Hello
- Thread starter BettaLover15
- Start date
Ha, i Have ALOT of questions about fish and what i can keep with what and what size tank i need to house them. ive only Kept Betta's before so I dont know much lol. Im thinking of setting up a new tank soon. It may be a 10 gallon or a 29 gallon idk which. Im thinking of doing 5 Cherry barbs for the 10 gallon, how much more stocking do i have after that?
If its in the cards I would set up the 29. more water more fish more fun lol. I think the bigger the tank the easier they are to maintain too. Just make sure you do your research fist. what kind of fish do I want? what kind of water do they require? what tank mates will both get along with my star fish and will they also flourish in the conditions Ive provided.
Those are the initial ?'s. Think about what you want then find out how to go about how to get it done. I don't have experience with cherry barbs but I think they re pretty hardy.
Oh I almost forgot , Welcome
Those are the initial ?'s. Think about what you want then find out how to go about how to get it done. I don't have experience with cherry barbs but I think they re pretty hardy.
Oh I almost forgot , Welcome
Also, you need to cycle a tank without any fish in it. Make sure you read up on fishless cycling. You will need liquid test kits for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in order to cycle your tank and monitor water parameters. After your tank is cycled, which takes anywhere from 2 weeks to a month, you can slowly add fish. Add 2 slim-bodied fish each week so that you don't overload the filter and the good bacteria.
Welcome to the forums, there is a lot of advice and support that you will find helpful. Also we are quick to point out if there may be some hazard to your fish (e.g. housing two non-friendly species together) so definitely feel free to ask as many questions as you want!
Also do you currently have planted tanks or non-planted?
Also do you currently have planted tanks or non-planted?
I use Fake plants. But my new tank i want some Live plants. Now i know this next question is a hit or miss dangerous one. Im considering a Female Betta splendid Sorority or a Betta Imbellis sorority. How many would you do in a 5.5 gallon, 10 gallon, or 29 gallon? also what tankmates can be in a sorority?
well you cant really have a sorority in a 5.5g and a 10g sounds a little too small aswell.. erm 4 females *could be kept in a 10g but it depends on their personality ( no aggressive females ) this is due to the lack of space. So i highly reccomend you get a 29g, 5-6 female bettas heavily planted lots of hiding places and maybe cory-cat tank mates 3-4 maybe. lets see what other people suggest..
If you have a 29 gallon, you can have one upside-down catfish. Make sure you get a 29 gallon long so that your catfish has lots of room to explore.
The smallest tank for a sorority is 20 gallons but if you want to keep an upside down catfish, a long tank is the best, preferably a tank of 29 gallons or larger. Upside-down catfish should be fine in a sorority because they are nocturnal and you will almost never see them out and about during the day. Upside down catfish need a lot of hiding places. I have natural lace rock, which has a lot of holes and caves, for my upside-down catfish. They are very active at night but during the day they need a secure place to hide.
Definitely do not risk any sororities in a 5.5 or a 10 gallon tank. Sororities need a minimum of 4 to 5 girls. In a 29 gallon, you could safely add 6 or maybe even 7 depending on what other catfish you add. The more females, the less aggression there will be.
Do you have a liquid kit for parameters other than pH? Testing only the pH is not enough and it does not tell you whether your tank is cycled or not. PH is one of the least important parameters to check and it is only truly necessary to test pH when you are breeding fish. What are your readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in each tank? Do a fishless cycle using surfactant-free ammonia and check to make sure you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrIte and more than 1 ppm nitrAte before adding any fish. 0 nitrAte means your tank is not cycled and it is not safe to add fish.
Buy all your females at once. It's normally not a good idea to add more than 3 fish to the tank at once, but you must add all the females at once for sororities. When you have the girls at home, sit their cups in a cluster on a table for 15 minutes so that the girls can look at each other. Then, float their cups in the tank water for 30 minutes while you slowly drip water from the tank into each cup. Then add all the girls at once. Allow them to explore the new territory. You will need a lot of hiding spaces for the girls. Small flower pots without holes in the bottom are cheap and bettas love them. If you can only find pots with holes, use aquarium silicon to seal the holes shut. Allow the silicon to cure outside of the water for longer than the minimum recommended time on the bottle. You will also need a lot of plants, whether they be live or fake. Live plants benefit your tank a lot more than fake ones, and they look a lot nicer. Some easy-to-care-for live plants include java fern, java moss, hornwort, anacharis and hygrophila. There will be a lot of aggression for a while as it is unnatural for females of different spawns to live together. The girls will determine a pecking order after a while and the dominant female will lead the sorority.
The smallest tank for a sorority is 20 gallons but if you want to keep an upside down catfish, a long tank is the best, preferably a tank of 29 gallons or larger. Upside-down catfish should be fine in a sorority because they are nocturnal and you will almost never see them out and about during the day. Upside down catfish need a lot of hiding places. I have natural lace rock, which has a lot of holes and caves, for my upside-down catfish. They are very active at night but during the day they need a secure place to hide.
Definitely do not risk any sororities in a 5.5 or a 10 gallon tank. Sororities need a minimum of 4 to 5 girls. In a 29 gallon, you could safely add 6 or maybe even 7 depending on what other catfish you add. The more females, the less aggression there will be.
Do you have a liquid kit for parameters other than pH? Testing only the pH is not enough and it does not tell you whether your tank is cycled or not. PH is one of the least important parameters to check and it is only truly necessary to test pH when you are breeding fish. What are your readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in each tank? Do a fishless cycle using surfactant-free ammonia and check to make sure you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrIte and more than 1 ppm nitrAte before adding any fish. 0 nitrAte means your tank is not cycled and it is not safe to add fish.
