hi ppl...

i've been inactive for a long long time..
i was quite active about a year ago in the marine section but slowed down after i sold my tank.. now i'm making a comeback in freshwater! :P

anyways.. as stated in the topic..
what are your tank setups for bettas?
do you put them in a jar? vase? betta barracks or full fledge community\planted tanks?

how bout filtration? any filtration system u guys use?

i have a 5 gallon hexagon plastic tank lying around and i was thinking of converting it to a betta(1) + gourami(2) tank with fake plants and a small waterfall type power filter(something like eheim liberty 100)..

any comments? i would really like to hear some..

cheers..
Reef.

you should put your betta in the 5 gal with some guppies or something not SO agresive. My friend had a gourami that ate her other fishy's eyes out! As for the vase or bowl they should be fine in 1 if you change the water about twice a week. good luck

Can betta really put into a community tank? I heard that Betta are aggrasive. Will it attack other fishes ?

What about putting more then 1 betta in a community tank. will they end up fighting each other ?

It will be nice if betta can be kept in community tank.

thanks

Hello rifdi.

Bettas can be put in community tanks. However, there are several fish to be avoided as tankmates for a betta.

1. Zebra danios - zippy, and may fin-nip the betta
2. Tiger barbs - definite nono, nips bettas
3. Guppies - contrary to what bobo said, bettas should NOT be kept with guppies. This is because the betta often mistakes the long flowing fins of the guppy as another betta.

Most bettas are only aggressive towards their own species, or as i just mentioned, similar looking fish like guppies.

As to filtration, bettas do not do well in strong currents.

I would disagree with your setup of 1 betta + 2 gouramis in a 5 gallon. Gouramis should be kept in nothing smaller than a 10g. Besides that, both gouramis and bettas are Anabantoids, and may be aggressive towards each other.

P.T.

Bettas and gouramis cannot be kept together! They are the same type of fish (both have the "labrynth organ"), and will be very aggressive toward each other. Gouramis are the only labrynth fish that can be kept in breeding pairs. Otherwise, its a bad idea.

__________________
-Kat

if you aquarium is big enough. then shdnt be any prob. Like i keeping 6 bettas, 5 croaking gouramis and 1 spoted gourami inside my 6 footer tank. Saw the only Imbellis chasing the female. The rest are getting along very well.

I agree that a 5 gallon is WAY too small for a male betta and 2 gouramis. You're just asking for fish murder with that set up. A 5 gallon would be great for a betta by himself. At most, you could probably add a few glass or ghost shrimp, or maybe 2 ottos, IF you have sufficient GA growth. 2 dwarf corys would probably be better than ottos.

I had a GREAT community tank running for about 2 years. In a 10 gallon tank, I had:
5 head-light-tail-light tetras
2 panda corys
3-6 ghost shrimp at various times... sometimes they got eaten, sometimes they lived for a while.
1 male betta (gold veil-tail)
MANY plants, most notabley java ferns, java moss and some micro-swords.

I used a Whisper 5-10 gallon power filter, fitted with a sponge on the outlet to dampen the current for the betta, which worked well.

The betta I had in the tank was previously living in an unfiltered 2 gallon with a java fern. He was fine, but when I put him in the 10 gallon, he really came to life!!!! His colors got much brighter, he was much more active and entertaining, and just seemed happier. After 2 years in the community tank, he died of dropsy (he was old, too... 3 yrs.)

The 10 gallon was great for 3 big reasons...
1) it is easier to HEAT a 10 gallon than a 2 gallon, and in the warm aquarium water, the betta just seemed so happy.
2) the filter with reduced flow AND the heavily planted environment made for great water quality. Although bettas are very hearty and can tolerate living in crappy conditions, they are at the top of their condition in good, clean, oxygenated water.
3) the fish were all of a similar size, none of the others even remotely resembled bettas, the tetras were not nippy, and everyone (except for the shrimp!) was fast enough to get away.

After my betta died, I adopted 4 male guppies from an over-crowded tank at a friend's house, and therefore, I can't mix a betta with them. A betta WILL kill a guppy!!!!!

I couldn't resist bettas though, so I now also have an Eclipse system 3 (3 gallon) with a blue male betta. It is planted, and he seems pretty happy