Do Beta Fish Get Along With Barb Fish?

Though bettas have a reputation for pugnacity, they generally have more to fear from barbs than vice versa. This may seem curious, since barbs are non-terratorial schooling fish. However, in an aquarium with both bettas and barbs, barbs tend to be the troublemakers.

  1. Betta Aggression

    • Bettas have such a reputation for aggression that they also have the nickname "fighting fish." However, bettas' aggression has pretty strict limits. For example, in most situations only the males fight. Multiple female bettas can easily share an aquarium without incident. Even the males will usually only attack other male bettas. However, male bettas will sometimes mistake fish with long, flowing fins for rival bettas and fight. This sometimes happens with very long-finned guppies.

    Barb Aggression

    • Usually, schooling fish get along peacefully with other fish. After all, schooling fish do not stake out territories. But barbs do show some aggression. Typically, this takes the form of nipping at the fins of other fish. Long-finned fish, like the betta, are particularly irresistable targets for fin-nipping behavior. Nipped fins can stress out the victim, and leave the fish open to dangerous complications like fin rot and other infections.

    Reducing Barb Aggression

    • You can curb barbs' aggression in a number of ways. Generally, if you keep them in a group of more than six, they tend to nip at other fish less often. In a school, barbs will usually spend most of their time chasing each other rather than bothering other fish like bettas. This method of controlling aggression does not always work perfectly every time. While barbs pick on other fish less in groups, this does not guarantee they'll never take a nip at a tempting target like a betta.

    Less of a Target

    • You can also pick bettas that are less vulnerable to fin-nipping to fix this problem on the betta's end. Not all varieties of betta have long, flowing fins. Wildtype bettas have short, stubby fins, not much of a target for fin-nippers like barbs. Some strains, called plakats, have short, stubby fins with the same colors people have grown to expect from bettas. Female bettas also have shorter fins and can better resist fin-nipping. However, female bettas generally have drabber colors than their male counterparts.