I've given up on guppies. Mine were going strong for a few weeks then suddenly they started dying one after another, and the betta has never touched them.

So... I don't want my betta to be alone, but I also don't want something that'll harm him. I have a few fish ideas, but am unsure about the specifics.

This is for a 5-gallon tank with one betta and a few live plants.
My two questions for each one: would they get along with the betta, and how many would fit comfortably with him in a 5gal?
Of course, I will only be getting ONE of these types, not all. I'm trying to decide which will be best.

Mollies - I absolutely LOVE these guys. They're funny-looking and so stupid (plus the wide variety of colors) that they just hold my attention in every way. They make me smile.
I also heard they're easy to take care of.

Platies - Not a favorite, but they're colorful and lively enough for me to consider. I've also heard they get along with many different types of fish, so that's also hopeful, and that like the mollies, they are easy to take care of.

Head & Taillight Tetra - Probably one of the last tetras I'd trust. Neons die too easily and the others I've found are fin-nippers.

Cherry barbs - The last one I considered, but they are small, and colorful. I'm a little unsure about any barbs, but I heard these guys are some of the calmer types.

Dragon fish - I highly doubt this guy can go in a 5-gal, but I will be getting one eventually when I upgrade to a bigger tank and would like to know how these two would get along.

I wouldnt put anything but the tetras.. if that. It depends on your betta, its likely he could eat them. Are you sure he didnt eat your guppies? he may have done it when you werent there.

you could try something like white cloud mountain minnows. To be honest though, i have tried to get a few fish to live with my betta but if he doesent hurt them then they hurt him (nipping fins etc)

I keep a couple snails in with my betta! They live peacefully and I have not had any problems!

I've kept Pygmy corys successfully with a Betta before, although a 5 gallon may be a little too small for them as they are quite active and need to be in groups of 6 upwards

Then again your snails are death defying snails.

It really depends on the betta, most bettas I have owned won't bother anything but another betta... then there's my plakat... he'll attack and try to eat anything that moves.

I would not suggest snails... I had an larger snail with a betta in the past, and he paid him no mind for the most part, but one day he gained a taste for antennas. Eventually the attenas grew back to be eaten again and the snail did not make it.

I have a friend who has kept an african dwarf frog with her betta for almost 2yrs now and they coexist fine, but I really believe it depends on the betta.

As for any bettas I have seen in tropical tanks, like mentioned before... there long fins get torn up pretty bad and they seem to spend most of there time trying to fight the moving water and hiding. I have never really had bettas do good in a filtered tank because of moving water.

HI Love here is a list of fish that do and do not go with bettas in a community tank.
http://www.healthybetta.com/articles/Commu...ldcommtank.html

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

Darth is actually a very peaceful betta, which confuses me completely. He's never harmed the guppies. I've watched him for hours on and and have personally witnessed these guppies swimming around, then just kinda slowing down and KO'ing. Very aggravating, as there is nothing in the water that could have done this.

I will never get snails. Ever. I personally love the golden apple snail, but simply having a snail, or any kind of mollusk or crustation makes the tank harder to treat for certain things, like algae or parasites. I had a previous tank where I kept having to take the snail out before treating the tank then waiting for a week as everything filters out before adding it back in.

I've looked at that compatability list, but none of the fish I was wondering about were on it.
I know white clouds are fine, but they don't really attract me. They just seem like boring fish.
I like frogs, but I don't want to risk the little guy getting caught in the filter, or that having to put a shrimp pellet in every day might raise the ammonia level of the tank, because I'm not sure if it'll eat it all. I also have gravel, which I heard the little amphibian can eat and choke on.
I also like the cory cats, but like the frog, I'm unsure if they would eat everything and raise the ammonia level. I only have access to the green and albino cory cats. I've had one of these before as well, but they seem like somewhat sensitive fish... =/

We DO however, have blue paradise fish here. At first I thought I must have been thinking of the wrong thing when I saw they were compatable, but then I researched it more and found out it was indeed what I was thinking of. Thing is, when I watch these guys at the store... They seem aggressive. Like, as aggressive as the betta, which in my opinion, is like adding another male betta in with Darth, and it would probably kick his butt since Darth seems like a hippie betta. Peace and love n' all that.


I did try looking up information on mollies for a LONG time... I mean, a long time. And although the information I found that I needed was sparse, I did find out that mollies, if kept in smaller tanks, can become a little aggressive. So I'll wait for those guys 'till I set up my 29 gallon.

Platies, though, seem the way to go. Smaller than mollies, and never aggressive (except for males to females), they seem like they would work.
So I'm going to try picking up three of them. One male, two females.
If it doesn't work, I know a platy fan who will most likely happily accept them.

Stay away from any live bearers, they almost never get along with betta fish.

By dinosaur fish I think you are talking about a senegal bichir. I have one. As they grow they get more and more aggressive. I bought mine at 4 inches and as soon as he reached 5 inches he started nipping my goldfishes fins. They get up to 12 inches and perfer live foods. Mine will be living in a 600 gallon pond in the summer.

I think you should just stick to something like snails or some type of small bottom dwelling fish like corys.

Dinosaur fish? I'm not sure if senegal bichir is the scientific name, or it's common name, but I am talking about the dragon goby, aka violet goby.
http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddball,%20Dragon%20Goby.htm
They do typically get up to a foot in captivity, but I've always heard they are very peaceful, bottom-feeding fish.

Hi! Our Charlie Parker (male betta) was housed in a 10 gallon tank with guppies at the petstore that we bought him from. I as surprised because i had always thought that bettas couldn't go with ANY other fish. I thought it would be fun to add some guppies or minnows to our 5 gallon tank in with Charlie Parker, but we're currently dealing with some finrot issues. That's probably enough stress for him to deal with right now. But i'm very interested to read all this info! Thanks for binging up the topic!
Dana.

the article said they require brackish water. I think that automatically cancels them as good companions for bettas.

Are you planning to upgrade tanks? I think the only thing small enough and compatible enought to live with a betta in a 5 gallon would be an apple snail, or possibly an ADF.

I keep my betta 'Slash' with tetras, corys & a bristle nose and they have no problems, however Slash has a very placid nature for a betta

Ah, I thought I read Dinosaur not Dragon. Sorry. Ya, I've seen them at LFS. My brother in law bought one not knowing that it was brackish and it died with in a week(happened last year). These fish are very sensitive and some get bigger than 1 foot! Up to 24 inches! They eat just about anything that fits in their mouth and require a much larger tank than 5 gallons. They are best kept by themselves.

Male bettas should be housed by themselves. It rare to be able to house them with any other fish with them. I got two male and 6 females living together. At first there was fighting but they calmed down with only a little fin ripping on the smaller male and VT female. I wouldn't recomend doing this though because my fish have been conditioned for 6 months+ and are old.