Aggressive Female Guppy with Male Betta?

[goldenpuon]

I have a healthy 2 year and 3 month old male betta that was born at my house. He was sick earlier but recovered and now that my bettas are dying of old age/disease related to genetic and age, I want to put the 2 remaining healthy ones in a containers or tanks bigger than 1 gallon.

I have a 6 gallon plastic container with a guppy in it. She is also very old. (I got her from Petsmart 1 1/2 year ago.) But she is doing well. She likes to harrass other guppies (chasing but not trying to mate like males) and seems pretty territorial.

Her only tankmate now is another female guppy seems to be dying from something that I have seen many times in my guppies now. I have tried to treat the other guppies in the past that have had this with no luck so I want to just let her die naturally. I am 90% sure it is not contagious. She will either recover or be gone soon.

But either way, both the aggressive female guppy and male betta have had disease or disease in their tanks at some point and are at the end of their lives basically. So I figure, to give the female guppy company before she dies if the other female passes and the male a larger tank would be beneficial to them despite risks of disease.

My only major concern is aggression levels. I have never had a male betta in with other species tropical fish and don't know this male's disposition when it comes to aggression. Also, I am afraid that the female's bright colored tail (yellow with black spots) will trigger the betta to attack her since male bettas seem to be turned on by color. On the other hand, the opposite is also possible. This female guppy is already established in her tank and if this male betta is a wimp (which I have come across before when breeding bettas), he may be the one who ends up getting picked on.

Also, since guppies like a lot of salt and higher hardness and alkalinity than bettas, will they be able to adapt to live together? I can add a little less salt and SeaChem Marine Buffer so the water conditions are in between.

Thanks.

Renee

[Carl]

I have had mixed results with mixing guppies and Bettas (usually not favorable), but primarily with both being males (& then t was the Bette that caused the issues)

I still think this might be worth attempting, but try moving containers next to each other first and if possible then place the male betta in a breeder net while introducing into the tank.

As to water parameters, this too can be a little tricky as you already pointed out the reasons.
However I have successfully kept discus in high tannin waters that they prefer while still providing essential minerals. I have doen this with a combination of driftwood, peat, and other tannin products (more recently products such as Bio Lif that utilizes Indian Almond Leaves), along with dissolving Wonder Shells (or fragments there of) for the mineral ions.

See: Aquarium Chemistry; Amazon, SE Asia Water

Bettas can also tolerate 1 tablespoon of salt per 5 gallons.

Carl

[goldenpuon]

Thanks Carl. I will try it. The container is very wide and long and there are also a lot of hiding places.

About 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of salt is in there now and my guess is if I keep the Ph at about 7.5, KH at 130-150, and GH from 140-170, everything should be ok. I know it is risky so I'll introduce the betta in a net first.

Thanks.