hello! i have had my 20 gal long fish tank for about a month and have had some neon tetras and a couple guppies there for a week or so, I decided to pick up my betta today and decided on a male koi betta and truly i regret not purchasing a female! he has been chasing my tetras and flarring at them, Thinking of moving him to another tank.. Thoughts or suggestions?
https://i.redd.it/xr92943nc5vf1.jpeg
Posted by Ok-Damage6361
10 Comments
Any betta can turn out to be aggressive, even a female. Some bettas will actually become the target of bullying themselves (relatively poor swimming and long fins=bait for nippy tetras or rasboras) and they can also sometimes eat themselves to death in community tanks (females particularly in my experience). So whenever youre trying a community tank with a betta it’s best to plan from the very beginning about what to do in case a separation is necessary, whether that’s making sure there’s another tank ready or making sure there’s a place you can re-home it.
I’d put this one in a breeder box for now just in case and reassess your options tomorrow.
Yes, I would move him to another tank. Or you can add many more hiding spots for the other fish. Also try just keeping him in the tank, but isolated behind a separation net or something and let him get used to the other fish be in there. This may or may not work.
Move him. It’s hit or miss if a betta works in a community. Yours is a miss. He’ll kill his tankmates if he has the chance.
(Also, my female was a jerk while my male was peaceful. You just never know.)
More hiding places like caves or large plants might help but they also could just be very aggressive and nothing will change that. That is the possibility with putting any betta, male or female, in a community tank sadly
Might have to return him ):
Yeah, any betta, even female, is a risk in a community tank. Period. There are no guarantees and more often than not, it goes bad. Bettas aren’t a community fish.
male vs female means nothing, some females are aggressive and some males are peaceful. it depends on the individual, not their sex. this is why if you plan to try a betta in a community tank you need to have a backup tank to put it in in case it doesn’t work out because not all bettas do well in communities. you also shouldn’t have put guppies in a tank with a betta. they don’t like fish with long or colourful fins and will either attack them or be very stressed out by them. he needs to go somewhere else, either set up a new tank quickly or find someone else to take him until you can get one
Some bettas just ain’t friendly, you can add tons of plants etc, but I had one female who’d hunt down any fish with her and murder them, so she lived alone, thats what you probably have, a lone guy, just keep him alone, don’t attempt to change it up. Some bettas just are not community friendly.
How long was he in there? How bad is the chasing? Is he trying to kill the other fish? You can always give it some time if he’s not actively looking to hurt his tank mates. It’s probably the first time he’s actually been in such a large tank with fish he’s never seen before—it’s natural for him to try to look big and scary. My bettas that have been in community situations always flare and chase at first, but mellowed out once they settled. If you’re so worried, get a clear breeder box and put him in that for a few days to get him used to seeing other fish. It’s crazy how people just immediately jump to “separate him” right away—we need more context before anyone can say for sure.
Or he could just be super aggressive and has murder on his mind—fancy bettas are inbred enough that they aren’t the most stable personalities. Remove him in that case.
Just move him. My female is actually more aggressive than my male so it just really depends on the fish