Path: utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!cognos!halo
From: halo@cognos.uucp (Hal O'Connell)
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria
Subject: Re: Bettas and other fish?
Message-ID: <2244@cognos.UUCP>
Date: 8 Feb 88 17:39:58 GMT
Article-I.D.: cognos.2244
Posted: Mon Feb  8 12:39:58 1988
References: <986@sdcc7.ucsd.EDU>
Reply-To: halo@cognos.UUCP (Hal)
Organization: Cognos Inc., Ottawa, Canada
Lines: 34

In article <986@sdcc7.ucsd.EDU> ss60w@sdcc7.ucsd.EDU (ss60w) writes:
>
>Pardon me if this has been discussed before, but is it
>possible to have Bettas together in a tank with other
>freshwater tropical fish?  I know they can't coexist with
>each other, but do they go after guppies, mollies, etc.?

I don't remember seeing it, and I've been an avid reader since
the newsgroups inception (although I don't date back to the rec.* days).
Besides, I can't see any reason for you to not ask, even if it
had been previously discussed. This seems to be a newsgroup which
does a very good job of sharing, rather than getting into vituperant
discussions and nitpicking. Hat's off to everyone...


I usually maintain a male (and I assume you mean male) Betta in
my community aquarium, side by side with everything from angel fish,
to neons, to guppies (in abundance, I was breeding them for a local
club). Usually it was the Betta that came out on the short end of
a confrontation, since it is a VERY slow swimmer. Other fish would
occassionally nip fins, and Betta fins are an attractive target.

You can keep multiple female Bettas in the same tank, even with a
male Betta, but the male will tend to harrass the females, so if you
aren't trying to breed them it isn't a good idea. And if you are
trying to breed them keeping the females apart until they are ready
to breed is a good plan. Please don't ask me to expand on this,
Bettas are one of the few Anabantids I haven't seen bred successfully.

-- 
Hal O'Connell		decvax!utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!cognos!halo
Cognos Incorporated	P.O. Box 9707
(613) 738-1440          3755 Riverside Dr. 
			Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA, K1G 3Z4