30 Gal. Betta Community Tank

[Faythee]

I am removing my Danios, Tetras, and Gouramis from my tank and would like to try some Female Bettas. The only thing in the tank when I add them is 3 Cory Cats. It is live planted, 30 US gallons.

-How do I tell the difference between M and F ? I suppose I could order them, but am wondering as I may fall in love with one in the store.

-How many should I add ?

-Any other tank mates acceptable ?

-I have sand substrate, temp 78F w/heater, and a tad high PH of 7.5-7.8........is this all okay ?

-I have 2 filters ....one is an Aquaclear rated for up to 15 gal. and the other is a Penguin Bio-Wheel. The Aquaclear only makes small water movement, but the Biowheel is pretty strong. Should I take it off and just use 2 of the small Aquaclear filters ? Or a different filter you suggest ?

That's it for now....sure I will have more questions later

 

[bordercollie05]

I'll let someone else who's better at it describe how to tell the males from the females (usually females just have shorter fins, but plakat males have short fins too...) I would recommend finding the youngest females you can find. I've tried to put my females in a sorority several times with not much luck, but they were probably close to 2 years old the first time I tried. They probably would be okay with the cories, depending upon the personalities of the fish. (I'd also up your cory count to 6 of the same species...they like big groups). If you're worried that your filter is to strong, you can make a straight cut down the side of a plastic party cup and sort of hang it over the output of your filter to slow it down. I'd say you could probably have about 15 females if you just have the cories with them. As far as other tank mates, I really don't know; I've heard of success with zebra danios sometimes or maybe neon tetras.....again it depends on your fish. If I were you, I'd probably just stick with the bettas and the cories. That would be a stunning tank, to have so many females that could be so many colors!!! Good luck with everything, and be sure to post pictures when you get everything set up! Hope my answers all are clear, I think I kind of rambled a bit there....

Laura

 

[bronzecat]

Hi. This link gives pictures of males and females Tail types
And this one is about Tank mates

 

[Faythee]

Okay.....basically looks like females have shorter fins and not as pretty. I would be fine with just the Corys and Bettas. Would Ottos be okay for algae ? It on my plants

Anyone order Bettas fom liveaquaria.com ? That way I would know they are young and females. Kinda sucks not to be able to pick them though.

 

[bronzecat]

I have oto's and they are fine with my males, females and cory's.

Sorry never used liveaquaria.

 

[MermaidMel]

You might think females aren't 'as pretty' but I have some stunning females in my community in many different colours, not just the standard boggy blues and reds you see in most LFS. So hunt around before you make your purchases, bettas come in every colour and combination of colours imaginable, just because they don't have the longer fins they are still amazing.

 

[Faythee]

Oh good. I need those Ottos.....algae driving me crazy !

Are they personable fish ? Like come to the front to greet you

I think I will get 4 from liveaquaria to start out and see how it goes.

 

[newfishy]

Id go on aquabid and get to pick your girls out, if you take your time you could have an amazing tank of girls. also the more females that the tank can reasonable sustain the better, any aggression there may be is thus spread out over the whole family, vrs two or three on one.

personable...oh yea..I cant get a decent side shot of a single one of my girls cause they come to the glass and stare and do a wiggle dance.

 

[Bubblenester]

I see I lured you over here. Hey guys, we got another one!

You will want to start with at least 6 females to keep the aggression down, and then you can stock more at the usual FW guidelines (1 inch per gallon) as long as they seem to be getting along. Without adding more hiding places to your tank, you may not be able to fully stock your tank with bettas without getting a lot of fighting... you'll just have to see. They should be just fine with cories and ottos. A lot of different fish make good tankmates. I would just come up with some ideas and ask everyone if they would work with the bettas. You want to avoid anything really tiny that might be lunch, anything with big fins that might be nipped, and anything that would be particularly nippy toward the bettas.

Bettas from Live Aquaria are going to be the same quality as the pet store ones, only you don't get to pick them out and you have to pay shipping... so I would buy them from pet stores, order them from a better source, or both. Try Aquabid (www.aquabid.com) or ask around on the forum to see if anyone has females available. You can usually get pretty ones at a good price because females are less sought after than males. If you have a Petco, they carry some nice females. Most of them are very young and tiny, but they will grow up to look great.

Why not use a filter rated for a 30 gallon tank and rig up a current killer to keep it from sweeping your girls around too much?

 

[Bubblenester]

Jaded has some imported females for sale. Don't let the photos fool you... the Thai breeder that they came from- Vinita- always breeds amazing bettas, and I have no doubt that they will color up beautifully once settled into a tank.

 

[Faythee]

yes Bubblenester.......you got another one

I have been searching the net and seen these comments:

Any betta I have ever kept has much rather resided in a small bowl without a filter or air pump than a larger tank. If placed in a large community tank with moving water due to a filter, my bettas seem very lethargic and will not eat. Even in a small 2 gallon tank, they always manage to squeeze themselves into a pile of large rocks on the bottom. The natural habitat of bettas is weed-choked and shallow, so by nature they prefer small, enclosed spaces.


I have 6 male bettas, my pride and joy being Worf, my large blue and red and the dad of the first spawn of fish I ever raised. My favorite betta (and fish) of all time was Jadzia, Worf's wife. She was so puny and dull when I bought her but in her bowl she just blossomed! She was a gorgeous and radiant red-blue-green colour! When I moved her in with her juvenile daughters, in my 22 gal, she paled and had her fear stripes most of the time, like the others (I think they're always on guard around each other) But I made sure the kids were treating her alright (and vise-versa). She did fine for a while but then she started looking really weathered (by this time most of the girls were gone). Later on she moved to my 68gal, then my 10gal but her health was going down hill. I tried medications but to no avail. It was very sad when she died. Both her and Worf definitely seem to have done better in their bowls than in the tanks, although they have some sons who seem to be doing fine with the tank life (different tanks of course) I think bettas find security in smaller quarters. The colours of the females are definatly nicer in bowls! If I could only have one fish, it would be a little puny female betta in a 1-2 gal bowl so I could watch her turn into a little gem like Jadz did :>

Really ? Here I thought it would be nice of me to give them room to swim a round ??? Personally I do not want to squeeze 15 into the tank.....I am thinking around 8.

What do they like to hide in other than plants ?

I will check Petco and such..........just worried I may accidentally get a male

 

[Bubblenester]

The idea of preferring small spaces is total BS in my opinion. I have seen males get overwhelmed when moved into a large community tank, but I don't know if it's because of the size or the tankmates and as long as the other fish are nice to them they do eventually settle in. Females seem to adapt really quickly and definitely enjoy having a big tank to explore.

I bet "Jadzia" and her daughters were kept in too small of a group, in a tank with no cover, or too much current. I can guarantee that they weren't stressed all the time just from being in a bigger tank.

They like to hide in anything. Rocks, driftwood, plants... and skulls. Small terra cotta flowerpots are great because it also gives them a place to get out of the current if it's too strong. Just make sure you either plug the drainage hole in the bottom or break the pot in half so the split goes through the hole- I had a female get stuck in the hole, and by the time I got her out half her scales were gone and I had to euthanize her.

Personally I've never bought a she-male from a pet store. I've just raised a few that I thought were female and later turned out to be male. In the pic I posted in the other forum, take a look at the really bright turquoise marble with the longer fins... yeah, pretty sure she turned male. The good thing about accidentally getting males is that they're not difficult or expensive to house, and they're pretty easy to rehome if you'd rather go that route.