Betta Friends

[quimbysworld]

Hi guys, just registered today and was wondering what would be a good companion for my Betta. He is currently in a 2 gallon set-up waiting for his 10 gallon tank to settle tomorrow. We were thinking about getting a snail and/or a frog, maybe another fish and possibly some kind of plant. If anybody has any advice or tips that they would like to share it would be much appreciated!

Thanks

[Adastra]

You should really wait a bit longer and do a fishless cycle on the ten gallon before you add any fish. It is a very simple process that will save you a lot of time and effort in the long run. Take the time to research the Nitrogen Cycle and how to conduct a fishless cycle before you do anything else--you'll thank me later. :)

As for stocking, I usually recommend a school (6 or more individuals) of panda cories or pygmy cories for 10G tanks. These are small, cute, and very active bottom dwellers that won't bully your betta, and likely will not draw aggression from your betta. It's a good idea to put the cories in first, after your tank has cycled, of course--because the betta will be more likely to accept their presence if they're in there before he has had time to establish his territory and build/defend a bubblenest.

African Dwarf Frogs are good tankmates, too, but there is a big problem with keeping them with other fish. That problem is related to the way they eat. Frogs are almost completely blind and hunt their food by smell. The problem is that sight animals like fish find the frog's food before they even manage to get a whiff of it, so many frogs end up starving to death in these situations. When I had an ADF, I had to feed it by sticking my arm in the tank and waving a worm in front of his nose until he realized it was there and decided to chomp it. I enjoyed my frogs, but feeding him was so challenging that I don't think I will ever get more. If you're thinking of getting a frog, do your research. They are very sensitive animals that need a specific diet that is not necessarily composed of "frog pellets."

[quimbysworld]

Yeah the tank has been on a cycle and tomorrow is the date I've decided would be right to finally put my fish in the tank. I did not think to put the school in before the Betta and that makes a lot of sense now that you have pointed it out. I don't want to cause any unnecessary to my little guy so I appreciate the advice. I also have a 5 gallon and a 30 gallon that have already been established and I just wanted to give him a bigger better habitat. I don't know how I feel about the frog as of yet, was just wondering how other peoples experience with them went.

I'll wait til I decide what kind of cories to get before I make any further changes.

Thanks for the help!

[mollyyymo]

I have found that mollies are pretty good tank mates for bettas. The only issue is that bettas prefer still water whereas my mollies like it with a little movement. But they don't nip at one another and all seem very active an happy.

Basically, any non-aggressive fish with short fins can live with bettas. Make sure they are comparable in size though, or some fish might get bullied.