Guppy with Betta?

[charlie1881]

Hey Y'all ,
I tried adding a guppy a female blacktail to be specific , and the betta seemed to be indiffrent though the guppy was a diffrent story . I placed her in the betta 20 gallon because she was a food hog in the community tank she was in and it was becomming a health issue for her ( looked to be eternally preggers) but when I put her in the tank with alpha my bettas name , she went nuts !! She actually jumped out of the water ! And then she went half moon in the top corner and started to shutter and resporation became very excited . As a reslut I put her back in the original tank she came from .
I just wanted to let you know sometimes the guppy will be the one that cant handle the betta , not just the betta handleing the guppy .
My alpha has shown no aggression to any other critter I add , snails , shrimp or the guppy . He swims up and like a dog kinda just sniffs them out of curiousity it seems more than anything , he was a wal-mart rescue so has never had any company , maybe that has something to do with his temperment ? But he seems more than willing to share his 20 with whatever comes in . I havent added any other fish since taking out the female guppy though am considering adding a schoal of rasbora or cherry barbs at present . Researching both options at the moment .

[ninjaqutie]

Originally Posted by fishy314

Monitor them for the first 30 mins or so. Seperate them at the FIRST sign of aggression.

Thanks, I will keep this in mind. I think I will stay away from the ones with the fancy tails, but I do want to try some colorful ones. What is your opinion as to setting up a tank first with the fish and adding the betta last versus having a betta first and then adding the other fish? I am not really set on one way or the other. I am leaning on setting up the community tank first, then adding the betta; however, if I come across a beauty of a betta first, I am not going to pass it up!!! I wouldn't mind having a lone betta for a while either though, since I haven't had a tank in so long. I can't wait!