Betta in brackish water? With Mollies?

[PintoHawk]

Hey all

I have what is listed in my signature... I am considering getting a Betta, I really like them, but I want to know can I add him to the tanks I currently have? I add some aquarium salt (not alot) to all 3 tanks, and I heard from an unreliable source that bettas can't live in brackish conditions. Is this true?

Also, I have sailfin Mollies, will the Betta attack their fins?

If I can't have a Betta in any of my tanks, I will still consider getting a 5 gallon setup for one someday, just thought I'd ask about this now, in case.

Thanks in advance!

[BlackMumba]

Hey all

I have what is listed in my signature... I am considering getting a Betta, I really like them, but I want to know can I add him to the tanks I currently have? I add some aquarium salt (not alot) to all 3 tanks, and I heard from an unreliable source that bettas can't live in brackish conditions. Is this true?

Also, I have sailfin Mollies, will the Betta attack their fins?

If I can't have a Betta in any of my tanks, I will still consider getting a 5 gallon setup for one someday, just thought I'd ask about this now, in case.

Thanks in advance!

I doubt that a betta will be truly happy in brackish, they can tolerate some salt but not alot... also, putting a betta in with mollies may not be a great Idea, betta's don't like to share their territory with other fish. I wouldn't recommend it. You would be better off to wait for the 5 gallon set up.

IMO...

[Tanker]

I don't believe that adding aquarium salt is what would make a tank considered as 'brackish'. To make a proper brackish tank, Marine salt is required as it has the other minerals included that a true brackish water location would have. Aquarium salt is usually used for parasites and sick fish recovery although there are lots of people who use it for fresh water regularly, without trouble.

So technically, I don't believe you have what is truly called a brackish tank. However I certainly do agree with the above advice and would hold off for the 5 gallon, as a betta requires slow-to-nil water movement and does very well alone.

[hobbithall]

I haven't tried a Betta & Mollies, but have had this experience:

Red Betta in 30 gallon tank. Placed him & 2 red wag Platys in tank at same time. After 2 weeks, the male Platy was dead and the female very frightened. It took us a while to observe that the Betta was the culprit as we hadn't seen him even strike at the Platys.

Removed the girl to a 10 gal. About a week after that I brought my blue Betta home from work for a week. He went into the 10 gal. No problem; he didn't bother anybody, not even Platy girl.

All our Bettas are in community tanks now:

5 gallon: Red/blue Crowntail with 1 cardinal tetra, 3 danios and a snail (there was a male guppy in there, too, and they were getting along fine but he's been moved in with the girls in the 30 gal)

5 gallon: Blue Veiltail with 3 speckled cats and a guppy

5 gallon: Blue Veiltail with 3 danios

50 gallon: Red Veiltail with 2 goldfish, 12 Whitecloud minnows & a redfin shark (the shark is the bully in that tank).

At the moment everything seems peaceful. So it CAN be done, but there may be losses along the way figuring out which individual Betta will mix with which other fish.

I would personally look at Danios, minnows, Cardinal or Neon tetras, maybe Glowlight or other tetras - small, fast-swimming fish with short fins.

Good Luck!

[gobies et al]

I haven't tried a Betta & Mollies, but have had this experience:

All our Bettas are in community tanks now:

50 gallon: Red Veiltail with 2 goldfish, 12 Whitecloud minnows & a redfin shark (the shark is the bully in that tank).

At the moment everything seems peaceful. So it CAN be done, but there may be losses along the way figuring out which individual Betta will mix with which other fish.

I would personally look at Danios, minnows, Cardinal or Neon tetras, maybe Glowlight or other tetras - small, fast-swimming fish with short fins.

Good Luck!

I put my Betta in my 150 gal community pond with young koi, comet goldfish, whitecloud minnows. All went well for a couple of weeks then the minnows as a school attacked the Betta. I was watching them at the time and scooped the Betta out before much harm done. This behavior as a school certainly surprised me. I hadn't seen any aggression from any prior.