oppinions on stocking an aquarium

[Rickie Robbo]

hi all. just after your oppinions. in my tank at the minute i have a pair of tuxedo swordails, an albino cory (planning on getting a couple more when my LFS has restocked), 4 baby bristlenose pleco's (about 2-3cm big) 2 albino 2 browns (planning on growing 2 out and swapping them in my LFS for credit) and today i put in 2 female betta's. they were a little intrigued by the britslenose's and followed them round abit but they didnt go for them or even fan their gills at them. evrything seems ok. but i was thinking of maybe adding a male betta ? what are your views on this ? will it be ok or will the male not get on with any of my currrent fish ? or the females even ? any oppinions will be gladly welcome.

thanks rickie.

 

[Newman]

o_o
kinda shocked that you do not know some of the basics on Bettas before getting them but I'll do my best to explain:

1. never put a male and a female in the same tank(unless breeding in a special setup)
2. don't put anything less than 4 female bettas in a tank.(for aggression reasons 4 seems to be the min number)
3. 4 female bettas require at least 10 gallons, with very few other fish that they can terrorize.

So a big question that comes to mind is How big is your tank?
this will help decide what you should get

 

[Rickie Robbo]

i have got a 16 gallon tank. and my LFS only had 2 female fighters in the tank and they looked fine. they havent shown even the slightest aggression to each other. or any of my other fish. any ideas on what to stock with ?

 

[Newman]

ok what shape is the 16 gallon? as in what dimensions is it?

for your stocking I would either ditch the bettas UNLESS you get 2 more.
Then grow out your plecos but then sell 3 instead of only 2 because BNs do grow a little large for a tank like that. one would be a good number to have. get more albino cories until you have at least 5. The swordtails should stay as they are, if they're doing fine on their own. are they both female btw?

Remember to stock your tank responsibly and obviously don't add all suggested fish in at once

 

[dusty123]

blue, olpine, or golden gouramis would be nice

 

[bassbonediva]

I agree wholeheartedly with Newman about the female bettas. Just because they were like that at the fish store doesn't mean it'll work in your tank. Fish in stores get replaced so often that usually the fish don't have time to settle down and establish who is boss (as would be the case with bettas). Having only two female bettas will end up with one basically bullying the other to death. It might work for a little while, but not long term. Minimum four, as Newman suggested, is your best and safest bet.

As for adding any more fish...I wouldn't, except to add the cories. I'd do as Newman suggests and get rid of three of the plecos instead of just two of them, add four more cories and two more female bettas (or get rid of the two you have if you don't want to or can't get more), and call it good. Check out AqAdvisor to see where you stand with your stocking capacity. In fact, just checked (they didn't have a 16gal listed, so I used a 15gal)...you'd be pretty overstocked with just the swords, cories, 4 female bettas and the pleco...AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor

 

[littletankbigworld]

I would not even grow out the plecos. I would just return them. Many pet stores will not re-buy larger fish, as it costs them a sale for future customers. Most customers are still under the impression that fish grow to the space they are given, which is true to an extent, but horrible for the fish, so the customers will only buy small fish, hence costing the pet store a sale. Kissyboots wrote an article on it once.