Bettas in community tank

[Marlinsons]

Any one has experience breeding Bettas in a community tank? Are they aggressive to other fishes and will they eat the shrimps?

Any advice?

[tetrakid]

Why would you even want to do that? Wouldn't the eggs, assuming they do breed in a crowded place, be eaten by the others, even with a ferocious Betta guarding?

But of course it will be interesting to try it out if you are thinking in terms of observing fish behaviour under such circumstances. Has anyone ever tried that before?

[Aquanoob]

I kept before male betta in a comm tank before. They are only aggressive to their own kind and sex, and they will not bully other smaller fish like guppies and tetra in my case. In fact, they are quite timid in a comm tank, they won't chase after food but will only eat those sinking down.

[Marlinsons]

Why would you even want to do that? Wouldn't the eggs, assuming they do breed in a crowded place, be eaten by the others, even with a ferocious Betta guarding?

But of course it will be interesting to try it out if you are thinking in terms of observing fish behaviour under such circumstances. Has anyone ever tried that before?

Bettas are beautiful and I want to add it as afocal point for the tank. I do no intention to breed the betta eggs. If it works, it will be fantastic.

[Marlinsons]

I kept before male betta in a comm tank before. They are only aggressive to their own kind and sex, and they will not bully other smaller fish like guppies and tetra in my case. In fact, they are quite timid in a comm tank, they won't chase after food but will only eat those sinking down.

Congrats for the win last night!

Does the betta pick on shrimps? Or snails then? Are there special food that we need to feed betta to enhance the colors?

How successful was your experience with the betta. Any picture of the tank with the comm tank?

[Aquanoob]

Hello, Thank you. It was a great match and I am glad that Carroll became the hero of the match.
I only kept male betta in my comm tank with other smaller fish like guppy and tetra before. I never keep any female betta with the male before.
I think they will eat the shrimp or anything that can fit into the mouth but I am not a shrimp person so I don't keep them at all.

[diazman]

Bettas will attack shrimps. Best keep them separately. If you intend to keep 2 males in the tank, ensure there's ample hiding space. The females can be kept more than 1 in a community tank with no problems as they are much more peaceful then their male counterparts.

Anyhow, the betta fries will not be able to survive in a community tank properly. They need still water surface for the first few days after they hatched and in a community tank, they will certainly be eaten by other fishes.

Ive tried it once before years ago when i started betta breeding, papa betta just gobbled down all the eggs when he saw other fishes messing up the nest :/

[Trichopsis]

If you keep the male betta with females, ensure that the tank is large enough with plenty of hiding places. You might still face problems with the females getting their fins nipped by the male.

Female bettas are generally okay with each other; there may be some chasing here and there, but after a few days they should all settle down.

Based on what little experience I have, bettas won't attack other fish species, although the long-finned varieties might be vulnerable to attack by fin-nippers such as tiger barbs. I've had a male betta that was somewhat aggressive towards other labyrinth fishes, so if you have gouramis in the same tank, they could get chased.

Bettas will attack small shrimp, either eating them or bullying them to death. Cherry shrimp & other small species won't stand a chance. Large yamato shrimp might be better, as they're probably too large for the fish to consider as food. But the best would probably be riceland prawns (i.e. feeder shrimp), which are large enough to stand their ground when a betta approaches too close.

Bettas mostly don't bother with snails, although they might nip the tips of the snails' tentacles ('feelers').

[Marlinsons]

Thanks all for the insights to breeding bettas in a community tank.

I have small Malayian and Sakura in my tank and some big hardworking yamatos to clean the algae. So I guess if the Betta do eat up these shrimps, I will have to wait for an opportunity to try it when my shrimp are no more around.