Paradise fish and newt

[marsha]

I have a 10 gallon tank with 5 gallons of filtered water. I have a large island on one end and plants and...newt paradise. I have 2 fire-bellied newts and a betta fish. I would like to add a paradise fish to the mix. yes guys I know some peoples views on mixing fish with newts. but does anyone have any experiences with paradise fish and newts? thanx.

 

[ali]

Hmm, I have a betta but it isn't in with my newts. How does this work out for you?

 

[william]

yes i kept a paradise fish in with my paddle tail newt for a few days, i did make a post in the help section a while ago. paradise fish are not a good idea, they are very bold and will even take food out of the newts mouth, luckly the fish was dwarfed by my 18cm newt, but the fish could stress your much smaller cynops out. Also the betta ana paradise fish mix will not be good as both fish are two of the most vicious fish around. (ever wondered why good pet shops never put 2 or more male bettas in the same tank?)

 

[jennifer]

This was my experience, which I posted in the mixing disasters article http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Mixing_disasters.shtml

Posted by Jennewt on November 08, 2001at 09:18:48:

I put a male betta fish in with my 4 eastern newts. The betta seemed to be a beautiful addition to the tank. The arrangement worked fine for several months. Then one day I noticed the betta take a peck at one of the newts. I didn’t think much about it, but the next day the betta was pecking viciously at the head/eyes of the newt again and the newt was swimming to get away. I removed the newt, which, over the next few days developed a bruise-colored head, but did survive. Then the betta started picking on another of the newts, so I immediately removed the betta.

 

[ian]

That is why I never like Betta. Out of all fishes, which I love very much.

Well, I dont like Goldfish too.

 

[felipe]

In my tank there are Neon Tetra (6), Algae-eaters, and two hypostomus!! They make the setup looks like a real enviroment...and they live very well together!!! The newts just ignore them and they help to keep the aquarium clean!!!

 

[jeff]

They add amonia(sp) and poop. Whiteclouds are really good tank mates!

 

[marsha]

thanks everyone you've all been a great help.
I will definitely keep out the paradise fish. i agree with them being just to vicious and too big. However I feel confident about my decision to keep my betta in with the newts. there is absolutely no problems to far, and when a newt gets to close it's my betta that backs off. I have owned betta fish for years, with most of them in community aquariums. It is of importance to note that each betta has their own personalily which means they behave differently in situations. (one of their charms

) In response to William Jones I disagree with you about them being the most vicious fish around. they are very vicious to another betta male or any fish that resembles a betta male. I read a facinating article on the internet about a test where scientists took two male betta's, marked them with a tracking device of some sort and released them at two seperate places in a lake. the two fish found each other within a day and a half i think it was and fought to the death. this suggests it is not even about territory but to eliminate any other breeding males. my last betta was in a 20 gallon tank with fish, snails and even african dwarf frogs. when feeding time came it was the frogs who would attack my poor betta. my betta has always been on the bottom of the pecking order. there is however an incident i must mention. Once, two days after buying a fish from a petstore and being unable to quarantine my fish i was taken away an a long trip with no notice. my stinker of a boyfriends was left looking after my fish with strict information about watching for disease. I came back 2 weeks later to find almost every tank mate killed from ick (including two dwarf frogs). (grr) my betta, two tetra's and a snail survived. my betta which had been of course low man was now top dog -an important fact. when everything was fixed the first species i put in was 2 new african dwarf frogs. my previously gentle betta immediately attacked the frogs (thankfully without hurting them) I whipped out the betta and went on an information hunt. I followed advice to keep him in his own tank for a few weeks while changing the decor in the community tank. I then put him back in the community tank (watching with a hawk's eye for bad behaviour) he was an angel. and had been for the rest of his life. he was never given an opportunity to be top dog again. There is always a possibility of disaster happening but the chances are small. I had an apple snail eat a frog once. this however is extremely rare and does not mean that the two species are not compatible. even tanks with a single species carry's a risk of the tankmates hurting or killing each other. it's the degree of risk that matters and how much risk each of us is willing to accept.