Can you put Neon tetras in a tank with a male betta?

I was wondering the same thing! One day I'd like to move my new betta, Benson, into a bigger tank and get him some buddies, and I've always loved those little guys!!

I had neon, cardinal, rummynosed and many other kinds of tetas in with a male betta in a 38 gallon tank, and I didn't have any problems.

I have also kept white clouds in with a male betta.

I guess when I get my new tank I'll try it out with one tetra. Are they cheap? Also are there any types of female bettas that actually look nice?

Tetras should be kept in a little group. They don't like to be alone. They are naturally shoaling fish. I would think you should probably keep at least three together.

And YES! Female bettas are very pretty. Their fins aren't as long as the males, but their colours can be just as beautiful. And, often you can keep groups together, particularly if you buy them from a tank at the fish store where they have been kept together. I currently have a group of seven females living together, and they get along very, very well.

Here is a picture of one of my blue females

I've got a group of neon tetras in my 10 gallon with my
male betta. Everyone gets along fine, no nipping that I've
ever seen.

Wow that blue female was beatiful! I'll look into finding a pet store that sells females somewhere around here that way I wont need a divider. If I had liek 2 females can I put one male with them too?

You can't keep males and females together, since the males can be too aggressive and even kill the females. So, either males kept alone or a small group of females. I think that the females do best when there is four or more. This is because that with two, often the stronger one will pick on the weaker one and with three, two will pick on one. Once you get to four, it seems that they can't just pick on one fish, and they get along better. JMO

You should have plants in the tank, either silk or real, and some little caves or flower pots as resting spots

They sure are pretty Martinez!

How many neons do you think I could keep with a betta in a 4-gallon tank? I was wondering about putting 6 in with him?

I had thought of putting three in my 2 gallon with Benson, but I thought this was to small a tank for that. But, thats' half your tank size, and you want 6, half what I want, so I wonder what everyone will say.

Anyways, unless Benson settles down, I don't think I'll try. He seems pretty aggressive right now with all his flaring.

If you count your betta as 2" of fish, then that leaves you with 2" left in your four gallon. I don't count neons as an inch of fish, since they are so small, so I would say four. You could try six and keep an eye on your water quality.

Neons are kind of touchy little things, and you may start off with six, but only have four survive. At least, I have found them to be so.

Martinez,
I love your little females. They are so pretty. I think I like Licia and Candy the best, but they are all cute as can be

that would be fine emma, jsut keep an eye on the water params soon after you put them in, tos, have u not seen my neons ? i got some the same size as my betta B) though, they arent in with my betta, jsut in with some cichlids.....

you do however get a few rogue ones, so you have to watch out for nipping, neons arent too bad for it, but mollies and cave fish are buggers

Hi,

I tanked Felix with two neons, two cardinal tetras and two red eyed tetras, and they all got along famously. However, before I tried Felix in the tank I'd had two female bettas in there. Kimberly and Blue ate Neons like snacks ... so they had to be removed from the community tank.

I've found that it depends on the fish. Bettas have such individual personalities. Carl, before he passed, couldn't be tanked with anyone ... he had his own 5 gallon all to himself. Nimo enjoyed his two black neons immensely and they shared 5 gallons of space happily.

I'd give yourself time to get to know Benson and then maybe try.

I once put a ramshorn snail in with Jake, one of my male bettas, and Jake wouldn't come out of his little hidey hole behind a plant, until I took the snail out. I think he was afraid of it

I know. But I have been WEAK and BACKSLIDIN', brothers and sisters!

Oh hang Commandment No. 9! I invented that BEFORE I dicovered bettas!

I was thinking about getting 3 neons to start with and seeing how they fare with Augustus. But my only concern is that if he hates them I have nowhere else to put them. I can't whip them out and into my goldie tanks because they'd be guzzled within seconds!

What temp, pH, O2 level and hardness do neons prefer by the way?

Well, I did it!

I put in three neons with Augustus this afternoon... and you should have seen his face!!! If ever a fish could show complete amazement, he did! His whole body language very clearly said 'Who the heck are you guys?! What are you?!' He followed them up and down the tank for awhile, just watching them intently.

But as soon as he realised they couldn't be eaten, fought or ravished, he basically lost interest. <_< And the neons zipped off and are currently hiding behind a rock, but I guess they'll come out when they feel happier.

Keep us posted, Emma

That is how Vanilla reacted to the white clouds

you should add a few more neons em hun, they will feel more comfortable this way, and stop hiding

Kev

i have only one neon lol and he doesn't hide at all, the brave little punk! lol but i'm planning on getting him some buddies.

I have kept neons in water with a ph of 7.8 without problem.

oh yeah that, they will adapt to almost any water cons.... and are pretty hardy as far as pollutants go.

Kev

Thanks guys.

They have ventured out now and are beginning to explore the tank, bless 'em. They seem to especially like the current underneath the biowheel return... do these guys originate from fast-flowing water by any chance?

I plan on getting 2 or 3 in a couple of weeks (didn't want to add too many all at once and risk the cycle), so they'll feel more like a proper shoal then.

As for water conditions, I'm afraid they'll have to put up with a pH of 8.0 'cause that's all I've got. Although I had intended to experiment with Brita filtered water, as that has a pH of around 5.5 - 6.0, and see if half n' half (half Brita and half tap) will keep the pH lower in that tank.

