Playful betta

[MyBirdIsEvil]

Have any of you ever seen a betta play with other fish?
I just got a betta a few days ago to put in my 10 gallon tank.
He acclimated just fine, he's very active and LOVES playing in his little bubble curtain at the back of the tank, so I decided to put 3 kuhli loaches in with him yesterday, since I noticed on many websites they were listed as compatable.

I'm not sure my betta even knew they were in the tank, since until about 3 a.m when I woke up to take my dog out, they just burrowed under the gravel and hid. When I got up though, they were swimming around and playing in the bubble curtain, and my betta looked confused and scared of them. Every time they came near him he swam away and hid
I watched them for about 15 minutes and the betta started going near them more and more. After a while, he started actually playing in the bubble curtain with them, and now they're apparently the best of friends. He lays on top of them when he gets tired, and they rub against each other as they're swimming. He even plays tag with them, and he hasn't shown any aggression at all towards them. I have to say, it's kind of weird, lol. I thought bettas were supposed to be aggressive towards other fish, or just ignore them.

[phoenix]

Cute!
Mine gets along well with his tankmates too. They are really personable little guys aren't they?
They are really only aggressive to their own kind; (and I think other fish that they mistake for other bettas). They are quite sociable with others. The biggest issue I've heard is other fish attacking them/nipping their fins, because they are quite slow swimmers.

[MyBirdIsEvil]

The biggest issue I've heard is other fish attacking them/nipping their fins, because they are quite slow swimmers.

That's why I chose the loaches, they'd have to try extremely hard to injure my betta, lol.

They are really personable little guys aren't they?

He's definately interesting. I didn't know much about them 'til I decided to read up on them, I guess it's hard to tell they're real personality in those little bowls .
He now has a 10 gallon filtered heated tank though, I can't stand watching fish in bowls, even fairly large bowls, they always seem bored.

I'm actually thinking about getting another betta since I'm planning on setting up another small tank anyway.

[MyBirdIsEvil]

He does this all day




I also didn't realize they were so agile. He does all kinds of loops and twists, and I was surprised how far he can bend his body in all different directions.