I have a female betta fish with some snails in a 7 gallon heavily planted tank and she just seems bored is there any other fish i could put with her or should i keep her solo i added some photos of her tank above and the plants set up I was just wondering if she could have a friend. 😁
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1se1igz
Posted by Feisty_Ad602
15 Comments
I would keep her solo or get something like a dwarf anchor catfish!
have you thought about a large snail? Like a rabbit or mystery
She’s happier without another fish. Maybe try some shrimp or add some live food to her diet for enrichment
I have a guppy that I rescued with my male betta in a 5 gallon. It all depends on temperament of the betta. With 7 gallons, it’s a little difficult to find a small enough fish that doesn’t need schooling. I have another tank, 10 gallon, currently that has a male koi betta and 4 guppies and I already know I’m pushing it. As long as you stay on top of water changes and water parameters, I say go for it.
Best I would do it maybe snails or ghost shrimp. Or, if you can find some smaller fish that don’t need schooling, go for that. Get like two of them. Certain guppies that aren’t as flashy might be a good bet.
Also your tank is AWESOME.
Idk what all these comments are. No, 10 gallons is minimum for community tank, and then it’s testy. You could try shrimp. She may or may not eat neos, but amanos are nice and usually too big for bettas to eat and pretty neutral in terms of waste. Large snails or other fish will produce a lot of waste and many fish that can get along with bettas need schools of 7-10.
In a 7 gallon you shouldn’t really but you could add snails. She’s very good on her own though. Beautiful tank.
7 gallons is way too small for other fish. Also, bettas are not social fish, other fish aren’t “friends”. It would probably just be a source of stress. Be careful not to anthropomorphize her behavior too much
Not in that tank.
Just because she is alone doesnt mean she is unhappy. Of course in the wild more exciting stuff is happening like getting stressed by males or fight with other animals but that doesnt mean she is bored now.
The tank is small and already an established territory of your betta, so if you add some random small fish, she will most likely won’t be happy and start chasing them.
I do agree that they get bored in a small tank though. Maybe you could think of switching to a bigger one, establish it with some fish and then add your betta? If it doesn’t work out, you would still have the small tank as a back up option.
I have a cory and 2 otos with my male betta and had 2 guppies, one passed. He gets along with other fish as long as they dont come to his floating log.
Its possible with a big asterisk, that mostly being fish temperment. I keep a betta in a 6g long with a few pearl danios and he doesn’t seem to mind. IDK if he enjoys their company but or whatever, but worst case is that case he doesn’t bother them and they don’t bother him. Your tank could support it though, especially with duckweed you’re more than likely going to run out of swimming space well before bioloads become a problem.
The big asterisk is that i knew how my fish’s temperment beforehand. My LFS is really good in that they keep some of their betta in tanks with other fish so you know what they are willing to tolerate as far as roommates. If you bought her in a cup it’s really a crapshoot since i’m not aware of any definitive way to figure out their temperment.
If you’re set on adding tankmates i’d probably start with a snail/larger amano shrimp. Most beta’s won’t go after snails, and if you see her biting the snail forget about anything else in the tank. Most are also okay with amanos because they’re just too big to be food.
As for fish a lot of people report success with a dwarf corys since they’re bottom dwellers and pretty uncolorful. The bettas/corys don’t really occupy the same space in the tank so i guess there’s just less friction that way. Trying colorful fish that swim in the same space like CPDs is kinda risky since its just completely up to the betta at that point.
sorority tanks are a thing, but you will need a bigger tank.
eta: that doesn’t mean it always works or is appropriate for your particular fish.
Fish aren’t human.
Don’t look at your fish and see human behaviors, certainly don’t look at your fish and see human emotions.
Bettta fish don’t get lonely. They are solitary, aggressive predators.
I do understand wanting a community tank, that’s cool! But buy a new tank, minimum of 20 gallons, and start your community there!