I’ve had my betta (Bihm) for about 6 months, and he’s generally been a very chill fish. About a month ago, I had to move him from an 80 L tank to a 60 L because the other fish in the larger tank started nipping at his fins.
Yesterday, I added a group of pygmy corydoras to his tank. At first, he didn’t seem to care about them at all.
Today, however, I noticed him chasing one of the pygmy corys, and it even looked like he might have tried to bite it. It was a bit hard to tell because it happened behind the driftwood. He doesn’t do this constantly, though — most of the time he either watches them from a distance or ignores them completely.
The tank has plenty of hiding spaces, and I expect this to improve even more as the plants grow in.
Basically, I’m trying to figure out whether this behavior is something that might settle over time, or if it would be better to move the pygmy corys to another tank
Posted by Ommetaphobe
2 Comments
I’ve had several Betta with pygmy cories over the years with no issue. They have all been either king males or females. Some of mine would do that chasing thing you’re talking about but it never lasted. He also might be a bit territorial because you added them to his space. Just keep an eye on the situation because you don’t anyone getting too stressed.
I read on this thread that when this happens it might help to remove the Betta, do a but of rearrangement in the tank and then add the Betta again in the environment with the Corys already there. This should prevent him from being territorial.