Community tank, feeding questions

[fishfish123]

I have a 20 gallon community tank with a betta, cory cat, 2 oto cats, a gourami, female sword tail, cremesicle molly and a bristle nosed pleco. The betta has always been picky about eating and actually in the few weeks i have had him I don't remember seeing him eat ever even when he was in the isolation tank to make sure he was healthy. I was thinking about starting the tank on omega one community tank frozen food to change their diet up, or maybe blood worms. I was wondering if those food would be suitable and if maybe the betta would be more inclined to eat it that way?

 

[TekFish]

Frozen food is usually taken by picky fish. However the bigger problem I see here is keeping a Betta with a Gourami. What kind of Gourami is it? Gourami and Betta are related fish. The Betta has a very high chance of becoming intolerant of the Gourami and, if the Gourami is a more aggressive species and male, vice versa.

 

[fishfish123]

Frozen food is usually taken by picky fish. However the bigger problem I see here is keeping a Betta with a Gourami. What kind of Gourami is it? Gourami and Betta are related fish. The Betta has a very high chance of becoming intolerant of the Gourami and, if the Gourami is a more aggressive species and male, vice versa.

Yes i had them separated at first because i was worried about the aggression levels but I have been watching very closely they have been together for about a week but if any problems should come up then I have another fully cycled tank to put the betta in. The gourami is a red striped male and he is pretty mellow due to paradise fish that I had to rehome because i couldnt turn the tank light off or he would try to kill the other ones. I dont want to jinx it but it is a pretty peaceful tank and in the future was wondering what other kinds of fish would get along well in the tank. maybe some mollies?

 

[TekFish]

I'd get more Otos, they are a gregarious, shoaling species. They like at least 4, but 6 would be better. Depending on the amount of Cory Cats you have, I'd get more of those too.

 

[Toney]

Our betta goes stright for the algae wafers I feed the ottos and corys.

 

[Byron]

First, fishfish123, welcome to TFF.

Now, to begin with your food question...frozen foods are usually accepted by finicky fish as TekFish said, but this is a real problem. Frozen foods are not anywhere as nourishing as the prepared foods (flake or pellet). It is advisable to get fish eating prepared foods as their staple, to ensure good nutrition, and then use frozen foods as treats. Which brings me to the bloodworms...this is a food for no more than once a week. It is not nutritious, and there is something in it that in excess is problematical--fat I think, even though the level on the package might not suggest this. Anyway, not a staple food. Frozen daphnia would be better but again this is not as nutritious as prepared foods. Betta are surface fish, so you want foods that will float for a time, or sink very, very slowly. Your cories obviously need proper sinking tablets/pellets/disks; they cannot be maintained in good health from floating foods that eventually sink (mine won't touch these anyway).

Which brings me to the fish. In a 20g, you do not have room for much more, with what is there, after you increase the cories. The otos I would leave at 2 here for reasons I won't get into. But cories must have at least five, preferably more, but the tank limits this so five or six in total.

Mollies need more space than a 20g tank can provide; they will (if healthy) attain 3 inches for males, and females five and even six inches. This means a much larger space. Also, they must have moderately hard or harder water; they will not last long in soft or acidic water. The Betta, gourami, otos and cories are exactly opposite.

Bettas are not community fish. While individual fish may get along with other fish, or seem to, this does not always last. The inherent trait of a male Betta is to be "alone." It is risking things to force fish into an environment for which nature/evolution--or man in this case--has not programmed them.

Byron.