Tank Stocking Opinions?

[plebian]

uhhh correct me if i’m wrong but isn’t a 5g a minimum for a betta? do you expect a 20 gallon..?

Given the objects/plants you want, yes, a 20 gallon would be very much appreciated by your Betta.

Read my signature.

First of all, a minimum is just that. It's not optimal. People are tribal. They like to go with the crowd. Most people are simply ignorant and simply repeat what others have told them. That's a statistical reality, demonstrated quite clearly by the Internet and social media.

I know fish sellers that keep Bettas in one liter jars. Just because those fish can survive doesn't mean it's a good life. How would you like to be kept in an 8'x8' cell? As long as someone provides food and water, you'll survive. Is that you're idea of a good life?

 

[Innesfan]

Betta temperament , IMO, is highly individual from betta to betta and situation to situation. Some can be intolerant while others seem to ignore tankmates. I had a female that would kill anything I put in her 15 gallon. I'd be concerned about a betta with any of those species especially in 10 gallons and would not do any of those pairings in that setup..

 

[Sussy]

Given the objects/plants you want, yes, a 20 gallon would be very much appreciated by your Betta.

Read my signature.

First of all, a minimum is just that. It's not optimal. People are tribal. They like to go with the crowd. Most people are simply ignorant and simply repeat what others have told them. That's a statistical reality, demonstrated quite clearly by the Internet and social media.

I know fish sellers that keep Bettas in one liter jars. Just because those fish can survive doesn't mean it's a good life. How would you like to be kept in an 8'x8' cell? As long as someone provides food and water, you'll survive. Is that you're idea of a good life?

you’re acting like im keeping it in a jar sir. a 10 gallon is plenty for a betta. also its your not you’re

 

[Whitecloudminnowguy09]

uhhh correct me if i’m wrong but isn’t a 5g a minimum for a betta? do you expect a 20 gallon..?

Idk who would think a 10g is not large enough for a betta. I mean, who knows how many experience fishkeeping pros have kept them before in a 5 or 10, and thought it was fine. A 10g is a little more than enough. I have kept two happy halfmoons in a 5g before. (Not at the same time ofc that would be stupid).

So yeah I 10g for one betta is ok.

Tribal is way to strong. That is not correct. But I will not begin this argument due to knowing that most of the time, a preference-based argument for fish goes nowhere, I am a mod on multiple forums and have seen it for myself.
@plebian , you just contradicted yourself by saying that this is a statistical reality clearly demonstrated by social media and the internet? If misinformation is on both, why do you think statistical stats and reality come from social media and the internet too? Why would you trust stats from social media?

It's not optimal. People are tribal. They like to go with the crowd.

The crowd being the internet of course, unless the crowd is hundreds of local fishkeepers.

I think I am getting ahead of myself and possibly overreacting a bit, but that is a over the top non non-helpful comment to @Sussy's Q.

 

[anewbie]

Idk who would think a 10g is not large enough for a betta. I mean, who knows how many experience fishkeeping pros have kept them before in a 5 or 10, and thought it was fine. A 10g is a little more than enough. I have kept two happy halfmoons in a 5g before. (Not at the same time ofc that would be stupid).

So yeah I 10g for one betta is ok.

Tribal is way to strong. That is not correct. But I will not begin this argument due to knowing that most of the time, a preference-based argument for fish goes nowhere, I am a mod on multiple forums and have seen it for myself.

Some people think a cup is large enough others think a 200 is large enough - i think the betta just wants to be fed.

Larger is always better but not very many people on this forum has the space or money for a 600. Personally i think every fish should get a 1000 gallon tank but dang i just can't lift the bloody thing.

A 10 is definitely not excessively large but it is larger than most people keep a betta - just make sure you give it soft warm clean water and a hug every morning.

 

[Whitecloudminnowguy09]

Some people think a cup is large enough others think a 200 is large enough - i think the betta just wants to be fed.

Larger is always better but not very many people on this forum has the space or money for a 600. Personally i think every fish should get a 1000 gallon tank but dang i just can't lift the bloody thing.

A 10 is definitely not excessively large but it is larger than most people keep a betta - just make sure you give it soft warm clean water and a hug every morning.

Well said. I think your are 100% correct. I want 500 1000 gallon tanks, but that is some cash lol. Impossible ofc. So we settle for suitable tanks that keep the bettas nice and healthy and happy. Not saying a jar is, but a 10g is fine.

