[potatopoya]

Some weeks ago I bought a half-moon betta for my 30 gallon tank. I thought he would be calm enough to live with other fish as he never flared at my finger or the nerite snails already within the tank.

So today, I bought two female platys (one fully red and the other gray with a red tail) to put inside. I made a mistake by putting the betta in first, as it flared at the platies and chased the gray one around. I thought this could have been avoided since my betta had giant fins and should be slower than the platies, however, he was able to catch up and nipped a bit of the platy's tail.

I took the betta out and placed him in another spare tank. I then changed some of the decorations within the 30 gallon in hopes that he would be less aggressive.

However, how long should I separate him for? Will separating work?

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

Some Betta never make it in community tanks. Adjusting a slow moving snail is not the same as adjusting to fast-moving fish. How did you introduce

They way Betta and other fish should be introduced specifically; at least in my experience.

Best way to introduce is to turn the tank lights off; float the new fish in the darkened tank; after release keep lights off for at least an hour but the longer the better. The reverse is true when adding a Betta to an established community.

When we leave the lights on while floating the bags, the Betta can become frustrated; especially if they "attack" the bag. This also stresses out the fish in the bag.

For now, I would leave him in the spare tank. No need to move decorations or plants around in the other one. Give him a week and then try reintroducing. If it doesn't work, resign yourself to the fact he's just not a community fish.

As as aside, livebearers should be in trios of no more than one male for every two females. If there are more males than females the females will be stressed by the harassment. Or, all of one sex or the other but at least three. In your tank I would have at least six.

 

[Imp]

This is not clear from your post, but are the two platys the only other fish in the tank?

If that is the case, you'll want to establish a bigger community before trying to re-introduce your betta. With two other fish, he can single them out and tire them easily. With more than five, he will be the one that gets tired before doing any damage.

 

[imaal]

I agree with all of the above but will add that I have found this is a common problem with the mid-size live bearers--platies, swordtails, limias etc--and the aggression can go either way; platies can taunt betta or, as in your case, the other way around. It may not work regardless of what you do.

 

[BettaloverSara]

I don't find platies to be great tank mates for betta, as they are large and erratic swimmers. But as noted above, you will need more of them to even try to keep the peace.

 

[potatopoya]

I will get more platies. Although, I've seen posts concerning aggressive male platys. Is there any way to avoid this?
I reintroduced the betta to the platies, and he was mostly peaceful once I adjusted the decorations. Occasionally, he would try to chase them but most of the time he ignored them.

 

[imaal]

I will get more platies. Although, I've seen posts concerning aggressive male platys. Is there any way to avoid this?

Yes, get only females. But male platies aren't aggressive, rather they are fervent suitors of any female especially if she has just delivered fry.

Several of us have suggested that this is not a great combination. Personally, I'd either separate the betta from the platies or rehome the platies. Are you prepared to deal with platies throwing young every 28-30 days? Even without males, your females are likely already 'hit' and will deliver young. And I say this as someone who is very fond of platies and always has some around---just not with my bettas.

 

[potatopoya]

On second thought, I think I will return the platies since my betta is pretty stressed (fin rot). It's a shame since the platies were very pretty. I will keep the 30 gallon a betta & snail only tank. Thanks for the advices and help.

 

[BettaloverSara]

In a 30 gallon you could have plenty of lovely fish in with that betta, they just require the right number and species to be happy