How to tell if a betta is aggressive or docile?

[eatingganesh]

OK this may seem like a stupid question, but...

I am just getting into betta care and have had a crowntail male alone in a 1.5 gallon tank for about 6 months. I recently decided to get a 6.6 gallon tank and add some additional housekeeping residents - specifically 1 ghost shrimp, 2 dwarf albino corys, and 1 apple snails.

I intend to keep the smaller tank going as a quarantine, and to house any additional ghost shrimp in case my betta decides that they are snacks rather than friends. I will probably thrown a snail in that one too to help with algae.

so my question is... how can I tell if my solitary male is aggressive before I stick him with the others? He seems shy to me - moves away from my finger and sometimes flares at me if I stare at him closely (LOL). Are these signs of an aggressive personality? Or is it simply that I will have to experiment a bit and 'find out' when I introduce the tankmates?

Thanks for your advice in advance. :)

ps. After reading greentea's sorority thread, I wonder if I should just get a female betta for the 6.6 tank and keep my male in the 1.5 gallon? The reason I got a bigger tank is because the 1.5 is a PITA to clean, maintain temp, and seems to get algae'd up really quickly.

[QueenBetta383]

I would recommend putting a female or two in the community tank, just so your male isn't stressed. He has been the run of the tank for awhile now that is! As far as temperament goes, it's hard to tell, bettas seem to have ever changing personalities. For intense, you could have the sweetest little female in the world, and put her in a sorority and BOOM, she kills the rest of the fish. Although unlikely, still possible. Good luck!

[Silverfang]

Please Please Please! Don't put any females in with a male betta. The only time they should be together is for spawning. Your boy might appear docile, but he could kill another betta (male or female) if you added one.
In that size tank a snail or two, or some shrimp should be okay (unless your boy makes snacks of the shrimp).
However cories like to be in shoals, groups of 5-6, and your tank is too small for that many.

[hedgehog]

As silverfang said a 6.6 gallon tank is just too small to have the proper number of cories to keep them happy and healthy. I've also never heard of dwarf albino cories it's possible that you just have juvenile albinos in which case they still get to be 2.5 inches. Again too small for a 6.6 gallon tank. Snails and shrimp are fine for the size tank you have.

Queenbetta--I'm confused as to whether you are telling the OP to put a female in the 6.6 instead of the male or with the male. If you are suggesting that the male and female live together in the community tank that is a very very bad idea. Also it's not recommended to keep just 2 females together in a tank because there are not enough female bettas to spread out aggression.

[eatingganesh]

Oh, it's ok... I understand Queen to mean that I should leave the male in his 1.5 and put a female or two in the 6.6. I would hope that anyone who has a betta knows better than two put two males or a male/female pair in the same tank together... But then, lots of people buy them and never bother to research the breed or it needs. So sad that there are people like that... But I'm not one of them - I've researched my butt off after I fell in love with my little Yoshi. :)

[QueenBetta383]

Mhm. I said if she wanted a betta, a female would be better to keep in the 6.6 gallon, and leave the male in where he has been living. No, I don't recommend putting males and females together...bad idea....

[Campbell]

There's an easy test to determine the agression level of your fish. Single test question: Is he a male betta? Yes. Therefore, he fails the test. Though there may be rare exceptions to this rule, it is best not to risk it. Male bettas just don't mix with other bettas male or female.

[BettaMiah]

Hi. I see you are new. I'll help all I can.

To start, welcome to the world of aquarium keeping! It is a great hobby. And fish are some of the best pets I have ever owned. I think you'll love it!

To start-

Bettas can thrive in 1.5 gallon tanks with a few Ghost Shrimp and a snail. One or the other, but not both. And certainly not with any other fish. So you could keep him in there.

a 6.6 Gallon is way too small for Ghost Shrimp, and Apple Snail, and Cory Catfish. From personal experience corys CAN infact thrive with only one friend, but it isn't reccomended, and still your tank is too small. There isn't a dwarf cory Catfish. Only pygmys. You could have those, but not 'dwarfs'. Those get 4 inches (trusts me I have one) and need 10 gallons.

Do NOT get a female betta. They can not live peacefully. He will kill her. You only put a female with a male for breeding and under close supervision for a short time.

You can NOT have just 2 female Bettas. One will kill the other or both will die. You need at least 4 (5 is better and even more is awesome) and a minimum of 10 gallons for the 4.

I would just get rid of the corys and keep the Betta, the shrimp, and the snails in the 6.6 gallon. That is an AWESOME home. Way better than 1.5 gallons! The bigger, the better.

[hedgehog]

BettaMiah--I just want to point out that there are many different species of cories most of which only get to be about 2.5 inches total. I do agree that the cories don't belong in a tank of that size but I disagree with your sentiment that cories can thrive without groups. They are social fish. They live in groups in the wild. On catfish forums you will never see anyone suggest keeping a cory in any group smaller than four. Before I knew better I kept one cory with my betta and he constantly swam midlevel glass-surfing because he was trying to school with his reflection. These behaviors are not normal for cories. From your other posts I believe you actually have an emerald green cory which isn't actually a cory at all but instead Brochis splendens. They are in the same family but different genus. These guys get to be about 4 inches while green cories only get to be 2.5 max. Brochis splendens also need to be kept in groups, in fact one of the sites I checked said at least groups of 5 but preferably groups of ten. It is bad to give people misinformation about cories. While you may keep your cory alone they really prefer to be with others.

[eatingganesh]

Lol he fails! Haha!

I wasn't talking about putting bettas together (other than possibly females)... rather, I mentioned ghost shrimp, apple snails, and dwarf albino cories (that I now will research to make sure they are not juveniles or pygmys... Though the LPS/breeder was adamant they would get no bigger than an inch).

I appreciate everyone's time given to answer my questions... Lots more avenues to check in to and research. :)