Re modelling my arrangements

[powellmacaque]

Right about now, I'm looking to re arrange my fish set up, and I need some help.

As of now, I have 5 tanks, one 5g, three 10g's, and a 55. I'm looking to move around to get rid of some of the 10s, but here is my set up now.

5g.
Male Betta

10g. v1
3 adult platies (1:2 male:female)
about 10 platy fry (in a breeders net)
2 cories (one albino, one extremely big for a cory)

10g. v2 (this is one I really want to change)
Firemouth (was in my 55, but had to remove cuz he was getting bullied)
Paradise Fish (amazingly, there are no aggression problems, he stays on top, the Firemouth stays on bottom, but I know this is not a desireable situation)

10 v3 (my mom's tank, she bought the fish on impulse, didnt know what she was doing)
2 Socolof's Mbuna Cichlids

and lastly

55
Oscar
2 Pleco


I was thinking about buying a 20-30 gallon in the near future (within a few weeks). Any suggestions on how I could fix what ever problems I have? I was considering splitting some of the platies up and putting them in the 5 gallon with the Betta, but I'm open to all suggestions (besides euthanizing/getting rid of fish).

[jm1212]

i wouldnt put any fish with a betta, because they can get very aggressive, and, if your platys are red or blue, or the same color as your betta, he may attack them :(

[dorkfish]

i wouldnt put any fish with a betta, because they can get very aggressive, and, if your platys are red or blue, or the same color as your betta, he will probably attack them :(

Have you even kept a betta, or done extensive research on them? becuase that is not true, and is a very ignorant statement.

I have kept 9 bettas so far and the only time any of them have shown any agression was when I have kept them with fancy guppies or a male jumped a divider into another males compartment, but they stopped chasing the guppies once they realised the guppies don't fight back and two male bettas don't exactly mix so that one doesn't count.

Although they can be aggressive (and this has been proven on the forums, becuase some people have posted in here about them atacking or killing other fish), this isn't the case in my expierience and many other people are succsessfull at keeping them in comunity tanks.

powellmacaque, I doubt this is what you want to hear, but you can probably move your betta into the 10g, and put the constents of your "10g v2" into the larger tank you said your buying, and that's pretty much all you can do as far as reducing tanks goes.

[Sploke]

Instead of buying a 30, you'd be better off getting something like a 75 or larger for that oscar. They will get bigger nose to tail than the tank is front to back, a 75 or 90 will give you an extra 6", which will go a long way toward the happiness of the fish. I know you don't want to get rid of fish, I had a few cichlids with 2 plecos, if they're commons, they're going to get way too big and messy for that 55. I was doing 50% changes twice a week to keep up with 2 eight inch plecos, the crap would literally pile up in the corners of the tank. I would move the oscar and the firemouth into a big (~90gal) tank, move the paradise fish into the 55 along with the platies and the cories. I've never had one, so I'm not sure if it would be too aggressive for the platies, I think the cories would stay out of the way. Move the betta to a 10gal and get rid of 2 10gals and the 5.

The Pseudotropheus, you're pretty much in a dead end situation. Because of their unique water requirements and aggression, you can't really keep them with anything you have. You can either set up a tank just for them, probably looking at something in the 30gal range, if adding nothing else, or bringing them back to the store or giving them to someone with a malawi tank. My two cents.

[jm1212]

yea i guess that was kind of ignorant, and i didnt mean for it to sound the way it did, but if you do put your betta in with other fish, watch him carefully and observe his temperment around them

i have done extensive research online and read loads aquarium books where they are listed. i understand that you might of had some bettas that were very good with other fish, but there are so many others where their bettas ripped their other fish to shreds.
my neighbors had a really peacefull betta in their 10 gallon tank with four guppies and two corys, with absolutely NO problems. they wanted to get a bigger tank and decided to get a 20. they started out with 3 platies, and they used those, along with bio-spira, to cycle the tank. so when the tank was ready, they bought two more platies and a betta, thinking that he would be the same as the one the had now. everything went great for the first couple of days, and then when the fish would come up to feed, the betta wuold attack them. they thought that it would pass, and he was only aggressive around food. then the next day, they found one of their platies dead, so they brought it back to the LFS, and asked the guy what happened. he said to keep and eye on the other fish in the tank. they did, but they still could not figure out what it was until they saw the betta attack another platy out of the blue when he went by the betta.
they decided to keep the betta, and he sits in a 2.5 gallon on their counter, and is plenty happy by himself.
so yes, there are bettas that love being around other fish, and then again there arent...

[powellmacaque]

Would it be wise to:
1. Buy a 20-40 gallon (I was thinking something either tall or hexagonal for space reasons, adding proper aeration, but correct me if that is harmful), and put the Firemouth and Paradise fish in that, along with one of the Plecos (I know the commons get rather large)
2. Put the betta in with some of the platy fry (once they are no longer bite-size) in a 10 gallon (the one left from the Paradise/Firemouth combo)
3. Leave the platy tank as is, minus a few platies for the betta tank
4. Leave the cichlid tank as is. They seem fine now, but they're rather timid.
5. Leave the 55 as is, but minus a Pleco.

If I had the funds and space required to get a 75-100 gallon, I'd really love to, but honestly the 55 is the biggest I can go given the circumstances. I know its not exactly "the best" for the Oscar, but it's not as horrible as say a 30 gallon, and he seems to be thriving in the 55 (he's about 9-10 inches long, and about 1½ inches thick now, about 2 years old). The only thing he seems to want to change is the way I have his home decorated ;), good thing they were plastic plants. I appreciate everybody's imput though.