Can Siamese fighting fish Live With Neon tetra?

The ornamental betta is a poor fit for a standard community tank. It is best kept alone, and individuals that tolerate other species are the exception, not the norm. That is the starting point for any tankmate, neons included.

If you try it, the water is not the obstacle. The betta's range of 22 to 30 °C meets the neon's 21 to 25 °C between 22 and 25 °C, and both manage pH 6 to 7.5. The neon is only about 3 cm long and should be bought as a group of 8 to 10 or more, so the tank has to be larger than a lone betta needs: a base of 60 by 30 cm (about 54 litres) suits the school, where a single betta is fine in 41 litres.

Neons are peaceful and will not bother the betta. The risk runs the other way, from a territorial male that treats the shoal as intruders, so watch the first days closely and have somewhere to move one of them.