beta fish compatibility with others

Question
I love beta fish and i have a female beta, i have a 25 gallon tank. i have a
charcoal filter and gravel and few plastic plants and i also use water
conditioner. i change water every other week .i do not want to buy a heater.my
question is what other fishes can i add in it which do not require a heater.i
love angel fish, fantails,zebra danios,black phantoms.can i add them in
there?and 2nd question is can i put more than one male betas in my tank as i
think i have enough hidding places if they get into a fight.


Answer
Hi Naaz,
Actually bettas would thrive best if their tank did have a heater. Contrary to what most sources say, bettas do not do well at room temperatures. They do much better healtwise if they are kept at about 76-79F. However, if you keep your house considerably decent throughout the year (and the tank temperature doesn't fall below 75F) you could probably easily keep a few kinds of small peaceful with your female betta. Two of the four fish you listed, the Zebra Danios and Black phantoms should live peacefully with your betta. The trick is to stick to peaceful species that are small and reasonably quiet. Other fish are small tetras like Glowlights, Harlequin Rasboras, or Cherry barbs. White cloud mountain minnows are also very suitable, especially for an unheated setup. A few cories would be great as the bottom dwellers for your tank and they also aren't too picky about water temperatures. Most danios are fine at average tropical temps as well.

A word of warning is male bettas -cannot- be kept together, no matter how many hiding places. They will fight and battle until only one betta remains. Even if the loser betta is able to hide, he will be made to hide there for most of his life because the strongest betta will not allow him out to swim or even to eat. You cannot keep males together, but you can keep females together reasonably well. However, there are certain rules you have to follow and you can read a very informative article here about it:
 http://healthybetta.com/

{Look under articles and you'll find it there)

I really hope this helps!
Best of luck!
Karen~