Should I Add Cories?

[ellena]

I have a betta in a 27l ish aqua 40 tank. There are issues with either tail biting or fin rot. Either way, his tail is in tatters. I would like to add something to the tank as interest for him and thought a few pygmy cories. Would you add them now while I'm still not sure what's with his tail? In case it is finrot, are cories suceptible to that?
I'd love to add something for my other betta too, but his tank is a 21l tall hex, so not the floor space for cories. Shrimp would be ideal, but I've used copper meds in the tank in the past. You can buy a copper test kit and copper removing stuff, but both are expensive.
I've had snails but the poo they produced was unbelievable so I don't want them again. I can't think of anything else?

 

[Shred]

I put a couple of cherry shrimp in with my betta a couple of weeks ago, they do wonders to keep him amused but are far too fast for him to do any damage to. How long ago did you use copper meds?

 

[ellena]

In the 27l it was recently, a few weeks ago. In the other tank, it was early november when I first got the bettas. I know copper lingers though and I wouldn't want to risk shrimp without knowing it was safe.

 

[stoneagedinosaur]

I have apple snails and they actually seem to be eating my BN pleco poo! Not sure how quick betta are - but my 2 angels polished off 6 cherry shrimps in a couple of days as they do kind of look like crunchy bloodworms!

 

[Harlequins]

I wouldn't personally add fish at the moment until you sort out whether its finrot or tail biting.

 

[Shred]

Not sure how quick betta are - but my 2 angels polished off 6 cherry shrimps in a couple of days as they do kind of look like crunchy bloodworms!

Actually you are right, it really depends on how fast the betta is, obviously if its got short fins then the cherry shrimp will be gone in no time.

 

[Curiosity101]

So long as you provide the cherries with sufficient hiding space, or go for a larger species like amanos then there should be no problem. Shrimp are fast, and so long as they have somewhere to go that the fish can't get at them then they'll be fine. Often they stop chasing them pretty soon anyways cause they quickly learn it's not worth the effort.

But I definitely agree with harlequins. Until you work out what's wrong with the betta then I would stick to using plants and decorations as stimulation/distraction.

 

[OldMan47]

If you have a tail biting problem, one of the best "cures" is to distract him with activity in his tank. I love my cories but they do not interact with much besides other cories. Something that has worked for me is keeping my Betta splendens in an endler tank. In a small tank like that, you couldn't afford to have any female endlers but a small number of males would make good tank mates for a bored betta.

 

[ellena]

Hmmm, I have 8 male endlers anyway..... Another health problem in that tank too though, so not something I could do straight away.

 

[ellena]

Hey, what about ADFs? Are they sensitive to copper?