Betta Fish Compatibility (Basics)
Tank mates are a source of debate when it comes to betta fish. The old-school mentality is that they cannot be housed anything and need to be left by themselves. Although many collectors have discovered that that is not entirely true. Hopefully this again is my idea of what you can put with your betta in an attempt to have a more colorful and diverse take. The name fighting fish is well deserved when talking about betta. However, if given enough space they can be social and a very bright piece of your aquarium. The best advice I can probably give someone who wants multiple aggressive fish in one tank is that they absolutely need space. Betta are no different, they need at least some space to call their own or you may find them being aggressive towards one another to get that space. Community fish,aggressive fish, or non aggressive fish all become options in a larger tank when doing it this way. You may find that there is a little bit of trial and error when first setting up your tank to be community. Betta are known for their personality which can also translate to being aggressive or non aggressive. When talking about non aggressive fish, species like goldfish, you generally want something that is the same size if not a little bigger than your betta. Even a non aggressive fish if larger than a betta will be less likely to be attacked based on sheer size. This is actually a good rule of thumb when picking tank mates, they either need to be the same size or a little bit bigger than fish that it is going with. Your other option is going with something that may be a little smaller but can hold its own in that it is more aggressive. Fish such as Ciclids, are known for being aggressive and can hold off a betta should it come to that. Both are technically an aggressive fish and me poke at one another and grabbed each other fins but give them enough places to hide and enough space they will more than likely stay out of each others way. If for some reason you do find excessive biting and fighting amongst your fish you have two options one is to separate them to is to let them sort it out and run the risk of losing one if not both your fish due to excessive injuries. Everything mentioned up to this point has been on a large scale, if you wanted to go the smaller scale here is an option for you. If your budget is small and tank space smaller, there are dividers are made for betta tanks that are usually around 1 1/2 gallon that can accommodate two betta in the same tank .These tanks, dividers share the same light, water, and food as well as the filter.the two fish are not able to get to one another but are able to swim in the same tank without the worry of them fighting one another, this is also ideal if you're to breed on a small scale as this keeps the female separate from the male and will also stop this female from killing the male if she is not interested