Stocking 20G

[Aquaman187]

I have a nice community going so far and i would like to introduce some more people to the society, i currently have 3 red cherry shrimp. 3 neon tetra and one male crown tail betta. i would love to add something nice and colorful. i have some anubis and cryptos in there as plants as well

 

[Mowbz]

How big is the tank, and what filtration do you have? This will give us an idea of what to suggest, as everything is dependant on your set up.

And very importantly, how long has the tank been set up?

Peronally, i wouldnt house a Betta with tetra. Fast moving fish have a tendancy to "freak out" Betta's.

Your neons in the wild group in their 1000's, and three really isnt enough im afraid. You'll notice a big change in their behaviour if you were to increase to about 12.(Dependant on tank size being big enough..) They'll group up and feel safer, as they arent constantly thinking their 1000's of friends have been eaten by something... !

If you plan to keep the betta, i would up the shrimp numbers to get them really breeding, as the Betta may pick a few off (its been known), especially the baby shrimp. (Although, pretty much anything will eat your baby shrimp if it'll fit in their mouth.)

 

[the_lock_man]

Certainly upping the neons is the best idea, but to how many depends on you - the bigger the shoal, the more impressive the display, but you may want a bit more variety instead.

You could try platies if you've got reasonably hard water, or 6 small cories (pandas, maybe) or a shoal of harlequin rasboras, or lambchop rasboras.

Why don't you take a look around your local fish shops, see what grabs you, and post the names on here, and people will be happy to advise you in more detail.

(20G tank, Mowbz!)

 

[Mowbz]

Woop, 20g tank gives you quite a choice of options!

As T_L_M says, you could have Corys on the bottom, and a shoaler for the top, and perhaps a pair of something as a centerpeice.

How about;

6-8 Corys (Panda's are lovely, i have 10, but they a real pain, you have to be VERY attentive to maintenance, very fussy, prone to everything it seems. You need to keep a very clean tank floor to stop them getting mouth fungus.

10-15 Tetra

And a centrepeice. Was going to suggest a pair of honey grourami or somthing of the similar, but they would seriously upset the Betta. (Betta's take a severe disliking to "conspecifics" or, "fish that look like them". Gourami's and Bettas dont seem to get on well for the most part, but some have reported sucesses.)

As above, opersonally i would re-house the Betta. If you can find a cheap second hand small tank (like fluval Chi, or something similar) this would be ideal and would free up a lot of other options for the tank)


EDIT: Be careful also if you do decide to go with something similar to the above as lots of fish often picked as "centrepeice" fish will eat Shrimp....

 

[Aquaman187]

So for now im going to stock up on more plants, and i will addvup to about 10 neons and a few more shrimp to get the breeding going so i will still have something if the betta murders a few.

 

[Aquaman187]

Could i do two bettas as a center peice

 

[Aquaman187]

Stocked 3 albino corys 7 neon tetras 1 crown tail betta. 3 red cherry shrimp any suggestions ?

 

[Cossie1111]

How bout another 3 corys and 7 more neons?

 

[Aquaman187]

Would that be a over stock.

 

[Mowbz]

No, Cossie is tight, you could get that in there. And you need to really.

There is a reason for suggesting the numbers i did. Corys dont do well in small numbers, for the same reasons that Tetra's dont. Constant fear of predation.

 

[Aquaman187]

So totals 6 corys , 14 tetras, 3 shrimp 1 betta i have a 20 g tank with a 30 - 50 g filter.

 

[Mowbz]

That would be fine in terms of stocking, but still not sure if the Betta is going to chase the Neons about. Theyll be a lot more active with increased numbers and as above, its scats out Betta's if they constantly have smaller fish bombing around the tank!

 

[Tizer]

a 30-50g filter ? what sort? if its making a lot of flow/movement in the tank, your Betta might not like it very much, especially if there is no place to rest.

 

[the_lock_man]

Could i do two bettas as a center peice

Erm, no, they would attack each other.