What Fish Can Attack Halfmoon Betta?

While keeping Halfmoon betta in a community tank, your first concern should be keeping these gorgeous bettas safe from their tank mates. Because of having 180 degrees-shaped spiky tails, these Halfmoon bettas can readily be the prey of predatory tank mates. Hence, many owners want to know which fish can attack Halfmoon bettas.

The fin nipper and aggressive fish can attack Halfmoon betta for their swoopy fins and tails. Also, the fish that are larger than your Halfmoon betta can hurt your pet bettas. If any fish consider your Halfmoon betta as a threat or competitor, it’ll try to bully, nibble, and attack your Halfmoon betta.

In this article, I’ve penned down a list of 10 fish that can attack your Halfmoon betta. You should take a look at these attacking fish if you plan to bring tank mates for your Halfmoon betta.

Before checking out the attacking fish, let’s go through the overview of Halfmoon Betta. 

Overview Of Halfmoon Betta

Scientific name	Betta splendens
Common name	Siamese fighting fish
Size	Up to 3 inches
Temperament	Highly territorial
Diet	Carnivores
Maximum Tank Size	10 gallon
Depth	6-12 inches
Optimal Temperature	75-80 degrees Fahrenheit
Optimal pH	6.5-7
Care level	Moderate

10 Fish That Can Attack Halfmoon Betta

1. Tiger Barb

Scientific name	Puntigrus tetrazona
Common name	Sumatra barb, Barbus tetrazona, etc.
Size	Up to 3.9 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Aggressive
Care level	Hard

Tiger barb has a huge defame for its attacking persona towards other fish of the same tank. You might know tiger barb as fin nippers. 

These semi-aggressive fish aren’t suitable to keep with Halfmoon betta, which has large fins. Due to having a bad temperament, tiger barb may try to nip and tear apart the fins of your Halfmoon betta.

On the other hand, Halfmoon Betta has a territorial temperament too. If you keep Halfmoon betta with tiger barb, they’ll fight with each other to create dominance in the tank. Although tiger barb share almost similar water parameters, their aggressive nature makes them incompatible to coexist with Halfmoon betta.

2. Red Tail Shark

Scientific name	Epalzeorynchos bicolor
Common name	Red tail shark minnow, red tail shark, etc.
Size	6 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Highly aggressive
Care level	Moderate

Seeing the blue or black-bodied tiny shark with a red tail, you might have some interest to keep the red tail shark with your Halfmoon betta. 

These red-tail sharks are so ill-tempered that they can chase your Halfmoon betta. Because of having a feisty personality, the red-tail shark may attack your Halfmoon betta by lashing out its red tail.

Although it seems impossible to keep red tail sharks with Halfmoon betta, many owners take the risk of cohabiting with these two fish. Halfmoon bettas are surface-dwelling fish, whereas these tiny sharks are bottom dwellers. But, there’s a huge risk of a fight when these two extremely territorial fish face each other. 

3. Red Devil Cichlid

Scientific name	Amphilophus labiatus
Common name	Red Devil Cichlid
Size	15 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Highly Aggressive
Care level	Moderate

Like its name, Red Devil Cichlid has a high territorial temperament. An adult Red Devil Cichlid can grow up to around 15 inches, whereas your Halfmoon betta reaches up to 3 inches. So, Red Devil Cichlid may tear apart your Halfmoon betta if these Cichlids attack your betta.

For this reason, the experts suggest keeping Red Devil Cichlid alone. No wonder, the sharp teeth and strong jaws of these cichlids can kill your Halfmoon betta.

4. Flowerhorn Cichlid

Scientific name	Amphilophus hybrid
Common name	Golden monkey
Size	12 inches
Diet	Carnivores
Temperament	Territorial
Care level	Moderate

Another territorial fish that vanity attacks your Halfmoon betta is the Flowerhorn cichlid. Although these cichlid sports playful behavior with their owners, these aggressive fish can not tolerate the presence of any other fish in the tank.

Many hobbyists name Flowerhorn cichlid as water since they roam around the entire tank. If you make Halfmoon betta coexist with Flowerhorn cichlid, these two aggressive fish may get along fight. 

Moreover, the flower-horn cichlid is such an ornamental aquarium fish that demand a large space in the tank. To create dominance in the tank, these flower horn cichlid may attack and kill your Halfmoon betta.

