Good Tankmates for Bettas

[itsfoxtail]

I find myself finally getting around to building out a "betta rack" housing all my breeding stock/pet/fallen-in-love-with bettas. I have them now all strewn about the house in 5-10 gallon tanks and with the new setup they'll all be in 15 gallons. This has been something I've wanted to do for quite some time and I'm very excited!

So! With the newly added space for them, I'm looking for a tank-mate or two for each betta! I've had luck with kuhli loaches, tetras (ember/cardinal/neon), and even shrimp (my blind girl is very docile bless her lil heart). So I'm wanting to know what you've ever had success with! There'll be about 9-12 tanks in total so bring on any and all suggestions! 

(Also any live-bearers that people have had success with bettas besides endlers? I don't mind them getting an extra fry snack or two.)

Any help greatly appreciated!

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 12/2/2022 at 11:04 AM, itsfoxtail said:

(Also any live-bearers that people have had success with bettas besides endlers? I don't mind them getting an extra fry snack or two.)

Least killifish & mollies.

Croaking gouramis work really well, and a friend has had luck with neon green rasboras, along with cherry barbs (be cautious on that one.)

Personally I'd recommend some African dwarf frogs, pygmy cories, and harlequin rasboras.

Keep us up to date on what's going on!

Edited December 2, 2022 by TheSwissAquarist
Consulted my good friend Google for cherry barb compatibility.

[JohnnyD]

I second the pygmy Corydoras, I have them in a tank with my betta and they have issues at all

[itsfoxtail]

On 12/2/2022 at 5:37 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Least killifish & mollies.

Croaking gouramis work really well, and a friend has had luck with neon green rasboras, along with cherry barbs (be cautious on that one.)

Personally I'd recommend some African dwarf frogs, pygmy cories, and harlequin rasboras.

Keep us up to date on what's going on!

Thank you for the suggestions! I honestly had never heard of keeping croaking gouramis with bettas before! That's exciting! Cherry barbs are also on a bucket list of fish so I'll have to do some research on them as well! Maybe with a short-finned quicker betta. 

Least killifish sound so awesome, but I'd be worried they'd be uncomfortable in the hotter water? I'd love to try these guys (especially the dark ones) but I keep my bettas at 78 or so and am just worried they'd be too hot? I've heard they like cooler water since they're technically like a minnow (?) I think?

I'd love to! I still have to build the rack and buy all the tanks tho so it will be... a slow process... Also there's a giant old TV sitting where I want to put it so I'll have to figure out how to lug that thing away lol.

On 12/2/2022 at 8:13 PM, JohnnyD said:

I second the pygmy Corydoras, I have them in a tank with my betta and they have issues at all

Oh, that's so great to hear! If you don't mind me asking, what size tank and how many corys? Do they just pretty much leave one another alone?

[JohnnyD]

its a 20 G high, heavily planted with 6 corys, and many snails I got for free from the  plants I purchased from my LFS . Wish my betta had a taste for snails lol. Everyone lives harmoniously 🙂

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by JohnnyD

[The endler guy]

Phil my betta lives with shrimp and snails in a 5 gallon 

[Averus]

I am going to piggy back here, because I am setting up a little planted 10 gallon that will be a betta tank, and am trying to figure out some tankmates for him.  Right now I am really curious on options for a little group of schooling fish, as they will be the first thing added once I finish the cycling. Harlequin Rasboras are on the potential list, but what about Glowlight Tetras, would they work instead?  Any nice options for the little school would be good to hear.

Also thinking of going for Khuli Loaches for the bottom dwellers.  The tank has a lot of nice nooks for them to hide with the rockwork and wood.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 12/6/2022 at 4:40 PM, Averus said:

I am going to piggy back here, because I am setting up a little planted 10 gallon that will be a betta tank, and am trying to figure out some tankmates for him.  Right now I am really curious on options for a little group of schooling fish, as they will be the first thing added once I finish the cycling. Harlequin Rasboras are on the potential list, but what about Glowlight Tetras, would they work instead?  Any nice options for the little school would be good to hear.

Also thinking of going for Khuli Loaches for the bottom dwellers.  The tank has a lot of nice nooks for them to hide with the rockwork and wood.

You could also go for ember tetras, as they do super well with bettas.

[itsfoxtail]

On 12/3/2022 at 8:14 AM, JohnnyD said:

its a 20 G high, heavily planted with 6 corys, and many snails I got for free from the  plants I purchased from my LFS . Wish my betta had a taste for snails lol. Everyone lives harmoniously 🙂

That's amazing! Have you seen any spawning activity in your corys? I'd be curious if they would with a big "predator" fish around. And if you have actually seen eggs does the betta snack on them or leave them alone? 

On 12/6/2022 at 9:40 AM, Averus said:

I am going to piggy back here, because I am setting up a little planted 10 gallon that will be a betta tank, and am trying to figure out some tankmates for him.  Right now I am really curious on options for a little group of schooling fish, as they will be the first thing added once I finish the cycling. Harlequin Rasboras are on the potential list, but what about Glowlight Tetras, would they work instead?  Any nice options for the little school would be good to hear.

Also thinking of going for Khuli Loaches for the bottom dwellers.  The tank has a lot of nice nooks for them to hide with the rockwork and wood.

Of the few fish I've kept with bettas kuhli loaches are actually one of them! They're way too fast for the bettas and after a while my betta just ended up ignoring them completely. He'd even brush them with his bottom fin after a while and neither party would mind. I've also kept them with Cardinals/Neons and so I would assume other small tetras would work just as well. They school typically away from the betta but are FAR too fast to ever really get picked on. I'd just say with the kuhli loaches to make sure they get enough food. My betta was a piggy who liked to eat everyone else's food as well as his own. The noodles on the bottom had to be speedy to get their meals.

[JohnnyD]

On 12/7/2022 at 4:22 AM, itsfoxtail said:

That's amazing! Have you seen any spawning activity in your corys? I'd be curious if they would with a big "predator" fish around. And if you have actually seen eggs does the betta snack on them or leave them alone? 

 

No spawning activity with the cories my betta does enjoy the snail eggs that they leave on the glass. He doesn’t get them all because the snails are flourishing lol