Hello, Butter the Betta and his dad from Sunny Southern California, (with possible tank mate questions).

[PeggyAndAl]

Hello from (usually) sunny Southern California!

I haven’t had a fish tank in over 3 decades and decided to get a betta. Butter the Betta is a yellow fancy giant betta and he’s active… swims around his tank eating whatever is flowing around, and busy making bubble nests. The tank is BiOrb Flow, 8 gallons with plants and driftwoods (I attached a photo of him in his home). I watched numerous YouTube videos about betta, and if it’s possible to put some friends in there. I know the tank is very small but wanted to ask you all, the experts, if I should get him some Neon Tetra friends, or any other fishes you might suggest? (No snails or shrimps-they kinda freak me out.) : ) Or do you think it’s just too small of a tank and he’s ok by himself? Then, Poor Butter!

I haven’t had a fish tank in a while and trying to teach Butter sign language to communicate is failing miserably: his jazz hands are very difficult to read. Ha! Thank you in advance and I’m glad I found this forum and I already ordered some more plants from Aquarium Co-Op. Yay! : )

All the best, Butter’s dad.

[Theplatymaster]

Welcome to our forum! I would suggest maybe a few pygmy cories or chili rasboras.

Edited January 10 by Theplatymaster

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Hi! Welcome to the forum! 

Firstly, what temp are you keeping his tank? Optimum temp for a Betta is 80-82 but some keep them in lower temps. This can change our recommendations big time as most fish aren't fans of 80+ but there are some. In an 8 gallon things are tight. TBH I think Betta are best kept alone however some options for a small tank with low bioload: 

Ember Tetra (small, can tolerate higher temps, but would recommend at least 6) 

Endler Males (fast enough to get away and tails short enough they are harder to nip, very active probably 3 of these would work)

Kuhli Loach (up to 86! fun oddball fish)

VERY important to Quarantine new fish with Betta, they are super sensitive fish and are prone to illness. 

Stick around long enough and we will get you into snails. Lots of people have come here and said that they weren't into them and did a 180. They. Are. Fabulous. And they cannot be beat when it comes to tank cleaning. 

[DaniV]

Welcome!  Butter is beautiful!!

As far as tankmates go, this looks like a good place to start.

 

I just set up a 2nd tank for a betta and would like to give him some buddies once it's cycled.  I keep seeing a small group of tetras (usually Neon or Ember) popping up in suggestions, along with catfish.  It looks like it boils down to tank size, water parameters that match the betta, not fin nippy, and where they swim in the tank that can determine if they're compatible.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Most Cory don't like hotter water and I can't stress enough how important higher temps are for healthy Betta. This is a big parameter to take into consideration. :-) 

[PeggyAndAl]

Thank you everybody for your advices and welcoming us to the forum! I didn’t know how to reply to each of you so here it is: water temperature fluctuates usually 78 to 81. I love those tiny Pygmy Corydoras, but my fish tank can’t have gravel and has BiOrb Ceramic Media which is like smallish volcanic rocks. I forgot about quarantining the new fishes! I think when I was a teenager 30 some years ago, this was why I ended up/had few fish tanks then. As much as I would like to give Butter few friends to hangout, maybe he just has to live alone. Really wanted to give him some company though like Neon Tetras (and the YouTube lady said it’s ok to keep 5 or so in 5 gallon tank, and mine’s 8)! I just thought maybe he will live longer if he had some other fishes to swim around with. Thank you again everybody! I’m sure I’ll have more questions down the line like “why are my Frogbits not doing so well?” HAHA : )

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 1/10/2023 at 2:53 PM, ButterTheBetta said:

his jazz hands are very difficult to read

Haha!  My betta Geppetto does the little side fin flutters too when he sees me!  It's the cutest.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I think a solo Betta is a good thing. There are things you can get for "betta enrichment " floating balls, tunnels, hides, training hoops for treats, etc. 

To answer your question,  to address specific members just type the symbol @ and start typing the person's screen name and it will pop up, select it and they will get a notification they were tagged in a thread @ButterTheBetta 😁

[PeggyAndAl]

On 1/13/2023 at 5:30 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

I think a solo Betta is a good thing. There are things you can get for "betta enrichment " floating balls, tunnels, hides, training hoops for treats, etc. 

To answer your question,  to address specific members just type the symbol @ and start typing the person's screen name and it will pop up, select it and they will get a notification they were tagged in a thread @ButterTheBetta 😁

This Betta is spoiled! I got him coconut house, lots of plants, beautiful driftwoods… I finally thought maybe I can deal with taking care of shrimps, but we’ll see. : ) @xXInkedPhoenixX! (Thank you! I learned something new @xXInkedPhoenixX “@“ !!!) : )