Hi i put 4 red wag platies in my 15 gallon tank today which has a lone blue male betta i have noticed that the betta keeps flaring at them at times will this calm down what is the best way around this do i take betta out and put him back in to confuse him or do i move plants around etc?
betta problem
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Just give him a couple days. He may calm down with it or he may just not be suitable for a community tank like that. To help, make sure he has plenty of plants and places to hide so that he doesnt get stressed out. Good luck 
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This is betta behavior.
Bettas will flare at any brightly colored fish, group of fish, or sometimes, decorations.
Rarely does this come to any kind of issue. Please note, the betta is the slowest fish in the tank, only slightly faster than the plants. It is extremely rare for the betta to actually injure another fish.
The inverse is not true. When keeping bettas in a community aquarium, it is always important to make sure the betta is not being harassed by the other fishes. Even skittish Neons enjoy the taste of betta fin, for some reason.
Bettas will flare at any brightly colored fish, group of fish, or sometimes, decorations.
Rarely does this come to any kind of issue. Please note, the betta is the slowest fish in the tank, only slightly faster than the plants. It is extremely rare for the betta to actually injure another fish.
The inverse is not true. When keeping bettas in a community aquarium, it is always important to make sure the betta is not being harassed by the other fishes. Even skittish Neons enjoy the taste of betta fin, for some reason.
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I very much disagree with these statements. Yes it is Betta behavior but each is different in its own way. Yes, fish have intruded on his territory so he's going to be mad and flare at them.
As for the 'slowest fish in the tank', this is untrue if the Betta is a Plakat or a wild in which case they can run down any Guppy or Platy they desire. As I said, each Betta is different. I had a long finned HM that ran down his Endler's and killed them all for sport, my PK boy almost devesated my entire guppy population since he's ten times faster. They do not mistake brightly colored fish as other males, they simply do not like other fish in their territory and yes they kill injury and kill. Again, it does depend on the fish because my girl loves her male guppies and couldn't care less they share a tank.
Longer finned Betta's, I do agree, are more likely to be fin nipped by other fish but that statement cannot be generalized to all Bettas. As I said, my long finned in my avatar kills every fish I had tried to put in with him or put him into a different tank last and it didn't matter.
You can try to take him in, rearrange the entire tank and reintroduce him. He would then have no territory established and should play nicely but that's just the average Betta, to each his own.
I agree with Lilnaugrim. Each Betta has a personality and we should keep in mind these fish can damage most other fish if that is their intent. Now any fish, hum, my belonasox would not agree but I'm just saying.
If your Betta is just fixated on the Platys, put a small mirror on the side top back corner of the tank. He will spend a lot of time there and likely forget about the Platys.
If your Betta is just fixated on the Platys, put a small mirror on the side top back corner of the tank. He will spend a lot of time there and likely forget about the Platys.
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Almost universally, if you are in a Beginner Freshwater forum, you can very safely assume that if someone mentions a betta, they have a common Vieltail, or maybe a Crowntail, Betta Splendens that they bought in a little cup from a big box store, and was bred by one of the mass breeders.
Experiences with completely different species hardly apply, and I stand by my comments. But if you insist, BETTA SPLENDENS do like to flair, but rarely do any damage. They are far more frequently picked on that the reverse. There may be cases of individuals with a mean streak, but these are the exception, and not the norm.
But seriously, now, what beginner has access to wild or specialist species of Betta and treis to keep them in a community tank? Could it possibly come up enough times in the lifetime of our sun as to need this disclaimer?
Experiences with completely different species hardly apply, and I stand by my comments. But if you insist, BETTA SPLENDENS do like to flair, but rarely do any damage. They are far more frequently picked on that the reverse. There may be cases of individuals with a mean streak, but these are the exception, and not the norm.
But seriously, now, what beginner has access to wild or specialist species of Betta and treis to keep them in a community tank? Could it possibly come up enough times in the lifetime of our sun as to need this disclaimer?
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Well I agree about different behavior I had a betta that was able to live with guppies and moat people say that guppies are the ones that bettas attack thebmost for their long fins he was the last fish I added in there and he didn't seemseemed to have any problem with them but if you try to add fish to their territory they'll flare I tried to add ghost shrimp with a betta and he flared to the shrimps and they're transparent so I guess this is a case where we depend on fish personality and territory
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