beta with semi-aggressive fish

Question
i have two balla sharks, a catfish, two tiger striped fish and a sucker fish... Can i put one male or female beta in a tank or would there be a problem? I know if i had schooling fish i could do this but i am not so sure about my semi-aggressive fish. please email me back. happy new year.

Answer
Good morning, Jordan, thank you for your question.

I would not recommend adding a betta to this mix. A male betta would be disastrous with its long flowing fins, and a female betta has only a slim chance of being able to defend herself against the usually relentless nipping of the two tiger barbs - I assume that's the kind of fish you are describing. Tiger barbs are notorious nippers and tend to be more aggressive if only kept in a small group of less than three. Your two bala sharks will grow to be 13" and are schooling fish, so would prefer to have more of their kind in with them too. A 55 gallon tank is minimal. An adult bala shark community calls for an 125 gallon tank or so.

I would recommend adding some rosy barbs if you want a splash of color. Rosy barbs glow a coppery red when they are happy that is out of this world! If you like the sleek shape of female bettas, I would look into rasboras. I would not recommend the harlequin rasbora - they are actually just the tip of the rasbora iceberg. Check out this article for more information about rasboras, and possibly inspiration:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/BarbsDaniosRasborasArt.htm

Good luck, Jordan! A very happy new year to you as well.

Nicole