Finally added betta to my community tank

[nerdgirl]

I have been putting together a 37-gallon community tank, and my last resident has been added. This is my first tank in 20 years, and it has been a blast putting it together. Currently it holds ember tetras, green neon tetras, bronze corys, a mystery snail, a couple of nerite snails, red cherry shrimp, some pest snails, and now a betta. I may need more algae control in the future, but right now the tank is balanced and just needs food and occasional water top offs.

I bought the betta from my lfs which keeps their bettas in community tanks, so he was already used to other fish. My corys also get the occasional zoomies, and I was worried about his reaction, but he just ignores it. The betta adventures so far:

• He is the calmest, most docile betta I have ever seen. He pretty much hangs out at the top or in the tiger lotus and minds his own business.
• He can see his reflection on part of the tank, and he is trying to figure it out. It has become less and less, so I think it will eventually stop.
• He did look at some of the shrimp with evil intentions, but once he saw how fast they are he gave up. I have seen them swim right in front of him, and he ignores them. I even saw a shrimp land on him while he was at the bottom of the tank. I'm sure the shrimp fry won't be as lucky.
• My corys keep trying to school with him. So far he hasn't been that interested, but he doesn't become aggressive either. It will be interesting to see if he hangs out with the cory gang in the future.

I apologize for the picture quality. I have the lights down while he settles in.

[CoryWithAKatana]

Nice! Keep us updated with how its going. 😄

[Biotope Biologist]

That is a beautiful betta! They are great smart fish so im sure he will be a great centerpiece for years to come.

 

One of Mine used to roll up lotus leaves and sleep in them. He looked like a mermaid it was cute

[nerdgirl]

On 8/20/2024 at 5:25 PM, Biotope Biologist said:

That is a beautiful betta! They are great smart fish so im sure he will be a great centerpiece for years to come.

 

One of Mine used to roll up lotus leaves and sleep in them. He looked like a mermaid it was cute

He really is a beautiful fish. I picked him out based on his personality, rather than his colors, but I did win the betta lottery. I'll post more pictures once he settles in a bit more. I did notice that the tetras are less timid with him around. 

[Scaperoot]

Beautiful Betta! Have you named him? You should consider posting in the journals section so you can track the progress. Some day you can look back and see all the changes. 

[Lennie]

I hope it works well for you friend.

It always work for me when bettas added to the community tanks last, except the cases where the tank has or will have a dwarf cichlid.  My rams HATED my betta in two attempts, and my female beta HATED my apistogramma cacatuoides triple red male with passion, and made the 160 liter tank a hell to him.

Other than these scenario, even with these abovementioned bettas, other community setups always worked.

 

Considering he has a bit of big fins, how's he handling the big tank situation? I tried one halfmoon male in a 40g tank once and it was an instant failure due to having an ac70 there

[nerdgirl]

On 8/21/2024 at 11:51 AM, Lennie said:

I hope it works well for you friend.

It always work for me when bettas added to the community tanks last, except the cases where the tank has or will have a dwarf cichlid.  My rams HATED my betta in two attempts, and my female beta HATED my apistogramma cacatuoides triple red male with passion, and made the 160 liter tank a hell to him.

Other than these scenario, even with these abovementioned bettas, other community setups always worked.

 

Considering he has a bit of big fins, how's he handling the big tank situation? I tried one halfmoon male in a 40g tank once and it was an instant failure due to having an ac70 there

So far so good. 🤞 I have always kept my bettas in community tanks. It seems to work if you plan it correctly, and the bettas seem happier so it is worth it. I stick with peaceful schooling fish and let all the tankmates get established for at least a month. That way everybody has an established territory. I then use a breeder box for a couple of days to make sure the betta doesn't seem aggressive. When I release the betta into the community tank, I sit and watch for several hours to judge his reactions. I still have a cycled 10-gallon with just snails in it standing by just in case anything goes wrong, but he has settled right in.

I am using sponge filters and lots of plants for filtration in this tank. That way I can keep the water quality high and have water movement without overwhelming his fins. The tank is doing really well without any spikes. I have to keep adding Easy Green for the plants because the nitrates are consistently 0. I had an issue with cloudiness a while ago, but that was my fault. I made some snello, and it mucked up the water. It took several water changes to fix it. At least the critters enjoyed it. 

[nerdgirl]

On 8/21/2024 at 11:41 AM, Scaperoot said:

Beautiful Betta! Have you named him? You should consider posting in the journals section so you can track the progress. Some day you can look back and see all the changes. 

He is currently named Shadowfax, but there is more red coming out now. I might need to change it. I am going to start a journal shortly.