I bought a betta 5 days ago and I have him in a medium fish bowl and I want to know what type of fish I can put in their with him Can I ad a little fresh water crab ? What type of fish can I put in the fish bowl ?

Updated On June 17th, 2018

Pet's info: Fish | Unknown - Fish | Male | unneutered | 5 days old

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Answered By Miranda Sadar, DVM, DACZM

Veterinarian

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To safely mix fish species together, there are a few considerations to keep in mind. First, you want to choose fish that have similar temperature requirements as your betta. Otherwise the fish can be stressed. Second, you want to get species that have similar oxygen requirements - bettas don’t need a lot of bubblers in their tanks, but not all species are like that, so unless you want to do some adjustments to you betta tank, it is a good idea to get other species that don’t need a lot of oxygen. Third, it depends on how many gallons your tank is. Overcrowding is a common problem for many fish owners, and it can make it very difficult to keep up on the water quality. The general rule of thumb you can use is one square inch of fish per gallon. When using this rule, go based on the adult size of fish, because often people get fish that are young and small and don’t anticipate that they will get bigger! I would advise getting your thoughts together about the parameters above, and then visiting your local pet store to see what options are available within those parameters, because species availability can vary by area. Good luck!

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