6 Gallon Tank - 1 Betta, What Else?

[LuanaNeko]

Hi all!

My fiancee and I recently picked up a 6 gallon tank that has a biowheel filter and heater. We definitely want a male betta for the tank, but we also wanted some other small fish for some variety. We're looking to build a small community that is balanced and low maintenance. I'm thinking a bottom feeder of sorts and some schooling fish like danios, but since my parents had a 50 gallon tank I'm afraid I may be thinking too complex for this little tank. The petsmart fish guy suggested 3 danios and 3 rasboras, plus an otto and a dwarf frog as betta buddies, but that seems like waaay too many fish in such a small tank. I remember there being a 1" of fish to 1 gallon of water rule... Any suggestions? Is the fish guy wrong (as usual)?

Also, I've heard people say the dwarf frogs are really messy... Is this true?

 

[azulfire24]

well yes the fish guy is wrong danios can be fin nippers so i might not keep them with a betta, as for frogs i dont know about them being messy but some people have had success in keeping them with bettas, snail are really heavy poopers but also another alternative to add so maby...
frog
snail
cherry shrimp
pecosumus, oh i can t spell it, the lilttle botom dwellers that look like mr mogoo
but keep in mind some bettas just cant live with another animal and will kill anything in the tank, other are very calm, and the inch per gal is pretty correct, but i wouldnt overload it, maby 1 betta 2 frogs, 1 betta 2 shrimp somthing like that

 

[bronzecat]

Hi and welcome

Apart from some danios being nippy, dont forget that once a betta is in there, you've only got about 4 inches of fish space left. If you overstock a small tank, you'll never be able to keep it stable.

Bearing in mind that danios and rasboras are both shoaling fish you haven't really got room for them

There are some smaller fish like Copper Harlequin rasboras and White cloud mountain minnows. The white clouds also come in gold which is really nice. But.....it doesn't give them a lot of swimming space which they like

There are no Plecostomus that will fit in the tank i'm afraid, but there are pygmy cories 4 of those should be ok once the tank is established.

Its a problem with smaller tanks, the majority of smaller fish are shoaling and like lots of swimming space.

 

[constantine03]

I wouldn't go with a pleco as it'll outgrow that 6 gal in no time. I think you could get along with 3 little rasboras and a few dwarf cories... or you could go with just the betta and about 4 dwarf cories. He will be perfectly happy with that much space to himself.

 

[LuanaNeko]

well yes the fish guy is wrong danios can be fin nippers so i might not keep them with a betta, as for frogs i dont know about them being messy but some people have had success in keeping them with bettas, snail are really heavy poopers but also another alternative to add so maby...
frog
snail
cherry shrimp
pecosumus, oh i can t spell it, the lilttle botom dwellers that look like mr mogoo
but keep in mind some bettas just cant live with another animal and will kill anything in the tank, other are very calm, and the inch per gal is pretty correct, but i wouldnt overload it, maby 1 betta 2 frogs, 1 betta 2 shrimp somthing like that

Danios are fin nippers? Didn't realize that... My parents had 6 danios (both golden and the normal zebra) with some rasboras and misc other tetras that seemed to live with our bettas for years without any problems... We typically picked out aggressive bettas since we had a problem with an angel fish a friend entrusted me with attacked our betta... Ever since then we found that an aggressive betta would go up to each fish, flare up once and that was that. They would leave him alone, and he would leave them alone. Maybe because it was a larger tank?

Their tank is a little abnormal anyways in that it actually has a relatively strong current, yet the bettas seem to love it. I know they're supposed to like calm tanks, but after the initial bought of getting blown around, they always came out of hiding and purposely started playing in the aerator bubbles.

 

[dpcamp]

i have my betta kept with tetras, they don't bother the betta and everynow and then the betta will chase the tetras but no harm to either of the fish. i also have some african dwarf frogs in there.. they get along just fine.

guppies are another option but are hit and miss depending on your bettas temperment. I had a betta that could coexist with guppies and did so for about a year. My next betta decided he didn't like the eyecandy competition and killed them off real quick.

 

[bronzecat]

My next betta decided he didn't like the eyecandy competition and killed them off real quick.

Exactly.......so not worth the risk After all, you wouldn't put a chihuahua in a ring with a pit bull?