Betta not happy with new friends.

[ericwayne]

hi, I'm new to the forum and came on here in hopes that I can recieve some advice on what to do with my betta.
I purchased a betta today to put in my tank, with tankmates that include 3 platies, 2 mollies, 1 swordtail, 3 oto cats, and 1 young angelfish. I also have quite a few plants and hiding places. anyways, when I put the betta in the tank, he was not happy.my fish are very curious and wanted to go see him, just like they did when I added the otos, but the betta flared and charged at them. soon, the fish stopped going to him, and the betta began chasing around the platies and otos, while flaring, on his own accord. surprisingly, the only fish he hasn't bothered is the angel, which was the only fish I was worried about. so since I'm a chicken, and couldn't allow any harm to come to my fish, even though the betta is 10x slower than all of them, I took him out and put him back in his cup. :(
so, what should I do now? I was thinking of buying a breeder net and putting him in that for a few days. might that work? and if nothing helps, I could probably buy a 10gal from petco, but wouldn't have enough money to buy a filter and heater, so that is last resort. unless that's acceptable?
anyways, hopefully this problem can be solved. thank you. :)

[SassyBetta]

well first off , what size tank is this? i think that might be to manny fronds for just a ten gallon . i could be wrong but he sounds likes hes over crouded with new fish.

[ericwayne]

it's a 20 gallon.

[Sena Hansler]

An angelfish needs a 40 gallon because they get big and scout out territory (usually lots) :) be aware that the angel gets bigger, and that they, like a betta, would have a problem with another possible agressor.

The best method of introducing fish I have found is moving the ornaments around, and introducing the betta last. This allows everyone to re-scout their areas. You can use a breeder's net, but it can cause stress.

It could be your betta is just a fiesty little boy. you can get a 5 gallon for cheaper that comes with a filter. A heater should cost maybe 10$.

[tf1265]

Get that angelfish out of there. They are not peaceful community tank mates, and they need a tank about twice the size.

Mollies are brackish fish, they do not do very well in fresh water tanks. They may live, but they won't be as happy.

Do you know the gender of your platies? Sex ratios are important - at least 2:1 female:male is necessary. If they are all the same gender, no problem there.

Not all bettas do well in community tanks. Females tend to do better because they are less aggressive, it's more common to find a female that does well in a community tank.

I'd separate the male betta, get him his own 5 gallon palace.

If you go to the main host forum page (tropicalfishkeeping.com) you can find profiles of many tropical fish that will aid you in stocking. You put together quite a few fish in a small aquarium that don't really belong there. 10 gallons is very small as far as fish are concerned, there are quite a few species that can live in them, but a lot more that can't.