I've had bettas for years. I got my first one when I was 13.. like 1997 I think? anyway. I've always kept them alone. but lately I've been looking into tank mates for my Betta, but I don't know where to start? this is the Tank I have.
Well in a 3 gallon, I wouldn't really suggest tank mates. Maybe some shrimp or a snail. If you wanted other fish with him, you should get a ten gallon.
Corycats are nice, bottom dwellers and really cute. My male did better with them then neons. People will typically suggest neons. Depends on your betta.
I have a 3.5 gallon tank and my male betta occupies it with a golden algae eater. The GAE stays to itself mainly and since it's mainly a low level tank swimmer, it shouldn't mess with your betta. In fact, my betta seems to like the GAE plenty, they get super close to one another, even to where my betta will have his face right up to the GAE's face and there's been no issue.
Of course, each fish has its own personality, if you do decide to get a tank mate, I would suggest a low level tank dweller or a snail so space isn't taken up by too active of a fish.
If by GAE you mean 'Chinese Algae Eater' that grows massive (I think up to a foot) and becomes aggressive, than you really need to get that fish out of that tank and find it a more suitable home.
A 3.5 gallon tank is too small to comfortably house anything but a betta. 10-15 gallons minimum is what you need to be looking at if you want to add anything more than shrimp and snails.
I have a ten gal. and the tank mates are the green catfish,a juvinial angelfish, and a dwarf gourami. Tank has 4 fake plants in it two swim able sized caves for the fish to dart through to loose the beta chase. I never had luck with neons they dart around and tended to nip at the betas fins.
You need water filters to have these fish as tank mates. To be honest the filters that blow from the top are useful as the current pushes the beta fish back when he tries to harm any of the fish making a nice safe zone for them.
Last edited by Skyrocket Moon; 01-28-2013 at 03:14 PM.
Yes, I've researched that Chinese Algae Eaters can grow quite large. I know the Golden Algae Eater is in the same family as the CAE, and no worries, I fully intend to move the fish once it's growing. It's currently just under 2 inches in length so I'm not that concerned.
And though I have read about them being more on the aggressive side, the one I have seems to coexist with my betta really well.
My boyfriend had the idea to put Tiger Barbs in one time because he once had a larger tank of TBs and a betta and had no issues, but one of the TB immediately started to chase and try to nip at the betta, even causing him to start becoming pale with stress, so the TBs were moved to another tank. I was sketchy from the get-go about the TBs because I know they are semi-aggressive/aggressive fish and are fin nippers.
I've monitored my beta and GAE's interaction very carefully, if anything seems out of balance, best believe I will handle it. :) I appreciate the concern!
Skyrocket - Your tank is heavily overstocked and the wrong fish are in there. Gouramis can't be housed with betta fish since they're aggressive too, and they attack fish with long fins. You can't even house them with each other, they're like bettas. The angelfish needs a 55G at the minimum. It's not the size, it's the amount of ammonia they produce. IMO, it's the betta's life and safety you should be worrying about, not the other fish.
LyLy - As I said to Skyrocket Moon, it's the ammonia they produce. Just watch the parameters.
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
Similar Threads
