# Danios or Tetras and Betta?



## kg2413 (Jul 11, 2007)

I am setting up a tank and have a ten gallon aquarium that I want to get a betta for. I would also really like to get some other community fish to go with it. Im fairly new to fish so I was looking into black neon tetras or neon tetras. Also I was looking into zebra danios until i found out that they might nip at bettas fins. However I also found info that says zebra danios and a betta can live fine together. Can someone please clear this up for me?


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

kg2413 said:


> I am setting up a tank and have a ten gallon aquarium that I want to get a betta for. I would also really like to get some other community fish to go with it. Im fairly new to fish so I was looking into black neon tetras or neon tetras. Also I was looking into zebra danios until i found out that they might nip at bettas fins. However I also found info that says zebra danios and a betta can live fine together. Can someone please clear this up for me?


Welcome to Fishforum.com, Kg.:wave:

I wouldn't suggest danios for a ten gallons. They need a lot of swimming space and a ten gallons won't have sufficient swimming space they needed. Tetras and a betta however will be okay. I wouldn't add fish for awhile until your tank is cycled.


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## mcdanielnc89 (Jun 27, 2007)

As stated above u can add fish with your betta but dependin on the betta's personality will it work.. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't...


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## leifthebunny (Mar 13, 2007)

Keeping some of the faster moving fish would help as well.


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## pleco_cory_fan (Oct 2, 2006)

Id be pretty worryed that your danios would nip your bettas fins like you said before but you could take that risk if you want.


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## kg2413 (Jul 11, 2007)

Ok Im gonna go with the tetras. Not sure which kind though. I wanted to get the cardinals. They're my favorite but theyre more than twice as much as neons or black neons and im on a kinda tight budget.  

So what gender of betta would you guys suggest or does it matter?


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## leifthebunny (Mar 13, 2007)

The males tend to be flashier as bettas go, but either are fine. As for cardinals versus neon tetras, cardinals are also touchy about water parameters. Smaller tanks tend to be harder hit as they have less water to absorb the change from say an ammonia spike. Both cardinals and neons (as well as black) would work with a betta. Danios are too fast and I had to just remove my crown betta from his tank as the danios were preventing him to eat. I would have prefered to move the danios, but they are too fast for me to catch in a planted tank.  I notice the penguin tetras were also helping remove the food from the betta's grasp. As another option, glowlight tetras would also work well.


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## soco1125 (Jan 5, 2007)

black neons seem to be quite a bit tougher than cardinals and regular neons. i kept a small school for years without any problems whatsoever until recently when i went out of town and the person left in charge of caring for my fish failed in their duties. the 2 survivors are doing fine and have been in the same tank with my betta and everyone got along great.


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## sweetwaterarabians (Nov 1, 2006)

*I second no to the danios*

I wouldn't put the danios with the betta either. The ones I had were occational fin nippers to my guppies and I had to remove them. They were a pain to catch in my planted tank so you can imagine the mess. I'd go with the neon tetras since you have a smaller tank. The cardinals, as mentioned before, are tough to keep. The black neons get a lot larger than the neon tetras. Mine are about 2 to 2 1/4 inches long. But they are very compatible with other fish. They won't bother your betta. I personally love the neon tetras because they are so striking in a tank and would be perfect with your betta.


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## mcdanielnc89 (Jun 27, 2007)

Should should be careful about putting neons with ur betta as well. They can sometimes be fin nippers as well and will nip your bettas fins and that would be a disaster!


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## tophat665 (Sep 30, 2006)

If you are going to go with neons and a betta, get 8 to 10 neons and make sure to have the back corners of the tank well planted with bushy plants (Cabomba, ambulia, wisteria) that the neons can go diving into if the betta freaks out on them. If you keep a school of neons, any nipping will be intramural.


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