I have named them Bernard, Bootle and Bumtrinket. Not that I can really tell them apart yet!

bumtrinket

Emma, Emma, Emma!!! ....shaking head here......What have you done??
Its my theory that once you start with aquatic life, you can not stop at just one species. Its just not possible! And since you confessed, I might as well...I bought 6 tetras myself today, for my tropicals tank!! SO!! What are you gonna do to me, you broke your own law yourself!!

Why don't you just use a ph regulator to keep it near 7.0?

I have a male betta in a 2.5 gallon tank. How many tetra could I add to this?

We'll both just have to get down and pray for forgiveness... or bigger tanks!

celebr8monkeyday - That's a good suggestion, but unfortunately I can't use a pH regulator because my water has a very high KH. What would happen is that the pH regulator would lower the pH for a little while but would soon be absorbed by the KH, at which point the pH would rise sharply again creating a nasty roller-coastering effect. To lower pH effectively you have to remove substances from the water, not add them. Hence the idea of using Brita water which removes the carbonates and therefore lowers the KH.

I wouldn't worry too much about the ph unless you want to alter it anyway. Don't do it just for the neons. As I mentioned, I have kept them here and my water fluctuates between 7.8 and 8.

I personaly find that no,since they have so mutch
color ect ect just like male guppies they will attend
to nip and most probly attack.

Hm. Bernard and Bootle have settled in fine, but little Bumtrinket is staying on his own at the back of the tank (and yes, I can distinguish between them now!) Not a good sign... *sigh*.

I was going to alter the pH primarily for Augustus as he definitely prefers it lower than 8.0 (he's much happier around the 7.6 mark) so if it benefits the neons too then it will be worth it.

I have 3 blood fin tetras and two of those tetras that are pink with black triangles (keep forgetting their name) in a 5.5 gallon tank with my male betta. I have some neons in my tropical 10 gallon and one female betta killed and ate one! So I moved the female into her own tank before she finished the rest off!

I just got a 10 gallon fish tank and I put posiedon in and I want to get him some tetras. Anyway I was wonder ing if I should get a filter for it. Because wouldn't the current be too much for the betta? Or am I wrong.

I dunno about the filter... I know bettas are supposed to like completely still water but Augustus actually seems to thoroughly enjoy playing in the stream falling into his tank from the biowheel! Possibly he's just odd in that regard though. If you're going to put neons in then I'd say add a filter.

Well, all three of my little guys made it through the night - even Bumtrinket - and they even ate a little breakfast this morning (bits of Augustus' flakes which drifted down). Do neons not like to feed on the surface? Mine don't seem to want to come up. Will they eventually get tame enough to be hand-fed?

You can try a small filter. I use an AquaClear mini on my betta tanks. I turn it down a bit, and put a piece of filter floss over the outflow to cut down the current. The bettas are fine with that, and the one with the filter in his compartment actually sleeps behind the filter floss

I don't have any neons right now, and I am trying to remember how they would feed

I think that they will dart up and grab bits off of the surface, but they do like to swim around and grab it mid level, too. That is how my white clouds feed. It is funny to watch them speeding around the goldfish grabbing the small bits

Im so stupid sorry for my stupidness. But the 10 gallon tank i got is really a 5.5 gallon. It was a present I got last night and I just assumed it was ten but then I looked on somthing that came with it and it said 5 gallons. So I think I'll keep posiedon in it and get a 5-10 gallon filter like martinez14pr said. Unless there is one just for 5 gallons. I'll have to see. Then I'll also get 5 neon tetras and put them in with posiedon and the filter and hopefully they will all be happy. But posiedon is more aggressive than marley is if he gets mean to the tetras ill switch him into marleys tank and put marley with the tetras. The only reason Im gonna try with him first is that hes like half the size of marleya nd I think it would be better for him to grow in a 5.5 gallon tank than a 2.5 gallon tank. Either way I have 100 dollars to work with, Birthdays are fun! haha

Alright thanks. The pet store I'm going to has a big fish department so I will most likely be able to find one for 5gallons

Any way good luck with your tank ill
post a picture of my filtration system later on

Oh no..................Never thought about bettas til a couple months ago,and now I have 4. Up until now only saw one female in person,figured she must have been pretty plain cause I couldn't even remember what she looked like. (well she was in a wallmart cup,what can I say?) Martinez, you have proved that wrong!!!! You really have some very pretty girls there! I think I'm in trouble........God this is so addictive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LOL Show me more!!

One more question Martinez, where do you buy your bettas?

Hi Martinez, liked your picture of MySweetCandy Female Betta. You did a nice job decorating the tank, the stone and decorations match the fish's coloring..

Is that plant/tree a real one or not? very pretty!

Lynn

Oh my gosh Martinez! That is too cute! Do all of your girls do that or just the one?

Martinez, thanks for more cute pics of your Betta girls... The one with Licia in the flower petal was too cute! wow!

You have beautiful flowers and plants in your tanks...We have a hard time finding healthy plants in our area for some reason, Illinois... we're still looking for a quality pet shop with quality plants! We tried Cambomba? and all of the stems ended up turning brown and dying off! fun syphoning that junk out of the tank water!

Lynn

martinez14pr,i saw one just like that today.
i was going to get him! i love that yellowish color.

that picture is so cool. Lol Does your fish stay in that flower a lot?

the fish lol.

but she does look very cute going in that flower.

awwwww...... that sounds so great,did you ever
decided to breed them?