You might get away with ghost shrimp and a betta. Really depends on the temperament of the betta.
I'm guessing if I tried that I would want to add the shrimp first before adding the beta.
Yes I would. Ideally if you had the shrimp already and the betta as a baby there's a good chance the betta would become accustomed to the shrimp. It's just hard to tell with temperament until you try it.
It's already cycled, I added some precycled media, from my well established 20 gallon, and tested it and I have already gone straight to 20 nitrates everything is perfect, I just added the 3 espies for now to keep my beneficial bacteria growing. Also espei rasboras are fantastic for cycling a tank if you do a fish in cycle. I used them when I had no cycled media on my first tank, and they did great, and had no health problems, but I did also do water changes a couple times a week, but I still have all of them and that was last April.
That's a relief to hear, I recently just had 2 family members get tanks add water, add fish and wake up to them dead and they call me and are like what happened??
I lucked out because I researched before I started my first tank, and talked to a bunch of experienced fish tank owners, as well as my favorite lfs store, who set me up and was willing to test my water and also give me tips while waiting for my tank to cycle. Because of that I had a successful cycle and didn't lose any fish. Problem is if you do a fish in cycle there is only certain fish that can handle it. Espei Rasboras especially can handle anything, but then you get those who go to the store and get neon tetras, cories, or shrimp and don't realize that those guys have to go into a much more established tank.
When I started out I did a fish in cycle. Not on purpose but because of lack of knowledge. Not only that, I added 20 fish at once. When my water clouded up I was scrambling for info and doing water changes like crazy for nearly two weeks. Ended up with ich which I was able to cure the entire tank with no meds if you can believe that. Lol. End result was I overcrowded the tank. Through it all, all 6 of my neon tetras, all 4 of my red eyes tetras, 2 guppies, one pleco and a pictus cat made it. I had a new respect for these fish toughness.
You bring up a good point/idea. I triple the filtration on all my tanks. This does wonders for water quality.
Yes it does It also comes in handy to cycle a tank instantly. I have a 30 gallon filter and a 10 in my 20. I will most likely add a sponge filter to my 10 gallon eventually so I have a few extra filters ready to go. I also need to start cycling a 40 gallon filter, but not sure if it would be to much current for my gourami, although I think my cories would love it as, they seem to love current quite a bit. I also have to wait to rehome the rest of my endler fry.
