Attn: Mr. Coral

[NoahsMommy]

You've offered such wonderful advice in the past, I hope you don't mind me asking more questions of you...

We have the tank with 3 Bala Sharks, 2 Mollys and 2 Frogs. Do you think a Beta fish would do OK in there eventually? Its a 15 gallon tank...if that helps at all.

Thank you!

[wolf_Q]

Maybe you should ask Tikeyas_mom

What kind of frogs do you have? I used to have a couple of those tiny ones (no idea what they are called) and they were so cute!

[aly]

Here's some info I found:

Bettas are actually very friendly fish as long as you don't put two males together. They get along with most other fish, and what you really have to watch out for is the fish that harass bettas.

Bettas are slow moving fish with very long fins, so they can't be kept with any quick fish that have a reputation of fin-nipping, like zebra danios. They get along *great* with most variety of tetras, and I raise my baby fish with baby neons all the time. Mollies and platies and other of that variety also work well.

I've had bad experiences with keeping bettas and guppies, as the male bettas will mistake a male guppy tail for its own sort and fight. Other people do fine with them, though.

No goldfish. Goldfish come from cold water and bettas from very warm water, so their temperature requirements are very far apart, and also their general water conditions. Goldfish are very heavy water pollutants and require an absolute minimum of an inch and a half of fish per gallon of water (the usual way to estimate how many fish in a tank is one inch per gallon).

When mixing bettas in a community tank, the thing to keep in mind with bettas is that they are fish that originally came from very an area with slow moving water. So any type of major filtration on the tank will shock a betta and make him hide in a corner away from the current. You have to balance this with the other fish in the tank that require the current and bubbles for the oxygen in the water for them to live. On the other hand, once a betta gets used to the "current" from a filter, you will sometimes see the betta 'playing' in it for fun. Just make sure that there is a quiet area in the tank for the betta to move to when they are tired.

[RockyRoad]

OMG Kelly I'm sooo sorry!!
My dad comes on here when I tell him there is something he would like to reply to, he doesn't even know the link adress! I'm banned from the computer until Monday, and my mom was being nice and let me on for a little bit to see how my friends were doing.

I can't tell him...or he'll ask me how I knew!
Can he answer Monday?

See ya Monday Pet Talk!
Britt

[batgirl1980]

Hiya.. I have a tank with betta named Napoleon (its a 20gallon.. i've had a betta for a couple yrs now.. love em).. ANYWAY...
I know he'd be fine with the mollies and frogs... Mine is in with a pleco, tetras, 2 african dwarf froggies, and a catfishy..My previous betta used to be with a molly.

As for the sharks...well they tend to be agressive from what i've seen..they would worry me. My husbands father has some (about 7 inches long now!) and they pick on everyone, but it could just be his fish (he seems to get the mean spirited ones)

Doubt that helped much as for a clear cut answer but I hope it helped out a little teeny bit.

[RogueFerret]

My experience with bettas have been that they are fine as long as there are no fish in the tank with long fins, like angel fish. If you have a lear tail mollie (the ones with the long fancy fins) then the betta might attack it because it sees it as a threat. If it's the standard molly, he should do fine with them.



Batgirl1980 is absoultly right about the sharks. I have a rainbow shark now that is supposed to be friendly, but he's definantly not! The red tailed sharks are the worst. Irredecent sharks seem to be really friendly, but they can get really big and could start eating smaller fish.

Have you ever thought of getting a female betta? They're not as pretty, but they are passive and get along better with other fish.

[tikeyas_mom]

ok since you asked.. ...

I had 2 balla, sharks ,and 2 angel fish, and 5 neon tetras, and a sucker fish, AND a betta All in one 10 gallon. My betta loved it. He loved all the other fish. He never attacked them, I watch and researched befor I placed them together to see all my fishes temprements. A betta makes a lively and awsome addition to any tank as long as their is no onther bettas in the tank with it..

[tikeyas_mom]

oh ya and I had 2 rainbow sharks they were the only ones I had to remove and place in a smalled 5 gallon tank because they would attack all the other fish .. eek* it was sad .. I had an albino rainbow shark and a normal rainbow.. They loved eachother but hated the other fish.

[Mr. Coral]

No problem asking me.Britt told me you were asking a question.
I do not think the fish in your tank would bother the beta fish.None of the fish you have are aggressive.The only problem is beta fish in a community aquarium sometimes just hang around thebottom of the tank and do not seem too comfortable in a community aquarium.
You could try one, make sure it is a male and only get one,(two males will kill each other).
If it works out,and the beta does well,be careful with other fish you add to your tank because any kind of aggressive fish will try to nip at the long flowing fins of a beta fish. Good Luck!!

[Mr. Coral]

p.s. Britt was not supposed to be on but she could not keep from telling me.Sorry this is late but I do work nights and I reply before I leave for work.

[CathyBogart]

Erm....I think the betta will do fine in there, HOWEVER.....

You do realize that the Bala Sharks are going to outgrow that tank, right? ^.^ They're going to be 10"+ apiece, and they're going to need 55 gallons or more to live in when they're grown.

[NoahsMommy]

Thank you all!!

wolf_q: We have the small African dwarf frogs. They are totally cute and really getting more active. I had thought they would just hang out at the bottom, hidding. I'm so glad.

aly: Thanks so much! We were thinking of just adding tetras, a catfish (algea eater), maybe some guppies and just one, male Beta fish. The filtration outlet isn't too strong, although our white Molly and the three Bala's love to play in it. It comes in at the top of the water, so there isn't much current elsewhere. Do you think that'll be OK?

Floppsy: Thanks so much! You're a sweetie! Now...what did you do to not be able to go on the computer?

batgirl1980: Thanks for the heads up on the Bala's. When we got them, agression was my concern too. Fortunately, we got them young, small and three of them. The fish guy said that when you buy two or more, they stay to themselves because they are school fish. So far, he's been correct. They even let the white Molly play with them in the current.

RogueFerret: The Mollys ARE lyre tailed...but they don't have the long trailing tails...I'll post a picture at the end of this so you can see.

tikeyas_mom: Great information! Thanks!

Mr. Coral: THANK YOU!! I really appriciate you taking the time to answer my questions...especially with you working nights. If the beta were to hang out in a corner, do you think it would be more confortable if we provided some form of "shelter"? Thank you again.

WolfChan: I WAS wondering about that. I had thought that if there were other fish, they only grow to what their environment can hold. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Here's a (bad) picture of Claire, our white Molly:

[tikeyas_mom]

cute pic

[Twisterdog]

The only community fish I have had problems placing with a male betta are tiger barbs and zebra danios, because of the fin nipping problem.

[NoahsMommy]

Great thanks....we're going to check out some fish tomorrow. We were more than pleased tonight when we went to Petco. They had so much information about each fish and even posted the vet's phone number in case of questions when we got home. We saw some really pretty yellow Mollys and some other small fish.