Re: [Killietalk] Killies and Bettas?

[Scott Davis <unclescott at prodigy_net>]

I think your concern is justified. You are to be
applauded for your solicitousness on behalf of the
Betta, guppies and killies!

Bettas will go through that little flare dance.
Killies recognize something similar in the course of
sorting out their pecking order. (That is why killies
raised together often get along more harmoniously;
they sorted these things out at an early age, before
they would do so much damage.) I don't think one of
the parties would fair so well if you mixed killies
and the Betta.

It would be possible to float your Betta in a clean,
soap-less, one-gallon wade-mouthed-pickle jar, if the
current didn't smack the jar around. Maybe cover it
with a piece of this rug mesh. In fact, I picked that
idea up from a Betta guy who wanted to house several
Bettas in a cool room. A submerged heater, some
current from a small filter, whose extension tube
reached to the other end of the ten-gallon tank,
seemed to keep them happy. Sometimes smaller pickle
jars were used.

I also don't know if some of the more robust killies
would leave the guppy males alone. I wouldn't mix
Fundulus or Fundulopanchax with them. Aphyosemion
males or medium, small Epiplatys males, in many cases,
especially if the female killies are elsewhere,
getting conditioned, might coexist comfortably. A lack
of female pheromones in an aquarium indeed may
contribute towards more benign/ less aggressive
behavior.

Way back when, I peddled about ten pairs of gardneri
to a shop, which had a tendency to put a male Betta in
each aquarium. Observing that I had no business
telling them how to run their shop, I still urged them
not to put a Betta in with the gardneri. The next day
I dropped by to see how the killies were doing. They
were fine. There was a Betta in there. He, by then,
was the very short-finned variety.

All the best!
Scott

--- ßonged <bonged at gmail_com> wrote:

> Hi, i have a 36 gallon tank, quite a lot of plants
> with dark substrate, the
> tank temp is 77-79 °F with a PH of 7-7.5.
> I've been looking at photos of killies and i really
> like them but i have a
> lovely betta who i dont want to part with.  I'm
> worried that introducing a
> killifish would cause fights, does anyone have any
> experience with this?
> Theres also 2 fancy guppies in the tank with the
> betta and they get along
> fine so the betta is quite calm and not usually
> aggressive.  One of the
> guppies has bright yellow on its tail which doesnt
> bother the betta, however
> im not sure if a brightly coloured killifish and a
> royal blue betta (thats
> never shown aggression) would see each other as
> rivals?
> Anyone have any ideas?
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