I'm thinking of keeping my goldfish and bettas in the same tank but separated. If I kept the tank at 72 degrees fahrenheit, would it be okay for both species?

Angela

There's been a large amount on this topic recently, on reasons why they two fish really shouldn't be together.Although Betta's can do okay with temps of 72,they do seem to prefer them a bit warmer.Mine tend to be alot more active anyway in temps around 76. Another thought would be the strength of your filter.If you're using the proper amount of filtration for your Goldies,then it's probably too high of current for the Betta to be comfortable with.
What size tank and set up do you have?

My tank is a 90 gallon. There will be 6 goldfish in it and 4 bettas. I have a wet/dry filter and a submersible filter. I also have a small aquaclear on it just in case I need to quarantine any fish for illness. That way, I can take the aquaclear and put it on a quarantine tank. The water parameters are always perfect. The only current in the tank would be from the submersible near the surface and a bubble wand at the back of the tank. If I keep the temperature of the tank at 75 degrees to benefit the bettas, would this be too warm for the goldfish?

Angela

The goldfish I keep at my mum's house are kept in 75F are they seem pretty well off. This is the average temperature during the day and I've recently installed a heater to keep it the same temperature at night (gets pretty chilly since it's winter).

However, I'm not sure how this will affect the goldfish in the long-run.

I keep the temp for my bettas at 78 to 80 degrees they seem to do much better at higher temps. Lower then that and they do a lot of bottom setting and just look very unhappy.
Besides those little things that you clip to the side of you tank for betta's just are not really big enough and if they are close together they tend to stay under a lot of stress with all the flaring all day long.

Hi,

I've been keeping my bettas at 75 degrees on the advice of the person I bought them from. They are very active so maybe that's the temperature they were raised at. I saw those clip on things for bettas. They are very small. I was thinking of making my own, much larger with opaque dividers so they can't see each other. Does anyone know the long term effects of 75 degree water on goldfish?

Angela

Acccording to the book Fancy Goldfish by Dr. Erik Johnson, D.V.M. and Richard Hess of Goldfish Connection fame- keeping goldfish in the mid to upper 70's is good for metabolism, the water still has enough oxygen in it, and those temps help keep the good biobugs reproducing for good water quality. I also read somewhere that temps in the mid seventies is good for proper immune system functioning. Something to consider when we are treating for illness. I don't think you can go wrong as long as the temp doesn't vary very much on a daily basis. Just use a heater and make sure you have adequate water flow. Of course if you want to breed, you will have to lower the temp at some point to initiate spawning.

My bettas do fine and are active at 75 degrees which is what the 6 gal. tanks max out to with the filter running. The only down side is the small space for your bettas. I too wanted to include them in my larger tanks but did not like the size of the betta barracks. I gave up and keep mine in 6 gal. tanks but I would go to a minimum of 3 gal. I find they really do use all the space as long as the water flow is not too strong. Good Luck!

Thanks alot! That makes me feel better about putting them in the goldfish tank. I plan to make my own betta barracks out of plexiglass glued together with aquarium sealant. They should have about the size of a two gallon tank each in terms of size. I think the excellent filtration (mini reef filter, aquaclear and submersible filter) on the 90 gallon would be beneficial to them. Of course, there will be opaque dividers between them so they don't flare themselves to death!

Angela