Betta in with goldfish want to clear something up?

I can believe that tank could run OK. But it's not the usual scenario that people ask about. People usually want a 5 gal with goldfish and a male betta....

Lets look at some of the issues.

Temperature? Not really a big deal, if the water is over 20 C but under 25 C, both fish can survive.

Aggression? Female betta are less aggressive, and will probably leave a goldfish alone. They can also swim fast enough to escape any bullying from a larger goldfish. Not quite the same with a male?

Water flow? Female betta with their short fins can handle more current. Goldfish being messy need powerful filtering. Again the female bettas win out over the male.

Food? The two fish do different natural diets, goldfish are omnivores and eat more vegetable matter than the carnivore betta. So keeping them together isn't ideal, but it's also unlikely to kill them.

Tank size? A big and well planted tank lets you bend all sorts for rules.... Heck you could probably throw a couple of male betta in the mix and still be OK.

So when you look at the potential issues, they don't actually make the tank impossible. Not ideal, but I can believe that it did actually work. But when most people ask, that's not the setup that they are thinking about...

Ian

Goldfishes are coldwater and Bettas are tropical and need heater but there is a range of temperature where the both fishes can survive. But if the temperature gets too hot then the Goldfish suffer and if the temperature gets too cold then the Betta will suffer. if you can manage with the correct temperature for both the fishes, then temperature wouldn't be a big problem.

Goldfishes get huger and may eat the Betta fish. If you have a large planted tank then the betta may escape from the Goldfish.

Goldfishes are messy fish. They produce a lot of waste and it may poison the bettas. If you have powerful filter and maintain good water quality.

Food..Bettas are carnivore and Goldfishes are omnivore. Goldfishes eat more vegetable based food while betta eat more live food. So, food won't match.

If you have a huger planted tank, it may work for you but it may not be the same all the time. Bettas and Goldfishes are not really good tank mates. All the 6 years, you couldn't say that they have lived happily. As it worked for you, you couldn't say that it will work for everyone. Always the situation may not be the same. We will keep saying that Bettas aren't compatible with Goldfishes.

The average vet knows squat about cold blooded animals and certainly fish

So... because you can make it work it's perfectly fine.... right....

Golffish are temperate fish that, when properly cared for can easily get to be 15-20 years old. Betta are tropical. There is a very small temperature range where they are both comfortable. Get it too cold and the betta slowly succumbs from the cold, get it too hot and the goldfish' metabolism goes into overdrive.

Hate doesn't come into it. If I had to hate every dumb American kid that keeps fish based on incomplete and outdated information I wouldn't have time for anything else.

Vets are not trained in aquatics.

We will continue to tell others NOT to keep the two species together as it is in neither species best interests. The cons far far outweigh any pros.

If anything a Goldfish should be large enough to eat a Betta. And then there's the diet incompatibility. Before you even get to the temperature differences.

You have your opinion and in my opinion you've just got lucky that nothing has died. It would more commonly end in massive failure.

You have your opinion the rest of us have ours you are entitled to yours like i am entitled to mine .

But Goldfish do not live with betta fish one because one is cold water and one Is tropical ,2 because you are keeping large waste producing fish with something that is not a large waste producer and the betta fish ends up with a risk of being eaten .,

Maybe its worked for you and your so called vet but ,to come on here and tell me not to tell people this is wrong ,is stupid because you do not keep betta fish and Goldfish together .

You know what they say no Reason for Ignorance .education is the key