I have two separate tanks. One with a female betta and one with a male. I went to my local pet store and bought two small fancy goldfish. Only the female betta tank has a water pump so I added one fancy to her tank. My question is, will the other fancy be okay with the male betta tank without the water pump?

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Originally Posted by nikkica530

i have two seperate tanks. one with a female betta and one with a male. i went to my local pet store and bought two small fancy goldfish. only the female betta tank has a water pump so i added one fancy to her tank. my question is, will the other fancy be okay with the male betta tank without the water pump?

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When it comes to bettas you do not want to add other fish to their tank, they are fighting fish and very territorial. Your bettas will kill your other fish. You cannot even put bettas together as they will kill each other. My suggestion is to get yourself a fish bowl big enough for both fancys, goldfish are very adaptable to their environment and as long as you keep their bowl clean and don't overfeed them they will be fine without a pump.

It is a big misconception that goldfish do not need filters and an air supply.
Beta fish use a labyrinth to breath which is comparable to our lungs.
They surface to the top of the water to take in breaths of air.
A goldfish receives it's oxygen from within the water through their gills,
So an air supply should be given to the water.
They are also very messy fish and create a lot of toxic ammonia and need a filtering system.

The best thing for your goldfish is to buy them a tank of their own.

The female betas tank will be the safest place for both of them right now
Considering the female betas are not as aggressive as the males and it's the one with the pump.

It's very unfair to the little fancies to keep them with betas period...
The females can be little meanies too, but the males are seriously more aggressive.
If you have put a fancy in with the male beta, please remove it.
It is probably being tortured.
And please get your fancies a tank of their own (preferably nothing less than 5 gallons)...

As circumstances go I would say that if you have 2 tanks 1 occupying a male beta, 1 with a female in, the best thing to do right now until you can get another tank for the goldish is to put the male beta in with the female and use the other tank for the golfish until you can get a bowl or tank for them,
Males will live quite happily with female betas although best kept with more than 1 female to the male because of the mating, the chances are the fish won't reproduce with the female in a short period, and no harm should comee to the female for a while unless he is pestering her 24/7 to reproduce...
The males will not tolerate any fish in the tank especially fancy or bright fish or fish with big tails, they see them as a threat,
Females can be equally as aggressive to other fish as the males can if they are in spawn mode and fish will take the wrath of them... injurys will occur,

Your best and safest bet is to put the betas togather rather than put any of the fancy fish in with the beta's no matter what the sex

Not sure what to do with 1 fish in a tank by hisself

I know this is an old post, but I wanted to correct a few misconceptions.

While everyone was correct that you should not keep goldfish and bettas together, they were correct for the wrong reasons.

JCollins57 mentioned that bettas cannot be kept with any other fish. This is simply not true. Bettas generally ignore anything that they don't perceive as another betta and therefore a threat. A betta will attack another betta (mostly, males tend to be more territorial and females can sometimes be kept in sorority tanks as long as one isn't super-aggressive); however, bettas can be kept perfectly fine with other peaceful community fish who have similar care needs. Bettas need warm water, low filter current, and are best kept with fish who won't fin-nip or chase them since bettas tend to swim slowly and stop often.

The first two are the reasons bettas and goldfish do not work well together. First, goldfish are a coldwater fish. That means around 70 degrees F is their maximum temperature. They can tolerate warmer water, sure, in the same way we can tolerate a Louisiana summer. Bettas are tropical fish. That means they want water that's at minimum 72 degrees, with a "sweet spot" of about 78-82. So, freeze the betta or sweat the goldfish if you choose to keep them together.

Secondly, bettas like low current to help them swim (long fins) and breathe (from the surface). If the surface is being agitated, it's hard for them to go up and breathe, kind of like you trying to sip from a glass in a moving car. Their long flowing fins also tend to act like sails in high current which makes it tough for them to swim. So a low filter setting is best. Why does this conflict with goldfish? Two reasons: goldfish produce a lot of ammonia and waste (which means they need a strong filter) and goldfish need air pumps (which create still more current in the form of bubbles). So again, what's good for a goldfish is bad for a betta.

As for mrssittingduck's advice to put the male betta in with the female until you can find a home for the goldfish (which I assume is resolved by now) is she nuts! Male and female bettas should NEVER be kept together except for short SUPERVISED periods if you want to breed them. The male will KILL the female, if not sooner then later. It's not a question of if, just a matter of when. Male and female bettas do not live together in the wild, they come together only for breeding. Male bettas are extremely territorial and, while calmer females can live in sorority tanks, a male betta can NEVER be kept with another betta or any fish that looks similar period. He will, eventually, start a fight and someone will end up dead.

As I mentioned above, bettas can be kept perfectly fine with peaceful fish that don't resemble bettas. Stay away from fish that are red (a common betta color) or very brightly colored, fish with long flowing fins, and aggressive fish such as gouramis and barbs. African dwarf frogs, cleaner shrimp, cory catfish, and snails all make lovely betta tankmates. Most bettas will generally ignore any tankmates unless they're bored, then you might see a little bit of interaction but nothing should end violently. Of course, if you see a lot of nipping or fighting that persists, then they should be separated. Your betta may be too aggressive for company.

Whew! I hope this helps anyone who stumbles upon this in Google archives or a search, as I did. :D

Whew. End rant :D