Fish that get along well with a male betta?

[Tycoon]

I heard small fish like tetras get along well with betta? Do they really?

My betta is currently living in a 1 gl. tank by himself.

I wanna move him to a 5 gl. filtered tank soon and I wanna add maybe 2-3 tiny little fish to live with him.

[tangy]

hello.if the fishies dont nip at his long fins, then it should be ok.

[leifthebunny]

If my LFS can ever get ahold of them, I intend on putting penguin tetras in with my betta. My betta's been pretty good with teh japonicas crawling over him flying around the tank.

[squiggles1]

anything with long fins (like fancy guppies) aren't always a good idea because the betta may see it as a threat and nip at them.

[tophat665]

I'd avoid putting penguins in a tank with a betta. I understand that they are one of the nippier tetras. Frankly I wouldn't put any other fish with a male betta in a tank smaller than 5 gallons. In a 5 to 15 gallon tank, I would stay away from any fish that share the middle water with the betta. Stick to dwarf cories and ottos, maybe kuhlis or moth catfish. At 20 gallons and up, then you could start thinking about some of the smaller, more sedate schooling fish - neons, green neons, black neons, glow-lites, cardinals, harlequin rasboras, cherry barbs. That sort of critter. Be really careful of fish with long fins and fish with any nippiness in their reputation (or at very least keep a bail out solution for the betta - a 2.5 for instance - and keep a very close eye on the tank for a month.)

[Rue]

...I have my CT male in with female bettas, platies, mollies, serpae tetras, zebra danios, an oto cat, cories and shrimp...

...no aggression ! *knockonwood*

[leifthebunny]

Originally Posted by leifthebunny

If my LFS can ever get ahold of them, I intend on putting penguin tetras in with my betta. My betta's been pretty good with teh japonicas crawling over him flying around the tank.

I have since added some harlequin rasboras and threadfin rainbowfish into his tank and they seem to get along ok. The other fish are too fast for the betta so I don't anticipate any real problems.

[ndjs]

Would gouramis fit well at all? I believe they're like a cousin of the betta, right?

[leifthebunny]

They are both Anabantids. I've been told that they might not get along too well, but haven't heard from anyone that tried. The biggest factor is the individual fish.

[mHeinitz57]

gouramis arent usually reccommended with male bettas. Since they are relatives, its almost like having two males in the same tank. I've seen smaller gouramis like the honey sunsets do well with them though. Are you going to heat the 5 gallon tank? If you arent then you need to find fish that withstand temperature change better. SOme good choices are cories, white clouds, and short finned danios. Otos would make a good algea eater but are a little more temperature sensitive.