Baby Bettas?

[DragonFyre14]

So, I've been seeing baby bettas at petstores near me... I just feel so bad for them. Most are really clamped and don't seem to be getting enough/the right food.
So, my question is, If I were to get one, I would put it in a 1 gallon for a bit then I could upgrade him/her to a 10 gallon that currently has some baby guppies. Would this be a bad idea? I've seen a couple of people who do put some guppy fry in with their betta spawn but I just thought I would check before I considered it any further.

[ChoclateBetta]

Its a risk you could just keep the fish in a 1 gallon tank.

[DragonFyre14]

Yeah. I figured if I could, he/she would probably be happier in the 10 gallon. I just don't want to do that if it is dangerous to the guppies or the betta.

[ChoclateBetta]

If its a female there is a higher chance of working. Males can live with guppies but it depends.

[babystarz]

It really comes down to how the individual fish feels about it. Since you're getting a baby, there's a good chance that raising it with the guppies could work. I wouldn't put the betta in with any prized guppy breeding stock, just in case, until you know how the betta responds to living with guppies. I would try to make sure there aren't any guppy fry small enough to be easily eaten. We do seem to be hearing more and more stories of this setup working out, but it is important to be prepared for the risks too.

[DragonFyre14]

Okay thanks. Truthfully, I'm going to have a constant supply of guppy fry, so I don't mind risking a few. I would probably put the baby into one of my fry traps for a day or two just to see how he/she reacts to the baby guppies swimming around outside of it.
I don't know if I will actually end up buying a baby betta, but it's nice to know if this set up would work.

[ChoclateBetta]

It would be a Better Idea in a Floating breeder box and see how the Baby reacts so everyones safe.

[Xeek]

I felt the same one day when I saw one at Petco. I purchased her. She was too small for me to know if it was male or female.

I kept her in a breeder box in my 16 gallon sorority tank. After a lot of waiting she finally got big enough and I knew she was a female to my relief!

I fed her micro pellets until she was capable of eating regular pellets. She's an adult now pretty much and it was a success.

At the size of them you wont know if its female or male - a male will not work in a community tank. A female with guppies is iffy. At the size they start at it's really best to keep them in a small container until they're big enough. Mine was too small to keep close tabs on or feed properly in a regular tank (even my 2.5 gallon would have been improper as it was a nano and she fits nicely through the filter intake).

One other thing, after being in the breeder box for so long in proximity to the other females in the sorority - her integration into the sorority was problem free. She's smaller than the rest so she fell right into place at the bottom of the pecking order - no fights have resulted. I've used this technique even on adults - keep them in view of the other females but not where she could fight and they seem to lose some aggression.

[DragonFyre14]

It's really nice to hear that. If I end up getting one, It would be really cool if it ended up being a female so I could keep her with my guppies. I'm not really planning on buying one right now, or even keeping her/him with my guppies. I need to feel a connection to one of them before I actually get one.

[MSG]

I looked @ 14-16 of them yesterday.

• 4 were deformed
• 2 had ripped/missing fins
• 1 had deformed ventral
• 4 might have had parasites
• 5 were too dark
• Only 2 caught my attention. (Both 1" crowntails purple/red/blue with v-stripes

6 veiltails
7 crowntails

Most were about 2.5 cm to 3 cm

Guppies may work but don't be surprised to lose one or two.

My f-bettas Delfine & forget who else killed/tore several guppies to shreds for harassing them.

M-betta Akoya I housed with guppies was harassed by the guppies & couldn't retaliate due to this lack of SPEED.