New 10 Gal?
- Thread starter Masta_Cheef
- Start date
My wife's beta lived for a year or so in her community tank. It has neons. mollies, swordtails, pleco and goldfish. Try and error method. I think as long as you don't have an aggressive or fin nipping fish in with it. But size of fish and when you put them together are very important keys. Some fish that grow up together are fine but if you separate them and put them back together you might have trouble.
i think it sounds ok, but it does really depend on the personality of your betta because it can vary a lot from fish to fish. hopefully you'll get one of those bettas which doesnt mind being around other fish. as cherry barbs are red i'd recommend not getting a red betta to make your chances of success higher.
That actually sounds very similar to what I plan to do. I'm going to be very careful to save my reciept for the loaches, though, so that if they don't get along with the betta, back to the store they go! (I probably would prefer to return the betta and get a gourami instead, but I'm getting a free green half-moon from a friend. That's a deal I just can't pass up!)
Bettas will live with almost anything EXCEPT Gouramis. Mine (20 + Females and 2 YES 2 males) live with a full cross section . Swords, loaches , pictus, hatchets, danios, tetras (Cardinals and Rummy nose), Mollies , Guppies, Sharks, Sydontis, Coris, Khoolies, Banjos, Bristle nose, White cloud mountain minnows, etc etc etc.
No Probs, But the gouramis had to be moved as they killed the male betta
No Probs, But the gouramis had to be moved as they killed the male betta
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loaches are one of the primary fish i keep...i have 16 right now, and i can say for sure that i wouldn't put ANY loaches (except maybe kuhlis) in a 10g. while loaches don't get really big (although yo-yos can exceed 4"), they really do best with buddies, and you have to remember how active these fish are. they need some space. sorry, but i'd say 20g minimum for loaches. also, with slow-moving, flowy finned betta floating around, you might have some nipping problems as well...especially with only 1 or 2 loaches in a confined space.
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Some barbs would be OK I think...depending on the betta. Not all of them are that aggressive...the tiger barbs I think would be a no-no because they are pretty bad fin nippers. Goldfish aren't usually a community fish because of the different temperature and filtration and dietary needs...but some people do it anyway.
I think the key to putting a betta in a community tank is choosing fish that keep to themselves and wont get in the betta's way. No guppies or other fish that have long fins or bright colors, no top dwelling fish (would have to compete with betta for food), no notorious fin nippers (like tiger barbs or danios) and no fish that are closely related to the betta (incl other bettas or gouramis etc). I have my betta in a 5G with an otto and a lone harlequin rasbora and a lone ember tetra. Now, the rasbora and the tetra really ought to be in larger groups...but it just turned out that they are the last remaining from their group and I hadn't moved them or found anymore ember tetras. They all seem to get along fine, but I think if there were more of any of them they might not.
For a 10G with the betta...I think I'd cycle the tank, then add your betta. You could get a few corydoras as they generally keep to themselves, they might startle other fish from time to time but add a lot of activity to the tank. Otocinclus (ottos) generally keep completely to themselves...you could get one or two of them. They're a great small algae eater. You could put an apple snail (mystery snail) in the tank.
I think the key to putting a betta in a community tank is choosing fish that keep to themselves and wont get in the betta's way. No guppies or other fish that have long fins or bright colors, no top dwelling fish (would have to compete with betta for food), no notorious fin nippers (like tiger barbs or danios) and no fish that are closely related to the betta (incl other bettas or gouramis etc). I have my betta in a 5G with an otto and a lone harlequin rasbora and a lone ember tetra. Now, the rasbora and the tetra really ought to be in larger groups...but it just turned out that they are the last remaining from their group and I hadn't moved them or found anymore ember tetras. They all seem to get along fine, but I think if there were more of any of them they might not.
For a 10G with the betta...I think I'd cycle the tank, then add your betta. You could get a few corydoras as they generally keep to themselves, they might startle other fish from time to time but add a lot of activity to the tank. Otocinclus (ottos) generally keep completely to themselves...you could get one or two of them. They're a great small algae eater. You could put an apple snail (mystery snail) in the tank.