Buy all your females at once. It's normally not a good idea to add more than 3 fish to the tank at once, but you must add all the females at once for sororities. When you have the girls at home, sit their cups in a cluster on a table for 15 minutes so that the girls can look at each other. Then, float their cups in the tank water for 30 minutes while you slowly drip water from the tank into each cup. Then add all the girls at once. Allow them to explore the new territory. You will need a lot of hiding spaces for the girls. Small flower pots without holes in the bottom are cheap and bettas love them. If you can only find pots with holes, use aquarium silicon to seal the holes shut. Allow the silicon to cure outside of the water for longer than the minimum recommended time on the bottle. You will also need a lot of plants, whether they be live or fake. Live plants benefit your tank a lot more than fake ones, and they look a lot nicer. Some easy-to-care-for live plants include java fern, java moss, hornwort, anacharis and hygrophila. There will be a lot of aggression for a while as it is unnatural for females of different spawns to live together. The girls will determine a pecking order after a while and the dominant female will lead the sorority.
Little Tank, why plug up the holes in the flowerpots? Just curious 'cause I have been worried about using them because there is no "escape hatch? I liked your discussion on pH and I wish more people would read it. Since starting here I have notice that is the test most newcomers seem concerned about, yet one of the first things I was told was don't try to change it (under most circumstances)
you must get a liquid test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate before you start with you new 29 gallon. those tests are necessary to properly observe the cycle of your tank. API sells the master FW test kit...you could have gotten that instead of just the pH kit (cuz the master test includes two types of pH tests) but i understand that money could have been a big issue at the time.
as far as stocking goes, the 5-6 betta females might work, and 3 upsidedown catfish(3 is recommended as minumum number and 3 freely fit in the tank. dwarf frogs are a no as they generally like smaller tanks, and tanks devoted just to them. they are slow feeders and you have to manually feed them. the bettas and the catfish could easily eat their food, and when the catfish grows up a little it will eat the frogs if the bettas wont.
shrimp also will suffer the same fate both from the betta and the catfish. you could probably get one bamboo shrimp, since they are too big to be swallowed by a betta and probably will be safe with the upside-down catfish. but make sure you research bamboo shrimp extensively. they are filter feeders which means you will have to feed your tank in a different way to accommodate the shrimp.
be warned as the upside down catfish can probably eat the bettas once they grow to adult size. i mean the possibility is low but its still there..
you cannot tell if you have an especially violent female betta until you buy a group and put them into the tank. then observation will be your best friend. as you know a lot about bettas they develop a pecking order in the tank so ripped fins the first couple of weeks are normal. missing scales and deep flesh wounds are not ...
as far as stocking goes, the 5-6 betta females might work, and 3 upsidedown catfish(3 is recommended as minumum number and 3 freely fit in the tank. dwarf frogs are a no as they generally like smaller tanks, and tanks devoted just to them. they are slow feeders and you have to manually feed them. the bettas and the catfish could easily eat their food, and when the catfish grows up a little it will eat the frogs if the bettas wont.
shrimp also will suffer the same fate both from the betta and the catfish. you could probably get one bamboo shrimp, since they are too big to be swallowed by a betta and probably will be safe with the upside-down catfish. but make sure you research bamboo shrimp extensively. they are filter feeders which means you will have to feed your tank in a different way to accommodate the shrimp.
be warned as the upside down catfish can probably eat the bettas once they grow to adult size. i mean the possibility is low but its still there..
you cannot tell if you have an especially violent female betta until you buy a group and put them into the tank. then observation will be your best friend. as you know a lot about bettas they develop a pecking order in the tank so ripped fins the first couple of weeks are normal. missing scales and deep flesh wounds are not ...
Upsidedown catfish dont get but the size of 4 inch's. Female betta's reach around that size as well so how could the catfish eat them, will they kill the bettas!?! And i agree on the ADF's as i just read they gulp air so they need a smaller tank. As for the shrimp, I dont think i can do a Bamboo mainly cause i cant find any around here. So right now im looking at 6 female bettas and 3 Upside down cats. maybe i could add in a few platys?
I wouldnt suggest doing bamboo shrimp in a tank that size. Also they need a STRONG current because they are filter shrimp and bettas do not like a current that strong so that would be too conflicting. And I manually feed my bamboo shrimp 1) my tank doesn't have a ton of debris/food/random stuff floating around so in the current they can't catch much 2)they love blood worms and its impossible to keep those floating around a tank, so they are syringe fed blood worms.
I would probably stick to red cherry shrimp, they're simple and easy, beautiful in color and I've seen quite a few people maintain red cherries with bettas just fine. Ghost shrimp as well. When you start going towards the bee shrimp, the crystal, it can be a bit trickier. Amano and red nosed shrimp are more aggressive, amano have been known to eat healthy living cherry shrimp - typically if their diet is lacking protein is when that happens. Amano are very difficult to breed and red nose haven't been bred much in captivity.
Like littletank said make sure to have hiding places for the upside down catfish, I have driftwood and mine absolutely loves being on/in/around it.
I would probably stick to red cherry shrimp, they're simple and easy, beautiful in color and I've seen quite a few people maintain red cherries with bettas just fine. Ghost shrimp as well. When you start going towards the bee shrimp, the crystal, it can be a bit trickier. Amano and red nosed shrimp are more aggressive, amano have been known to eat healthy living cherry shrimp - typically if their diet is lacking protein is when that happens. Amano are very difficult to breed and red nose haven't been bred much in captivity.
Like littletank said make sure to have hiding places for the upside down catfish, I have driftwood and mine absolutely loves being on/in/around it.