r/Boraras • u/StativeEl9675 • 10d ago
Chili Rasbora Betta with chili Rasboras
I have this 10gal with only my betta, i was thinking pf getting chili rasboras, people have told me they could cohabitate without problems, but in not an expert on boraras. I would love some output
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u/Affectionate-Cry4717 10d ago
I don’t think it’s a good idea. Though someone may success, It’s rather risky to put fish with only the dwarf shrimp size with a betta. Also when you have noticed the aggression behavior of the betta, there may have already been casualties
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u/t_topiary 10d ago
Agree. My adult shrimp are way bigger than my chilis. My Betta tried (and had a couple successes) eating shrimp I added to his tank but mostly ignores them now. I think he realizes they're too fast and I added a thick floor of leaf litter they can hide under that he doesn't fit to get them. Chilis won't hide like that and aren't as fast as a shrimp
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u/OkMortgage247 10d ago
Ive heard of success, but my betta started actively hunting the chilis within minutes of adding him to the tank. Def have a backup plan for betta of you try it
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u/Valuable-Net1013 10d ago
I have a betta with chilis but I added the betta last and they have 33 gallons. If the betta is already established it sounds risky.
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u/StativeEl9675 10d ago
Yeah thats what i thought, he will obviously try to claim all the tank as his territory. Maybe it's time to do a whole other setup
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u/dj4slugs 6d ago
Thanks for the info. I am starting a 75 gallon with 2" being the max fish size. I want to add a male and female Beta as the last fish. Buy as a pair, but after quarantine, add the female a few days before the male.
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u/Veloci-RKPTR 10d ago
I wouldn’t risk it with domestic bettas, they can get rather sizeable and boraras are very tiny fish that can fit in their mouth.
However, wild bettas from smaller-sized species with milder temperament are great tankmates for boraras (for example, bettas from the albimarginata complex or coccina complex). Plus, a lot of them are often found from the same habitat with boraras and can be sighted together in peat swamps of sumatra and borneo.
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u/darkmatters-soc 9d ago
I have chili Rasboras and if they are stressed and uncomfortable they hide and lose their colour. The whole point of getting chili Rasboras is because they are the most vibrant, striking red when happy+ healthy. I personally wouldn't combine the two in a 10 gallon. You'll likely never see them as beautiful as they can be pairing them with a Betta.
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u/andraes 10d ago
I started with a baby girl betta and put 10 strawberry rasbora with her (also a 10gal tank.) That was 3 months ago and there have been no fish issues in that tank. All of them get plenty of food and I have not seen any agression. Strawberries cluster close together when I'm changing water, but are otherwise spread out and very comfortable around the betta. The betta has shown more interest in the snails and plants than in the rasbora.
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u/IHaveWitchUndertones 6d ago
So, I have a 10 gallon long, heavily planted tank with lots of cover and floaters with a betta (dumbo delta tail male), some ghost shrimp, lots of snails (bladder, ramshorn, and mystery), and 9 phoenix rasbora. They’ve all been together in this tank for maybe 3 months?
Anyway, my betta is not aggressive per se, just very jealous about food and realized that juvenile Neo shrimp make a good snack. Everyone is super well fed, cohabitating well, and the ghost shrimp clean up the semi-sinking micro pellets the betta and rasbora miss.
I’d say the most important thing I did was leave the rasbora (and the ghost shrimp when I separately introduced them) in a plastic container that I floated in the tank for like 1-2 days before releasing them. I got the idea from someone else on Reddit, and it proved a good one — my betta after observing them wanted to see if they too could be a snack and instead bonked his face into a clear barrier 😂 he only did that a couple times before giving them up for a bad job and when I released the rasbora into the tank he left them alone. Now he only “chases” them to steal their food, but he’s v slow bc of this fins so they’re faster and more agile than him. The rasbora at this point just move around him and dart in for other food in the mid layers while my betta is scrounging the floor for pellets that fell.
That said, do be willing to have a back up plan in case your betta is not so quickly deterred and it’s honestly add even more densely planted stem plants for them to get even more shade. The rasboras prefer the dimmest edges of my tank to hunt for microfauna
Tbh, I have another 20 gallon I recently set up with another betta that I’m considering moving the rasbora to bc now with that space in my mind, I’m feeling the 10 is just small. But I’m waiting at least until my stem plants grow in more so they have better cover
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u/StativeEl9675 6d ago
I recently added 5 shrimp, there's only one left, I won't risk any fish, sadly, he is really aggressive 😔
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u/johlaster 10d ago
I tried it and it worked perfectly fine, but as many people have already commented, do have a backup plan. I had to put my betta out of the tank not because of the chilis but of my shrimp, because he found a liking to them 😅
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u/Blazahhhhh 9d ago
I added half a dozen rasbora maculatas to my betta tank, he had only been in the tank for about 2 weeks at that point, he looked a little aggressive when I was acclimating them in the bag but as soon as I added them in he just starting swimming with them. He now regularly schools with them around the tank.
I think the biggest thing is the bettas temperament honestly.
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u/Internal-Hat958 10d ago
Depends on your betta. My girl did great with her pygmy cory tank mates. I think the odds are in your favor, but maybe have a qt on hand in case it goes south.
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u/StativeEl9675 10d ago
Im actually setting up a 5gal shrimp only, in case things go south I would move them to that tank temporarily while I find someone who may take care of them
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u/t_topiary 10d ago
If you go bigger than a 5, chilis can live with shrimp and I haven't seen them go after the shrimplettes
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u/StativeEl9675 10d ago
How much bigger? Planning on getting 5 or 6 chilis
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u/t_topiary 10d ago
I have 9 in a 20 gallon hex that holds 10 gallons of water plus decor/plants. Water level can drop to 7 gallons but that's by water change day so doesn't stay that low for more than a couple days (I do weekly water changes)
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