Bettas in a 10 gal...

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xytrix01

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Sep 26, 2004
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I want betas. Plain and simple. However I don't want to spend like $50 on one of the eclipse systems, and to keep them in the little tiny glass "beta enclosures" seems cruel. Not to mention that even if I set up some sort of filter, I am knowingly shortining the life of an animal. I get disgusted everytime I run across one of those "Bettasphere" tanks. I drink that much water in a sitting! thats like stuffing the poor fish into my water bottle! My cat's water dish holds more! (Not that the fish would live any longer placed in there! :p )

So here we go...

I have a 10 gal that is curently housing the excess feeders for my catfish. He is getting moved to my 45 gal, so all his little "friends" will be going with him. I'm not worried about having him and a dozen feeders in that size tank. the 20 gal was just too small for that. Anyhow, I have this fully cycled 10 gal with a 50 watt heater, and a bio-wheel mini rated for up to 20 gal. It seems such a waste to just shut down this tank and have to start all over again when I find a use. So what I think I want to do is move it to my desk and stock it with bettas. My thinking is I could do one of the following:

1. Give one male betta a very nice appartment compared to where his poor little store-mates are bound to end up. (Heck, if we scale things up, his place would be as big as mine!)

2. Buy one of those fine mesh tank deviders and have 2 nice betta friends.

3. Same as #2, but with two tank deviders and 3 bettas.

4. Skip the deviders all together and go with females.

What do people think? I'm pretty stuck on the bettas, but mabey i could devide the tank in half and keep a betta and a small school of neons or something...

Also, I heard that bettas don't like water currents. I can see why. The bio-wheel mini I have produces a decent current for its size. Should this worry me? or will the bettas just avoid the area under the filter?

Advice is always welcome, so thank you in advance.
 

happychem

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Dec 9, 2003
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How about one male betta and some corydoras to keep him company. Check out the stocking I have in my 33g. It works really well. Not that I would suggest adding those numbers to a 10g, of course.

Bettas actually make decent comunity fish. Although now that the tetras are getting used to the idea that he's not a major threat, they are getting a little braver around him. So every now and then he flares at them a little and they run away. Makes for good watchin.
 

TKOS

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Feb 6, 2003
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A 10 gallon with a divider is a great idea. But add some plants near the divider or they will constantly flare at each other and not get much rest.

A filter is not a bad thing for a betta, just stick it to one side of the tank. That gives him the option of swimming with a current or without one. And you will be surprised how much time he spends over near the filter.

A betta and a small school of 5 neons will work great. There will be tension at first but things will calm. Down. Some of the larger tetras might not be a good idea as they can be nippy and go after the bettas fins.

Female bettas can often be as territorial as the males and therefore a 10 gallon with a bunch of females might or might not work.

White Cloud Minnows are also a good choice for tankmates or as Happychem says Cory Catfish. The cories are a great choice as well because they do not compete for the same food, whereas tetras can be a little piggish and try to eat all the food.
 

DAN66

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Jun 1, 2004
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Hi,

As happychem said, Bettas do make quite good community fish, But you have to watch out for barbs (Fin Nippy) and Danios, Which can also Nip fins.....

I was keeping a male Betta in a 10 gallon with 3 Danios, 3 Platies, and 2 Dwarf Gouramis( I know oversotocked, but the DG's are in my new 3 foot tank :D)

the betta at first when I put him into the Tank flaired up and looked like he was hunting for another male Betta.... After A while he settled down, But the Danios saw him as an easy Target, and Nipped his fins to nothing :-(!! So the Betta Is now making a full recovery In the LFS (I checked a few days after, and his fins looked better already!! :)

So to sumerize, DON'T keep Betta's with Danios or anything Fin nippy, If you wanted to keep a Betta with school fish, try Platys (I never had any problems with them and the Betta) or any other school fish that Isn't fin nippy....


Corydories do look nice with Betta fish, It would make a real nice tank having a few (Usually you keep odd numbers of corrys, Corect me If Im wrong though) corys on the bottom cleaning algae and any food that the Betta doesn't eat, and the Betta gently swiming along the top, popping his head out the surface to breath air (Bettas breath air from the water surface, so make sure there Is plenty of Airiation for the little guy)

HTH, and Good luck with your fish....

Dan
 

xytrix01

Aquaria Intern (NOOB)
Sep 26, 2004
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San Jose, CA
So here's my plan as of now. I'm going to get a male beta. For a little bit of action in the tank I want to get a school (about 8) neon tetras, and to take care of cleanup, im thinking 3 or 5 corries. How does this sound to everyone?

The reason I went with only 1 betta, as opposed to my original plan for 2 is because I thought it may be mean to keep the tetras in 2 seperate schools. I'm afraid that they would try to be one big schoold and be stuck in the middle of the tank all the time.
 

dwayne

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Jul 12, 2001
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This is all in a 10 gallon tank? 3-5 regular sized cories would be way too much for a 10 gallon, if you found the pygmy, or even dwarf cories, you could get away with that fish load, as long as you were religious with your water changes! Good luck, sounds like a cute tank!
 

phanmc

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Jun 24, 2004
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That's too many fishes for a 10 gallon tank. Either go with the neons or cories, I'd also knock down the number of neons to 6 unless you plan to do weekly water changes.
 

xytrix01

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Sep 26, 2004
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San Jose, CA
oh, ok I must have been looking at the dawrf corries... oops! Are the corries schoolers? Can I keep just 1 or does he want a friend? I can drop the neons down to 6, but they don't like less than that an I right?

So how about:
1 betta
6 neons
1 corry (unless I need two for him to be happy, then I might just forget the neons. I've been reading that they are hard to keep alive anyways.)

edit: Water changes arent a problem, I actualy enjoy them right now. It's one more excuse for me to play with my fishes! :laugh:
 
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phanmc

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Right, neons shouldn't be kept in numbers less than 6.

Cories are also schooling fishes and should be kept in groups of 3 or more, preferably 6.

Drop the neons and go for the cories, bettas are more compatible with them anyway since they mostly keep out of each other's way. My betta occasionally harasses the cardinals but never bothers my panda cories.
 
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