What can a male betta be housed with?

[PattysAquatics]

Curious what a male betta can be housed with? I have one in a 10 gallon but might need to move my pea puffers in there and could put my betta in my 29 but want to stock  it with fish that will get along with the betta. Need suggestions 

[Mmiller2001]

You will just have to try different fish knowing that the Betta could murder any fish any time. Also, tetras can fin nip, so you would just have to try and see.

Generally, anything that looks different from a Betta is a possibility.

[Mmiller2001]

I'll also add, be mindful of water temperature. Betta like warmer water, so make sure your choices like warmer water too.

[Bobbie]

If you wanna put a betta in a community setting it’s strongly recommended that you make the tank heavily planted and put the community fish in at least a few months before the betta, if the betta goes in first or before the community is settled then he’s more likely to get territorial. 
 

I’ve got my male betta in with zebra danios but I think I got lucky, because a lot of people say that danios are some of the worst fish to go with bettas. 
 

Corydoras are excellent companions for bettas, since they stay down low and don’t look anything like a betta and are super chill. You could also look at small loaches, so long as they can handle the temperature. Maybe a large group of small fish, like green neon tetras? If there’s loads of fish swimming tightly together, the betta can’t really pick on any specific individual. 
 

A 29g would be a mansion for a betta and your boy would love it, so long as it’s set up correctly. 
 

Decide if you want this to be a community tank that just happens to have a betta, or if it’s a betta tank with some extra fish. 
 

Just make sure to have a backup plan in case things go wrong and you need to separate the group. 
 

Another option would be to put the pea puffers in the 29g. Still plant it heavily, but you could add more puffers and make it a beautiful species-only planted tank. Might also be less stressful on the betta, because I know they sometimes don’t adapt well to larger tanks and community settings if they’ve always been alone in a small tank. 
 

Oh! If the 29g is currently empty, and you wanted a second betta, you could put a solid divider in the middle of the tank and make it into two 14 gallon spaces. There’s obviously disease-related risks involved with using the same water for multiple tanks, but some people do it with no problems. 

Edited July 23, 2021 by Bobbie

[GameCzar]

Bobbie gives great advice about starting the community first.   Otherwise the whole tank is his turf. 

 

[PattysAquatics]

On 7/23/2021 at 6:18 PM, Bobbie said:

If you wanna put a betta in a community setting it’s strongly recommended that you make the tank heavily planted and put the community fish in at least a few months before the betta, if the betta goes in first or before the community is settled then he’s more likely to get territorial. 
 

I’ve got my male betta in with zebra danios but I think I got lucky, because a lot of people say that danios are some of the worst fish to go with bettas. 
 

Corydoras are excellent companions for bettas, since they stay down low and don’t look anything like a betta and are super chill. You could also look at small loaches, so long as they can handle the temperature. Maybe a large group of small fish, like green neon tetras? If there’s loads of fish swimming tightly together, the betta can’t really pick on any specific individual. 
 

A 29g would be a mansion for a betta and your boy would love it, so long as it’s set up correctly. 
 

Decide if you want this to be a community tank that just happens to have a betta, or if it’s a betta tank with some extra fish. 
 

Just make sure to have a backup plan in case things go wrong and you need to separate the group. 
 

Another option would be to put the pea puffers in the 29g. Still plant it heavily, but you could add more puffers and make it a beautiful species-only planted tank. Might also be less stressful on the betta, because I know they sometimes don’t adapt well to larger tanks and community settings if they’ve always been alone in a small tank. 
 

Oh! If the 29g is currently empty, and you wanted a second betta, you could put a solid divider in the middle of the tank and make it into two 14 gallon spaces. There’s obviously disease-related risks involved with using the same water for multiple tanks, but some people do it with no problems. 

So the deal is I heavily planted my 29 gallon with making it a pea puffer tank but my lfs only had 3 puffers left. And is currently ordering more but not getting them in. I just don’t know if there is a point I shouldn’t add more to the tank if they get bigger so my back up plan was to possibly put them in my 10 gallon that houses my betta and possibly putting the betta in the 29 but I also have a 20 available just trying to get some suggestions in case I move the puffers

[Odd Duck]

Personally, I wouldn’t put pea puffers with Bettas.  Pea puffers are very bad!  I have 15 (not all in the same tank!).  🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️😆

The puffers would be very happy in your 29 and in hindsight, I wish that I had done my 29 for my peas.  That may be an upgrade at some point.  They do better with more in a shoal so it spreads out the aggression among the group and one is less likely to get singled out and injured.

You could do other fish with your puffers or with your Betta and some of the same basic rules would apply.  Choose fish that are fast and alert and big enough to not get eaten.  For Bettas, they also need to not be fin nippers.  Also fish that don’t look like the Betta or the peas depending for whom you’re choosing companions.

If you decide to increase your pea puffer shoal, putting everyone in the 29 (or the 20) at once would likely be a good part of your plan.

[PattysAquatics]

On 7/23/2021 at 8:22 PM, Odd Duck said:

Personally, I wouldn’t put pea puffers with Bettas.  Pea puffers are very bad!  I have 15 (not all in the same tank!).  🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️😆

The puffers would be very happy in your 29 and in hindsight, I wish that I had done my 29 for my peas.  That may be an upgrade at some point.  They do better with more in a shoal so it spreads out the aggression among the group and one is less likely to get singled out and injured.

You could do other fish with your puffers or with your Betta and some of the same basic rules would apply.  Choose fish that are fast and alert and big enough to not get eaten.  For Bettas, they also need to not be fin nippers.  Also fish that don’t look like the Betta or the peas depending for whom you’re choosing companions.

If you decide to increase your pea puffer shoal, putting everyone in the 29 (or the 20) at once would likely be a good part of your plan.

Wasn’t planning on putting the puffers with the betta. I have only 3 puffers now and hopefully get another 10 soon if my lfs can get any in. My backup plan if I can’t get any puffers soon was to move the 3 in the 10 gallon and move the betta to the 29 

[Odd Duck]

On 7/23/2021 at 8:24 PM, Grizzly said:

Wasn’t planning on putting the puffers with the betta. I have only 3 puffers now and hopefully get another 10 soon if my lfs can get any in. My backup plan if I can’t get any puffers soon was to move the 3 in the 10 gallon and move the betta to the 29 

Gotcha!  I just wanted to make sure!

[Ben P.]

I know I'm biased on this but you could definitely get some rainbows with the Betta.  They are very fast and don't fin nip.  I love my boesemanis but 29 is just a hair on the small side, not saying it wouldn't work.  But I would look for praecox of some variety.  They won't fin nip and your Betta likely won't be fast enough to bother them.  And I've kept all my rainbows up to 84 degrees when they were in my discus tank for a while.  I honestly think it would be a match made in heaven for you

[TankofFish]

On 7/23/2021 at 9:24 PM, Grizzly said:

Wasn’t planning on putting the puffers with the betta. I have only 3 puffers now and hopefully get another 10 soon if my lfs can get any in. My backup plan if I can’t get any puffers soon was to move the 3 in the 10 gallon and move the betta to the 29 

I would put the puffers in the 29gal, that way if you do get more puffers you have the room, sounds like you want more puffers so stick with the 29 as the puffer tank