 

[fishorama]

OK, back to betta tankmates in a 10g. Given my serpae tetra experiences & trying to get over them, I think of all the fish mentioned, I'd try 7 or 8 embers. The 1s I see in shops are pretty tiny. Bite size? Will you get them or the betta first?

I would skip cherry barbs. Too big for a 10g & although I kept them happily several times over the years, last time they were very aggressive to each other & other fish. Hormoned? Maybe, the males stayed very red all the time.

CPDs, meh, mine were shy, no betta involved. I think they were almost the largest fish in a 20 long, a disappointment. Skip them.

Like Innesfan & others said, it will depend on your betta's personality. Some are mellow, some good hunters, But you'll have lots of hiding places & decor to break up the sight lines.

Good luck! & we're going to need pics of whatever you decide. I don't want more tanks, but I can vicariously enjoy others

 

[anewbie]

Just fyi: I have 30 serpae in the 600 and another 35 in the 180 and before that i had 20 in a 120 and they never nipped anything - certainily not the angelfishes or keyholes and of course in the 600 they know to stay away from the chocolates unless they want to become cherry-chocolate.

 

[fishorama]

@anewbie, you & your big tanks, lol. Of course! you have different tank dynamics than most of us "regular" folk. That doesn't change my opinion of serpae tetras. Of course that's mostly with fewer in much smaller tanks. Do you keep them with your discus? I'm betting not but I never know what'll you might do & be successful at it!

 

[anewbie]

@anewbie, you & your big tanks, lol. Of course! you have different tank dynamics than most of us "regular" folk. That doesn't change my opinion of serpae tetras. Of course that's mostly with fewer in much smaller tanks. Do you keep them with your discus? I'm betting not but I never know what'll you might do & be successful at it!

Not temperature compatible with discus.

 

[Essjay]

To give an example to Innesfan's comment about temperament, I've had several bettas, one at a time, over the years and tried some of them with cherry shrimp.
The first one ignored the shrimps, both adults and babies, and the shrimp population increased. I moved some floating plants from my main tank and the plants obviously had rice fish eggs on them as I later found some fry in the betta's tank which he ignored and they stayed with him till they were big enough to go into the main tank.
The second betta ignored adult shrimps but as the shrimp population never increased he presumably ate the baby shrimps.
The third was OK with the shrimps for a few days, then I got up to find bits of shrimp all over the tank. I promptly removed the survivors and put them back in the main tank.
The issue is that you can't know what a betta's temperament is like in the shop. You only find out once he's settled in. The only creature that all my bettas were OK with was a nerite snail. And even then one of them flared at the snail when it was on the tank walls - presumably he perceived it as swimming in his territory.


Having kept bettas myself, in a 10 gallon tank I would keep just a betta and a single nerite. Or forget the betta and get a shoal (10+) of one of the small species already suggested.
Don't forget that the "spider wood, mopani wood, rocks" you intend for the tank will displace a lot of the water, possibly leaving as little as 5 gallons.

 

[GaryE]

All Bettas are not nearly the same. I wouldn't keep wild caught, unmessed with Bettas (very rare fish) in less than a 20. Mine were quick, active fish. But if the fish is handicapped by overgrown breeder selected fins, it can thrive in a tiny tank. It may not be capable of living in a better set up, due to the exhausting drag of the unnatural finnage.
A plakat would need more space. Fin size matters a lot.

As usual, we can get all holy if we are thinking about different fish and don't define our terms. If I'm picturing a wild Betta and you're picturing a thing with fins twice the size of its body, we aren't in the same book, let alone on the same page.

 

[Innesfan]

Having kept bettas myself, in a 10 gallon tank I would keep just a betta and a single nerite. Or forget the betta and get a shoal (10+) of one of the small species already suggested.

Precisely.

 

[anewbie]

So i did a search on what fishes are found with betta in nature and came up with:
croaking gouramis
emerald rasbora
dwarf tiger barbs
guppies
(this can't be right - tiny plecos in asia?)
and snails.
-
Of course in nature they don't live in a 10 so i guess there is that data point to consider.

One of these days i will have to obtain a pair of wild bettas put them in a 65 and see what happens. However i suspect it will not be anytime this or next decade.

 

[Innesfan]

A gentle reminder:

Betta, the fish, is spelled with double t. Beta is the second letter of the Greek alphabet.

There is no such word as 'frys' in the English language. The plural of fry is...fry. You have one fry, you have 100 fry.