Male gouramis will become as territorial with bettas as another male betta would. Keep that in mind; I once left my male crowntail betta alone with a gourami for three hours when I was moving and when I came back, the gourami was looking up at me with big wide innocent eyes while its mouth was nibbling on the dying betta. Ew.

Avoid other anabatoids (fish of the same “labyrinth organ” family as the betta). Any male fish of that family has the potential for aggression with your betta. This means only one male betta per tank.

You can try a female betta, because a male crowntail is slower than female bettas and he won’t be able to catch and kill her (some males want to do that, other males get along with females). Just watch them carefully the first hour or so after you put the female in and make sure they get along. 9 out of ten crowntail bettas in my experience appreciate a female in the tank. Your aquarium is 12 gallons, so there ought to be a few plants and hiding spaces in case they’re not the best of friends. But they should get along. Here’s a picture of my male crowntail betta and female veiltale betta sleeping together under a light if you don’t believe me.

You can generally put in any peaceful fish with a betta. I have an aquarium right now with swordtails, mollies, platies, and a male betta. The betta minds his own business, chasing his reflection in the glass. They’re great community fish. Just avoid other male anabatoids.

male bettas do well with other “community” fish. Tetras of all kinds, bottom feeders, mollies, platies. etc

the only fish they can’t be kept with is another male betta.

as far as how many fish in your tank, the general rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish per gallon. Keep in mind this is 1 inch of a grown fish, not the smaller one you buy that will grow larger

I have a betta with platies who get along wonderfully. Not sure how many fish you can really put in there, but check out ghost shrimp and perhaps african dwarf frogs. They’re very interesting.

I agree get a couple of bottom fish. I like Panda Corydoras

neon tetras and mollies

A small school of cory catfish is probably the best option. Because they are peacefull bottom dwellers they will ignore the betta, and vice versa.

Ian

i don’t think male bettas are compatible with very many fish