I've been trying to get a small honey gourami for the centerpeice of my tank, but I am not having luck with them. Bettas are almost always kept in separate containers in the store, so I see that as a lower risk of disease as long as they are kept clean. I really like bettas anyway, they have such strong personalities. The tankmates include 5 black neon tetras, 2 otos, and 1 ghost shrimp. I'm pretty sure my fish would leave a betta alone, but the tetras have never been with a fish with fins as long as a male betta's. Would the betta hurt my shrimp? I'm guessing a female betta would be a safer choice since they have short fins and probably maneuver better with a current.

Another area of concern is feeding. I know there are members here with bettas in community set ups...how do you feed them? I doubt I'd be able to feed betta pellets since the tetras would steal all or the majority. Would feeding an assortment of high protein foods make up for it? The staple flake I feed is omega one, and its guarenteed analysis matches Hikari's pretty well, and even has slightly more protein. The only real difference is the the ingredients and the crude fat content. I believe hikari has a minimum of 4% and omega one has a minimum of 11%. I can supplement with daphnia and bloodworms, and I plan on buying a spirulina flake food too.

Well you know I'm no expert or anything, but I do have two female bettas in my 29 gal tank for months now, everyone seems to be fine. I started with feeding them the pellets, but it was such a hassle, I gave up on it and they eat all the other food so I think they are fine. The food I give is big al's tropical flakes, spirulina flakes, dried brime shrimp, dried shrimp, dried blood worms, dried daphnia, shrimp pellets, algea wafers, and catfish discs. I think their colors have actually gotten prettier since I put them in there.

I don't know if I would personally put a male in there cause I'd be worried about how well they can swim and about getting their fins stuck in the filters, but your tank is smaller so it might not be a problem. My girls do like to swim all over, but they do it slowly. They haven't hurt each other or any of my other fish, I haven't even seen them flare at each other yet. My meanest fish in there is actually a platy

If you do try it, I'd go with a girl to be on the safe side, plus the girls are fun

Thank you Kristy I've always wanted a little girl! Now that I'm volunteering at Petsmart once a week and my new job will be right next to petco, I will have many opportunities to look for a special one. It probably won't be for a while though, my hands are full with a sick mousey.

yea, I read about your poor little mouse. I said a little prayer for her. congrats on the new job too