5. Wolf Cichlid 

Scientific name	Parachromis dovii
Common name	Rainbow bass, wolf cichlid, etc.
Size	28 inches
Diet	Carnivores
Temperament	Territorially aggressive
Care level	Hard

Now, we’re talking about the most dangerous tank mate that is forbidden to keep with Halfmoon Betta. These giant cichlids can grow up to around 2.6 ft long. On the contrary, the 3-inch large Halfmoon betta seems like a toy in front of these huge wolf cichlid.

Besides, you must have noticed the big teeth of wolf cichlid. It’s pretty normal to assume that wolf cichlid will tear apart your Halfmoon betta whenever they are involved in a fight. If you want to avoid all attacks for your Halfmoon betta, you must discard wolf cichlid from the list of betta tank mates.

6. Black Wolf Fish

Scientific name	Parachromis dovii
Common name	Rainbow bass, wolf cichlid, etc.
Size	28 inches
Diet	Carnivores
Temperament	Territorially aggressive
Care level	Hard

Black wolf fish is a predatory fish that do not tolerate any tank mates in its tank. Since black wolf fish can reach up to 15 inches, it’s a threat to your 3-inch-sized Halfmoon betta. 

Besides, the aggression of these wolffish increases with their growth. These territorial fish do not like to share their kingdom with any other fish. As a result, Black wolf fish do not hesitate to attack your Halfmoon betta. 

Sometimes, these wolffish act like ambush predators too. Keeping your Halfmoon betta with black wolf fish seems to serve your betta as a meal to the black wolf fish.

7. Convict Cichlid

Scientific name	Amatitlania nigrofasciata
Common name	Zebra cichlid, convict cichlid, etc.
Size	4-5 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Aggressive
Care level	Moderate

People often think about keeping the convict cichlid with black bar stripes and Halfmoon bettas with D-shaped tails together. Although convict cichlids are almost equal sized as Halfmoon bettas, these cichlids can attack your fancy-tailed betta.

Convict cichlid isn’t suitable to keep in a community tank. These convict cichlids show complex behavior depending on their breeding period, hunger, and so on. Due to the aggressive temperament of convict cichlid, the experts suggest not keeping them with Halfmoon betta. 

8. Rainbow Shark

Scientific name	Epalzeorynchos frenatum
Common name	Ruby shark, red finned shark, green fringe-lip Labeo, etc.
Size	6 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Aggressive
Care level	Easy

Another beautiful tiny shark with red fins is the rainbow shark that is incompatible with your Halfmoon betta. Although rainbow shark has a semi-aggressive temperament, this fish can attack your Halfmoon betta to create territory. 

Moreover, these rainbow sharks contain around 40-45 teeth. When these shark attacks your Halfmoon betta, they may bite and tear apart the flowy tail of your betta.

Some hobbyists take risks of cohabiting with rainbow sharks and Halfmoon betta in a tank. Since Halfmoon bettas are top dwellers and rainbow shark dwells at the bottom, the hobbyists coexist with them together. But, keeping both territorial fish in a shared tank will create a massacre in the aquarium. 

9. Texas Cichlid

Scientific name	Herichthys cyanoguttatus
Common name	Rio Grande cichlid
Size	12 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Territorial
Care level	Moderate

Another attacking fish that should be avoided to pair up with your Halfmoon betta is the Texas cichlid. These territorial fish want to create their territory in their tank. 

Have you already noticed the cone-shaped teeth of Texas cichlid? If you cohabit Texas cichlid with Halfmoon betta, the flaring tail of your betta will not remain safe. Due to the attack of these territorial cichlids, your Halfmoon betta may suffer from fin and tail rot diseases. 

10. Oscar Fish 

Scientific name	Astronotus ocellatus
Common name	Tiger Oscar, velvet cichlid, marble cichlid, etc.
Size	10-12 inches
Diet	Omnivores
Temperament	Aggressive
Care level	Moderate

Oscar fish is enlisted among the fish that cause threats to Halfmoon betta. In stressful conditions, Oscar fish may bite and attack your Halfmoon betta. Moreover, these fish are almost double the size of Halfmoon Betta.

Because of the territorial tendency of Oscar fish, the experts forbid keeping them with other fish, let alone Halfmoon betta. This aggressive fish may damage the slime coat of your Halfmoon betta.

Before You Go

From this article, you must have gained some insight into 10 fish that can attack your Halfmoon betta. Now, there can arise a question of whether you can keep Halfmoon betta together or not. If you want to keep multiple Halfmoon betta together, you should check out the following article first.

Can Halfmoon Betta Fish Live Together?