Betta tankmate

[Native Keeper]

Hi everyone! 

quick question, can Bettas be kept with WCMMs?

asking for a potential hobbyist.

[laritheloud]

WCMMs like cooler water (70 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit/"room temp") and bettas need 78 to 80 degree water, so I'd say that's an incompatibility right there.

Edited February 4, 2022 by laritheloud

[Greg Stewart]

Also need to consider who is in the tank first. When you have a list of good compatible tank mates, it's best to have them in the tank first, and add the betta later. Helps prevent territorial aggression from the betta, since he's moving into someone else's flat 😉

 

[laritheloud]

Completely agree with @Greg Stewart. I have a betta in with a mystery snail and some kuhli loaches, and I made sure to add the betta last. I think you're likely to have more success if the betta is added last and the fish in with him doesn't resemble him at all. I'm almost certain my betta doesn't even acknowledge the kuhli loaches as real fish. They just look like weird squiggly worms to him, lol.

[Greg Stewart]

My betta has been moved in with 10 harlequin rasboras, 8 celestial pearl danios, 10 chili rasboras, 6 otocinclus, and 10 blue velvet shrimp. I feel really sorry for him, now. He loves to sleep crammed into the intake hose clamp for the canister filter, and the chilis just love to hang out in that same corner, hovering all around him while he sleeps. They also pester him, sometimes, while he eats.