Guppies and Bettas?

[SageMyster]

I was thinking of adding one guppy to my 2.5gal (University tank size restrictions) with my incoming AB betta purchase. What are your opinions? I haven't liked any of the other suggestions I've read in other threads... they all seem kind of... ugly to me. xD;; I love male guppies, especially. Any way this could work out?

Thanks in advance!

[Fishybitty]

I'm not sure with a male :/

I have two lyretail guppies in my sorority tank and they do fine. The guppies swim around each other like goof balls. The never bother them.

[SageMyster]

How about a mollie?

[Fishybitty]

Might have better luck, their tails aren't as flowy and distracting to where the male might chase them.

It all depends on the fish though too. I would say, just have a back up plan in case it doesn't work.

[Hadoken Kitty]

I know it seems ugly now, but I would go with a mystery snail. Your betta isn't going to like the extra fish company in the 2.5 gal, but he won't care about the snail. And, honestly, I love my snails. I thought I'd hate them. But I love them. They're so entertaining. I can't even describe to you the level of amazement I brought myself to when I realized that I really liked my snails. And that I...actually thought they were.....CUTE!

Point is, bettas can get along with fish, but they need room for it. Plenty of it. They also have a better chance if the betta is a female, or if the other fish isn't very colorful or has short fins.

Bettas would prefer your attention over a tank mate any day.

[SageMyster]

Snails? I just... hrm. I guess I can google them. xD :)

[emeraldmaster]

2.5 gallon??? Most people say not to add anything to a tank under 5 gallons! Guppies are a hit and miss situation, I breed guppies for money and I have a male betta in with my guppy farming tank with no problems( he is supposed to eat some of the deformed babies but he doesn't)... But I would not recomend guppies in anything under 10, and even then at least have 2 girls per 1 boy guppy. Hope I helped!

[Crowntails]

Bettas will kill guppies because guppies are very colorful. Makes them think its another betta, especially males.

Mollies need a 20 gallon minimum ....

I'd upgrade your betta to a 5 gallon, add a couple shrimp, make the tank planted. It'd look so pretty.

[LadyVictorian]

You can't keep a mystery snail in a 2.5 gallon tank with a betta. Mystery snails need 2.5 gallons on their own as they create a LOT of waste. You can't keep anything else with your betta in a 2.5 gallon tank, you need at least 5 gallons for that.

[pittipuppylove]

+1 what the others have already said... 2.5 is simply too small to have tankmates with your betta. Even shrimp (which have an itty-bitty bioload) would be tricky since they would likely be stressed all the time from the close proximity of the betta and lack of ability to get away. And both Mollies and Guppies enjoy having others of their kind around, so it's not optimal to keep them alone.