10gal betta guppy platy?

[liz26914]

I currently have one betta male and i want to get some guppies and if i have room some platy. I kno tht my betta may attack the guppies bc of their fins. So I plan to put him in a breeding trap and see how he reacts to them in the tank. I was wondering if 4 guppies wld b ok. And then do I have room for a couple platies?

[Nickpearson1985]

Look up the Endler's Livebearer. Like Guppies but smaller and IMO they look better.

[JKfish]

Hey Liz :)

I'm not exactly sure what your tank set up is like, but you are going to have to make sure your tank is completely cycled and that you have hiding spots for the platies and for your betta. This could be anything from a cluster of silk or real plants to a bunch of decor and hidey caves.

From what I hear, platies are good tankmates for bettas, and most people don't seem to have issues. Of course, this all depends on the temperment of your betta and the tankmates. Some bettas can be very agressive, where as others not so much.

When you get your platies, rule number one is making sure they are all the same gender and that they did not come from a tank with sick fish and that they themselves are healthy. You're going to want to quarentine them for about a week or two weeks minimum to keep an eye out for illnesses which do not make themselves aparent in the first few days.

As such, you might want to buy a sterlite tubberware or something along those lines to house your platies during their qt. I know that 4 gallon sterlite tubberwares are all of 4 dollars at target, and they make wonderful hospital tanks should the need arise. If you don't have a spare heater to heat the tank, you'll want to to buy one or see if the tubberware will float in the tank to keep warm.

After the quarentine time, you'll want to remove your betta, move the decor around, add the platies (give them a day or so to adjust to the tank). During this time, your betta ought to be fine in the qt tank (clean it out first). The reason you are doing all this is because bettas are territorial and will act more agressively if they think the tank is stilll their territory and the platies are interlopers. By rearranging the tank after you remove your boy for the day, he probably won't recognize it as much.

After introducing your boy back in, monitor all the fishies' behaviors towards each other.

[Myates]

JK has you covered on what you need to do- and I definitely agree on making sure they are all of the same sex as they will breed like crazy, and if you end up having too many males, they will endlessly harass the female(s).

Some bettas will be ok with the Endlers, but a lot of times, small, fast moving fish can easily stress out a betta- why neons and such do better in larger tanks with a betta rather then a 10g. They are all peaceful, but some are just too hyper for some male betta. All comes down to each betta's personality. Just another consideration to add in. Platies are a bit larger and easier to see, and they tend to not be as "quick".

[liz26914]

ok, so i got the platies and guppies. I rearrange my tank, put my betta in a breeding trap and put the platies and guppies in the tank. when the guppies swam by the breeding trap at all, so i put him in the tank and watched to make sure he was ok with them. Well, he's ok with guppies. But he flares at my red platy. I took him out and gave him a "time out". Will the timeout work? or shld i just return the platy?

[JKfish]

How many platies did you get? How many guppies did you get?

The number of platies will affect whether returning your red one is a good idea.

'Time outs' work just about as well with bettas as they would with a rock. As smart as bettas are, a few minutes of seperation won't do anything. You have to remember this is something new for him and he needs time to adjust. Keep him in the breeder trap for a bit if he's still being agressive and give him time to get used to seeing but not touching/hurting the others.

Since you decided not to quarentine the fish, keep an super tight eye out for sick fish or abnormal symptoms. There are a lot of pathogens that can be carried in on outside fish, which can end up with the whole tank dead. If you notice any sickly fish, remove them at once and quarentine them (again, if you don't have the qt equpiment, it's always a good idea to invest in it should you have the funds)