Introducing new fish to a Betta

[Karackle]

Hello all, I have a 10g tank that currently housed 1 betta and 4 otos. I also have 7 beckford's pencilfish in quarantine that I was thinking about introducing to the tank. I know that some bettas do quite well with a small school of fish and others don't and that it might not work (in which case the betta will go in the 5g tank).

HOWEVER, what I don't know is

1) What is the best way to introduce the fish to each other?
Should I separate the betta in one of these and then introduce the pencilfish to the tank so he can get used to their presence? He completely ignores the otos in the tank, and when i had him in one of those breeder nets while I quarantined him along with 2 male guppies and 2 zebra danios he never made aggressive moves towards the other fish.


2) How will I know if it's going to work?
Will it be obvious right away when they are together? Or will I not know until I wake up the next day to a bunch of dead fish?

Any information / advice would be greatly appreciated. If it will be too hard to tell without sacrificing the fish, then I'm happy to just separate the betta in the breeding net while I tear down and redo the 5g tank, and then just house him in that tank. But if there is a way to "test the waters" (no pun intended ) I'd really appreciate the input.

Thanks!!!

Oh, and in case it makes a difference, this is the tank (most current shot, incidentally with the betta in his "apartment" during the QT with the other fish, but he's swimming around freely now):


And this is my handsome betta (i know his looks don't tell anything about his temperament, but I figured I'd post the pic because I think he's pretty ):

[CatB]

if your betta hasn't yet been aggressive towards other fish, i'd say it's worth a try.
there's no telling when you'll know if it isn't going to work; some bettas are aggressive enough that as soon as you put other fish in the tank they'll kill them, others aren't really aggressive until maybe a month in when they decide they've finally had enough of their tankmates. others still aren't aggressive at all. i'd try quarantining him within the tank while you add the other fish, yeah, then letting him out later. i'd also turn the lights off for a few hours while adding the other fish, this can change the fish's definition of what is his "territory." well, sometimes.

[Complexity]

I'm wondering if adding the fish to the betta's tank might make the betta feel as if his territory is being invaded? It might be better if the betta can be put in another tank, rearrange the tank a little, put the pencilfish in the tank for a couple of days to get comfortable, and then put the betta back in. Then he's the new guy in the tank and might be more accepting towards the pencilfish. As long as the tank is rearranged, the betta won't know it's the same tank.

[CatB]

Originally Posted by Complexity

I'm wondering if adding the fish to the betta's tank might make the betta feel as if his territory is being invaded? It might be better if the betta can be put in another tank, rearrange the tank a little, put the pencilfish in the tank for a couple of days to get comfortable, and then put the betta back in. Then he's the new guy in the tank and might be more accepting towards the pencilfish. As long as the tank is rearranged, the betta won't know it's the same tank.

that could work well too.

[steven p]

I've had maybe 1/10 males that are punks... guppy tail nippers and shrimp eater usually... most of the time they just want to wedge themselves in plants or rocks sideways

I would suggest a small feeding as a distraction and sneak the other fish in, slow drip them to acclimate them, floating seems stressful on fish, especially bottom dwellers that can not dive down.

[Karackle]

Thanks for the input everyone! I could definitely try putting the betta in the 5g for a few days and moving something around in the tank. There's not a whole lot of moving I can do, but there is a small piece of DW with some needle leaf java ferns attached to it that I could move from it's place among the other piece of DW over to the other side of the tank would that be enough rearranging? I also have a surplus of sunset hygro in the 60g, I could throw a bit of that in the 5g too. It probably wouldn't survive indefinitely, but might change the look of the tank enough temporarily?

I'm thinking while I drip acclimate the pencilfish (the pH is about 0.5 units different between the 2 tanks, plus, who knows what other minor differences there are) I can redo the 5g, and then I can swap the Betta into a different container for drip acclimation once the 5g is ready to go.

Would it be overkill to move the betta to the 5g for a few days, and then put him in the little breeder net when I first move him back to the 10g? Or should I just put him straight in the tank?

Or if anyone else has other ideas, I'd love to hear them as I probably won't have time to do the rearranging until this weekend. Thanks again!

[Complexity]

I think the rescaping you mentioned should be enough. Watch for the betta's favorite places in the tank and make sure to alter those spots in particular.

I'd just put the betta back in the tank, but that's just me. I've had bettas with various tetras before without any problems. As long as the dither fish don't have flowing fins (which pencilfish don't), they shouldn't trigger the betta's fighting instinct. You can try the breeder net, too, if you'd rather. I don't think it matters that much.

[Karackle]

Thanks for the input! I think that makes a lot of sense. And yes, I know for sure not to put in long flowy finned fish with a betta, I made that mistake with a betta and male guppies one time a long time ago.

[Bananariot]

Brightly colored fish also seem to set bettas off. The hard part is knowing when you are in the clear. They could strike any time any where. I say if you find one dead fish, I'd suspect the betta and remove either the betta or everyone else lol.

[Karackle]

Good advice Bananariot! thanks!