Preparing for a female betta sorority tank

[Ammolite]

As i am moving to a new village, the LFS happens to sell a fantastic range of young female bettas and it was a tuff decision but I definitely want to create an aquascape sorority tank. The tank will not be set up until i have moved in and will be fully cycled before adding in the girls. The LFS is also VERY close to my house which is perfect as i know females can get very stressed in transport.
They will be housed with 1 peppered cory, 1 albino cory, 2 octoclintus and an assassin snail from my pervious tank to help maintain this one.
Please note I'm currently keep male's so i have knowledge as a whole, id just like to hear opinions that may help improve my fish keeping skills. I have also researched sorority's and plan to get 6 girls

Tank details.
35 Litre (Almost 10 Gallon) tank
Power hang on filter with 'waterfall' soft flow
heater fit the for tank size

I already have decorations such as rocks and driftwood (both mock and real) to go in the tank, some fake and i will be getting real plants when its set up~

What id like to know for this tank is~

- Specific medications i should have on hand (I am from the UK so a lot of products aren't available to me unless on amazon UK) I have basics as well as Melafix, fin rot treatments, safe start and betta conditioner~
- Specific plant types/amounts (that can withstand Corys!)
- How large of 'hiding' places to have and how many

Any other help/advice is welcomes thank you

 

[Flubberlump]

Lucky you moving so close to and LFS. I have to drive half an hour to get to mine.

Have you bought the tank yet? 35 litres is very small for the corys, both of which need to be in a shoal, ideally of their own species. Peppereds in particular are one of the biggest species. Do you already have the corys?Would a bigger tank be a viable option? If not, maybe the corys could stay in your current tank and there might be some others you could get for the new one that are more suitable. Someone else with more experience might be able to suggest some.

I've heard that melafix is bad for bettas because it interferes with their labyrinth organ. But I've read that myxazin it ok for bettas. I've no experience of treating bettas but I have used myxazin before with good results.

Plant wise, corys won't bother the plants. They don't eat them, the most they will do is uproot them when they're newly planted whilst snuffling around in the sand. Very cute, I love corys Floating plants are good for bettas though.

I have no experience of betta sororities, so know only what I've read; but from what I understand the more cover and plants the better.

Hope that helps.

 

[Ammolite]

Haha its hard to find good LPS in the UK so I count myself lucky there, but yours is a while away!

I already have the tank yes, i've had it for a while in 'storage' as it was a late birthday present~ One of the Corys, the pepper, I've had since i started my fish keeping hobby(almost at 9 months), the albino was a gift which i got almost 2 months ago now. Both live in my current 22 litre aquarium, which is why i wanted to upsize originally (I was recommended to get corys at the times of purchase when i first began and had no idea. The Albino was a gift so i couldn't argue there)
I do plan on getting a 70-90 Litre when i have the money to move them into so they can grow and live to their full potential~
I don't plan to get any more corys (unless advised) when i move them into the 35 litre, as it is still too small for a small group. (Although my current LFS would tell me to get like 5 )

Thank you for mentioning Melafix! I am currently doing a lot of research into the brand as it does indeed seem to be 'bad' for beta's so i will try looking up Myxazin so thank you

I've had problems in the past with plants and my corys, they actually used to eat them (Until i got anubis) which i found odd but overcame quickly~ (i used to keep cuttings of larger plants in my tanks which is what they ate funnily enough) So maybe it was due to them being so easy to uproot~ I do love my corys, they have amazing personalities the two~

Thank you for all the information though, i appreciate it ^^

 

[Flubberlump]

No problem you're welcome. I'm in the UK too and there aren't a great deal of good LFSs locally, I have to travel a bit to get to some but I don't mind.

I know exactly what you mean. We've all been there I think. When I got my first own tank it was a 25ltr talk tank. I was given terrible advice by the LFS. I had 1 albino cory, 1 peppered cory, 2 kuhli loaches, 2 otos, 2 rummynose tetras, 2 glass blood fin tetras, 3 platies and a betta. Can you believe that!? Looking back now it horrifies me. As soon as I got a bigger tank I increased the numbers of the shoaling fish. At least your corys will have more room, does the new tank have a bigger surface area?

This is the place to learn about fish keeping. It has been, and still is, the first place I go when I need advice. If you use the search tool you can search for betta sororities and I imagine you'll find a lot of information in the results.

 

[NickAu]

How large of 'hiding' places to have and how many

Lots, you need a heavily planted tank, with lots of tall plants that break up line of sight.

I wouldn't risk it in anything under a 20 long.

 

[Demeter32]

I feel that a ten is the minimum tank size for sororities, I keep 3 females in a planted ten. I also decided to start with 6 females, and unfortunate things happened (dropsy) and I ended up with 3.
If I were you I would get the tank set up and planted a while before getting the girls. Get lots of plants that break the line of sight. Cories really do appreciate a larger tank and more friends, and with the bettas, cories and otos, it will probably be a bit much for the filter to keep up.

When you get the girls, I would start out with five, that way if any are too mean you can take them back Hopefully you will end up with 3 (if you're lucky then 5) docile females. Remember to get girls of the same size, and introduce them at the same time.

 

[SnailPocalypse]

 

[NickAu]

I have 4 girls, I started with 3 and added a Plakat female.
Heres my sorority thread.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/my-new-sorority.443778/page-5

 

[SnailPocalypse]

Sorry I put this here to have a link of my picture for someone in chat