What to put with a male betta?

[StarSapphire22]

Hey guys!

So I have this 10 gallon that's just sitting here all empty, teasing me. I was gonna use it as a qt, but after some thought I think I'm going to upgrade to a 20 gal for my qt...I just don't think goldies in a 10, even for a short period of time, is a good idea.

I had a male betta who lived about 3 and a half years that I had to put him down a month or two ago. He couldn't even find his food most the time, and wasn't interested when he did...just very sluggish and old, and never swam well to begin with. He was in a half gallon betta kit. I bought this ten gallon to put him in after learning more about bettas, but even after 2 weeks, he would never leave his corner and going near the filter scared the crap out of him and made it hard for him to swim. I moved him back and strangely, he was a lot happier.

I want another betta and I want to be able to take proper care of him this time. So I'd like to build this 10 gallon around a male betta. What have you guys kept with them successfully? I'd really like color in the tank. In probably half a year or so I'll be putting a 20 gallon in my bedroom, but I'm waiting for my dad to build the stand I drew out (I have no skill at stuff like that, lol!). I'd like the ten gallon to take it's place in the meantime. The tank is going into my bedroom to help me sleep. I have some pretty gnarly insomnia and sitting in front of the fish tank long enough makes me go zzzzzzz........... LOL! I want color so I can see them with my glasses off and plan on adding an actinic bulb to keep on at night. I was originally thinking glofish, guppies, and RCS before I started planning this, but I know guppies aren't compatible with bettas. What about the glofish? Any other suggestions? All these fish will be moved to the 20 gallon as soon as it's set up. Thanks guys!!!!

 

[wesleydnunder]

Hey guys!

So I have this 10 gallon that's just sitting here all empty, teasing me. I was gonna use it as a qt, but after some thought I think I'm going to upgrade to a 20 gal for my qt...I just don't think goldies in a 10, even for a short period of time, is a good idea.

I had a male betta who lived about 3 and a half years that I had to put him down a month or two ago. He couldn't even find his food most the time, and wasn't interested when he did...just very sluggish and old, and never swam well to begin with. He was in a half gallon betta kit. I bought this ten gallon to put him in after learning more about bettas, but even after 2 weeks, he would never leave his corner and going near the filter scared the crap out of him and made it hard for him to swim. I moved him back and strangely, he was a lot happier.

I want another betta and I want to be able to take proper care of him this time. So I'd like to build this 10 gallon around a male betta. What have you guys kept with them successfully? I'd really like color in the tank. In probably half a year or so I'll be putting a 20 gallon in my bedroom, but I'm waiting for my dad to build the stand I drew out (I have no skill at stuff like that, lol!). I'd like the ten gallon to take it's place in the meantime. The tank is going into my bedroom to help me sleep. I have some pretty gnarly insomnia and sitting in front of the fish tank long enough makes me go zzzzzzz........... LOL! I want color so I can see them with my glasses off and plan on adding an actinic bulb to keep on at night. I was originally thinking glofish, guppies, and RCS before I started planning this, but I know guppies aren't compatible with bettas. What about the glofish? Any other suggestions? All these fish will be moved to the 20 gallon as soon as it's set up. Thanks guys!!!!

Zig zag eel.

Mark

 

[StarSapphire22]

1)EEEEEEEEEEW. Eels creep me out. Too much like snakes. *shudder*

2) Don't eels need like a minimum of a 55 anyways?

 

[ppetropulo]

In my opinion, anything will go with a male betta! Oh, except for other air breathers like grambies, because they get very territorial! Umm... molly's, platies, white water minnows, rainbow forktails, and basically any other community fish. Just seriously stay away from grouambis, they can kill bettas. I also wouldn't go with aggressive fish, so just stay with small mild mannered companions, and you'll be fine!

 

[jgulecas]

Something peaceful. Male bettas are usually fin nipping victims in community tanks. Cherry barbs would be a good choice here I think.

 

[StarSapphire22]

What about cardinal or neon tetras?

 

[Unikorn]

Corys on the bottom water level. Betta for the top level.and you need to find a good mid level fish

Sent from my MB860 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[StarSapphire22]

ehhh, not a big fan of cories, not for this tank at least. If I was doing a bigger community tank like a 55 or 75, I'd probably put a few in, but I really want just lots of schoolers and stuff for this tank, with a few RCS I'm thinking.

 

[Nepherael]

Hmm, the glofish sound good since you're upgrading them all to a 20g. I prefer fish like mollies over other schoolers because I notice a little more personality but if you add glofish maybe neon tetras would look pretty cool alongside them especially under the actinic.

Theres some glofish that have really fancy fins (I have a green one and all his fins are long and flowy but none of my other glowies are like that. I'm actually excited to see if anyone my fry have that fin type because I did end up with some green fry) and I don't know if a betta might not like that. I hear that you have to be careful about putting fancy finned fish in with bettas. But then again, I also hear every betta has its own personality and can end up being a total jerk or cool with anything.

 

[StarSapphire22]

Yeah, my dilemma is that I'd like to have all the fish in my 10 gallon that I will have in my 20 gallon, and just add more when I upgrade. But I'm worried that will make my schools too small. I'd like to have 2 or 3 schools of different fish and the betta.

Personality is always good....that's why I keep goldies.

I've heard fancy fins are bad with bettas too. My last betta was a SUPER jerk. If you even walked up to his tank he would flare. I had a blown glass octopus in there though that he was super protective of and blew bubble nests around. It's kind of hard to tell personality in a cup, so I'd rather be safe then sorry, you know?