which is not always necessary.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

That's great LittleDeer! It sounds to me like he's injured, keep the water very clean and if you have access to; use some Stress Coat Conditioner to hopefully help heal him up if he is injured.

On the flip side, if it's a deformity but it's not hindering him, or not much, he should be fine


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## LittleDeer (May 12, 2013)

He does seem to be a bit stressed out. He kind of separates himself for short periods of time and seems to be "breathing" a little bit faster than the others. But when the rest go digging around for food he follows them and does join their little huddles now and again. I have seen him get to the surface of the water once, he just has to work a bit harder to get up and isn't as quick as the others. I really hope the one nub he has is able to grow back, though. The other fin definitely won't since there is absolutely no remnant of it. Right now I'm just a little bit worried because he seems stressed. I don't have any Stress Coat currently, but the next time I'm able to get out to the store I'll grab some. I did a water change yesterday morning so I think it should be alright for today. I also want to make sure he's able to get enough food since he's slower than the others and they all get very excited when I throw food in and all crowd up. 

I am very glad that Benny doesn't seem to mind the new additions though. Although he seems a bit confused by the fact that I moved his skull cave he sleeps in to the other end of the tank. He keeps looking around where it was trying to figure out what happened. At the very least he knows something is definitely different besides the Cories. He's been exploring more than he usually does too.


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