Betta & Guppies?

[Louise02]

We have a very, very gentle female betta.  Is it possible that she would be happier in large tank with guppies than she is by herself? or do bettas prefer isolation?  She doesn't even bother the Mystery Snail.  We are building out new tanks while we quarantine new fish.  I am just trying to plan.  Thank you!

[KittenFishMom]

I would say it depends on the betta and the tank layout and such.  If you want to try it, let the guppies settle in a few days before adding the betta. and watch closely for a while, net in hand, to make sure everyone stay calm and happy.

I kept male bettas in all my guppy tanks to try to slow the population explosion of the guppies. I found switching the bettas around help me figure out which was more interested in hunting fry.  The bettas that I had were pretty small when I got them, so I would assume they were young. they never bothered and adult guppies, but the tanks were well fed and the male only guppy tank had lots of plants.

I have had a mellow male betta who ignored all the fish (spawning peppered corys, neon tetras, kuhli loaches, and flagfish) for a long time. I added 3 tiny hillstream loaches. After about 45 minutes, the betta suddenly hated them and would not stop chasing them all over the 55 gallon tank. When I netted the betta, he was in full flare at this tiny little loach. The betta in now calmly keeping company with a tank of corys. Who knows what they are thinking sometimes? It reminds me of the movie "50 first dates". 

[KaitieG]

I've kept several bettas with guppies without problems.  First time I tried it was to manage the population explosion like @KittenFishMom.  For me, they got along fine with the guppies, but they didn't eat many (if any) fry so it wasn't an effective population management tool.  As always YMMV.

[Cinnebuns]

On 3/14/2023 at 12:14 AM, Louise02 said:

We have a very, very gentle female betta.  Is it possible that she would be happier in large tank with guppies than she is by herself? or do bettas prefer isolation?  She doesn't even bother the Mystery Snail.  We are building out new tanks while we quarantine new fish.  I am just trying to plan.  Thank you!

Wellllllllllllll............

Yes and no.......

It's largely going to depend on too many factors. You will get answered both ways because of this. 

I have 2 examples:

1.  I was in contact with a local lady helping her learn the ropes in the hobby. She was getting overwhelmed with guppy fry. The internet convinced her she needed a betta for fry control. A few months later she called me in a panic because the betta almost killed all her males. She ended up giving them all to me to rehab. They were fine for 6 months....until they weren't. 

2.  I currently have a female betta in with guppies. I do not plan to do this long term. It is working nicely for now. She eats some of the fry and the adults don't seem scared of her. But...I noticed some Shredding on a male guppy's tail most likely from her because it's only 2 males and 9 females in there. 

Tbh, I'm not completely convinced its a good idea. It absolutely can work but you HAVE to have a backup plan and be monitoring daily. 

[Louise02]

On 3/15/2023 at 1:24 AM, Cinnebuns said:

Wellllllllllllll............

Yes and no.......

It's largely going to depend on too many factors. You will get answered both ways because of this. 

I have 2 examples:

1.  I was in contact with a local lady helping her learn the ropes in the hobby. She was getting overwhelmed with guppy fry. The internet convinced her she needed a betta for fry control. A few months later she called me in a panic because the betta almost killed all her males. She ended up giving them all to me to rehab. They were fine for 6 months....until they weren't. 

2.  I currently have a female betta in with guppies. I do not plan to do this long term. It is working nicely for now. She eats some of the fry and the adults don't seem scared of her. But...I noticed some Shredding on a male guppy's tail most likely from her because it's only 2 males and 9 females in there. 

Tbh, I'm not completely convinced its a good idea. It absolutely can work but you HAVE to have a backup plan and be monitoring daily. 

Thank you.  Honestly, I'm going for low maintenance.  When you have to micromanage a lot, you're likely to have a lot of issues.   I thought that the betta might get lonely, but it sounds like alone is the best route.  Thank you!!!