Betta Tank Mates

[twingogeekeo]

Need a bit of help tonight i have setup my 36L betta tank but trying to work out tank mates and what not.

Im looking to have

1x Male betta
6x Tetra

Maybe a bottom feeder or 2

What tetra can i put in with the male betta that he wont eat and bully. I want to get them in this order when the tank is ready. Tetra, bottom feeder then the male betta once i know the colours of the others i can then pick the betta colour as he will be the centre piece of the tank i want him to stand out but still want the other guys being colourful.

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Neon tetras are the best. They arent active so they wont outcompete the betta for food, are pretty, and inexpensive.

 

[MBOU]

Some nice small fish choices: (one species not all of them obviously!)

6 x neon tetra
6 x cardinal tetra (wouldnt put them in first though)
8 x ember tetra
6 x harlequin rasbora
6 x copprline rasbora
6 x black neon tetra
6 x black phantom tetra
6 x red phantom tetra
6 x rosy tetra


They are some of my favourite tetras I think and all are Betta safe!

As for catfish... you are pretty limited in that sized tank...

2 x Otocinclus affinis
or
1 x LDA 25 (Pitbull Plec)
or
6 x pygmy cories (c.pygmeaus or c.habrosus)

Personally, if it was me, i'd try find 6 Corydoras habrosus and 1 x Otocinclus, 6 Copperline rasbora (espei or hengli) and 1 x male fighter (i'd be stuck for choice! i'd be torn between blue orchid crowntail or halfmoons, pure whites, mustard gas yellows but think i would settle for a good quality Lavender Halfmoon male).

 

[twingogeekeo]

I popped into Maidenhead Aquatics in Sunbury yesterday on my lunch to have a browse around at the Tetra. Found a few i took a liking to.

Black Phantom Tetra
Glowlight Tetra
Ember Tetra
Blue Tetra

These are what ive been thinking.

Im going to put panda corys in as they are by far the ones i like the most! This is meaning the Black Phantoms are out the window as i want to mix up the colours. And Blue Tetra are out the window as a fighter ive seen i like the most is blue and yellow. But loe the Crowntail fighters aswell.

This leaves me with Glowlight and Ember Tetra. But im going to pop to the Woking Maidenhead Aqautics on my way home from work today to have a look in there as i feel all fish can look differnt in each tank.

On the corys would 6 not be tomany for the size tank? I was told by my LFS that max i can have in there is 3 corys, 6 tetra, 1 male fighter.

Here is the tank setup that these fish will go in. Did it on Thursday and added the last plant yesterday.

 

[hensonc4098]

You wouldn't be able to fit any more than a couple of large type cories in there, and since they like to be in groups of 4+, not a great idea. The pygmys are a lot smaller, therefore you'd be able to have about 6 as MBOU said
Glowlights or ember tetras should be fine though with the betta.

 

[twingogeekeo]

I wanted Pygmy corys but nowhere local stock them and they seem to be like rocking horse poo. Found a place online but the postage was far from taking the mick thats why i was going to settle for the panda corys as they only grow to 4cm and pgymys grow to 3cm so 1cm dirrefence.

I dont like Otocinclus affinis and not really looked for Pitbull plecs if im honest. I was told 3 pandas would be ok together. I have 6 pandas in my bigger tank but dont fancy removing any from there to test the numbers.

I think im going to go for Ember Tetras if another small shoaling fish doesnt catch my eye

 

[pablothebetta]

Is that the 320T? I tried 6 pygmys in the 28L 320 version myself in the past, though I didn't feel there was much 'floor space' for them and they were given away. I personally wouldn't try pandas for the same reason.

If I were you, I'd have something along the lines of 1 male betta and 6 ember tetras for now. I'd go for the embers as they're smaller than the other tetras you mentioned. Alternatively, you could try and find similarly sized microrasbora or CPDs/Galaxy rasbora. I wouldn't add any otos for a good while as they are better in established setups, preferably with some algae growth for them.

This is relying on the betta getting along with the other fish - some may attack them and see them as snacks while others may just ignore them. I've heard that adding the betta last can help reduce aggression, s they are going into 'someone elses territory', and not the other way around.

I really like how you've scaped the tank, what plants have you used?

 

[twingogeekeo]

There just Java fern on wood. But if im honest ive changed it now

I got ember Tetras and they didnt look right with the plants so went back and got some big java ferns and added the bits i had back in. Looks so much better!

Ill get a picture later.

Also found a place local and got 6 Pygmy corys as they where the last they had and said they have had them about 6 months and wont be restocking them i got them and look spot on size with what i feel enough floor space and seem to love chilling amoungest the plants but so they are still visible.

Also while i was there we spoke about bettas and i showed him what style i want and made it clear it need to be colourful and not you common betta you see in the tanks everywhere. As i go to them for everything hes going to order them in batches of 6 till we find one im happy with

Now a waiting game first batch will be about 2 weeks time.

 

[twingogeekeo]

This is it now

 

[Bugdozer]

I have black phantoms and fear to put a betta in my tank because their fins can get a bit big, especially when they are displaying, and I didn't want that to upset a betta. But I don't know how likely that is.