One more fish to add in with female betta & 7 pygmy catfish

[dragon14]

We have a 10g cycled tank with 1 female betta and 7 pygmy catfish. They are getting along fine so far

We don't see the catfish much, due to black sand/they're tiny/what have you. When we do see them, it's great! We wish we hadn't gone with black sand, but, it's already in there. We are planning to get a white background or some light colored background to stick onto the back of the tank, but we haven't gotten around to that yet. We think that should help us to be able to see the catfish a bit better.

She swims up front quite a bit, which is great.

We just want to be able to see more fish action in our tank lol and were wondering what other fish might work with the fish we already have. We would just want to add one more fish, maybe two?

The fish would temporarily go in our 5g tank to make sure she/he was healthy.

If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out, but, we are hoping we could get another to go in there if it's possible for them to all get along!

 

[lilme]

A platy or a another cory

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[dragon14]

The corys are lovely and we like them a lot, but, we can't see them most of the time, hence wanting a fish that is a bit bigger and we may see more often.

Do platy's like to be together though? I was also told they are messy fish.

 

[Fishobsessed7]

Platys like to be together though it is not a must.


Fishobsessed7

 

[dragon14]

Thanks I think I would get at least two if I got a platy, to be fair to the platy.

 

[PerfectDepth]

You could try ember tetras. I've never tried them with a betta but they might work just fine. They're small so you could get 5 of them. You might need to grow them out first so they don't fit in the betta's mouth.


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[azmodan]

OP is there any way you could upgrade your tank to like a 20g long? 10g tanks really can't hold much stock-wise and you're getting close to fully filling yours out, but with a 20L you'd have plenty of great options. Just a suggestion.

 

[jennandjuicetm]

What about a killifish?

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[dragon14]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

Killifish are neat! I'd never heard of them before. Or Ember Tetras.
Killifish could be alone, no other of their species? Any experience on them getting along with a betta? They look kinda big compared to the current fish in the tank

@asmodan, we originally were going to go with a 20g, but thought we were getting in over our heads plus it was bad timing so we returned it and about a month later got the 10g kit. Sometime we might upgrade to a 20g, but we want to stick with the 10g for now. Thanks for the suggestion/question though! Right now we use an old tv stand for the tank. We are pretty certain it could handle a 20g, but, that is the only thing we have to put a tank on/the only space to put a tank on.

If we did do that in the future, how do you transfer everything... (water, fish, substrate, etc) without stressing out the fishes and yourself lol!

 

[dragon14]

Unfortunately we lost a pygmy catfish last night

1 female betta & 6 pygmy catfish are in the 10g tank presently. Again, the 5g we have would serve as a temporary home while we make sure any new comers are healthy.

Does anyone think that it would be ok to add at least two more fish to the tank? We'd like something at least an inch in size.

The suggestions we had gotten earlier were killifish, platy, and ember tetras.

Tetras are awesome, but we want some bigger fish since we already have tiny catfish.

Would a killifish get along with a betta? We have a female, but, she is still a betta and it seems like some killifish have longer fins. Also I am not sure if our lfs HAS any of these fish, I'll have to look next time we are there. Or I could always call...

Would 2 or even 3 platys be ok if we went with platys? I don't want to overstock, and some people on this forum have told me they are messy fish, but, I don't want a fish to be lonely either so I would want at least two. We change the water about 50% every 7-9 days, and fast the fish once a week.

Thanks again everyone

 

[Fishobsessed7]

I would just leave it as is


Fishobsessed7

 

[Haileyjade]

Have you thought about inverts? Cherry shrimp are fun to watch and add a pop of color against dark substrate. And since they have such a low bioload, you can get away with having quite a few. Mine live with my betta...he does hunt them but the adults are quick enough to get away and the babies hang out in the floating plants as Java moss, which he's too lazy to tango with.


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[RackinRocky]

Depends on your betta's temperament too. And a 10 gallon is not very big, for a fish to escape should the betta decide to harass it. I'd be careful. I keep my female bettas in a 55, and occasionally one will chase another for a few inches, but in a 10 gallon, the other fish would stay in the betta's sight most of the time, which could lead to aggression.

 

[dragon14]

Awh poo. The catfish are so tiny and shes small too. It really looks like two more fish 1" in size or so could comfortably fit in there. I guess not though . She may chase but she's pretty mellow and basically ignores the catfish. She nipped at one once but that's because she didn't like him hiding under a plant lol. She's fine now.

 

[dragon14]

Have you thought about inverts? Cherry shrimp are fun to watch and add a pop of color against dark substrate. And since they have such a low bioload, you can get away with having quite a few. Mine live with my betta...he does hunt them but the adults are quick enough to get away and the babies hang out in the floating plants as Java moss, which he's too lazy to tango with.


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I have thought about it! I don't want a lot of babies though. Do they breed a lot/rapidly?

I might consider that option. Thank you .

 

[EthanBeltramo]

A betta


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[Haileyjade]

About Betta would not be a good idea. Sororities consist of 5-6 females, and I would not recommend that in a 10 gallon.

As for the shrimp, given good conditions they will breed. But you Betta should help control the population and would enjoy the extra protein. I quickly found my shrimp to be one of my favorite additions.


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[dragon14]

I've never had shrimp and know nothing about them. I will do some research, but you think Cherry Shrimp would be good? Could you give me a rundown of the basics?

 

[dragon14]

A betta


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Thanks for the idea but we already have a female betta in there. I think 1 is enough Plus she could fight with another one, I think we'd have to get 3 more females for that to work and we already have the 6 catfish. So we'd have to get a better tank. And if they didn't get along, we'd have to have separate tanks which unfortunately we don't have room for.

 

[EthanBeltramo]

Thanks for the idea but we already have a female betta in there. I think 1 is enough Plus she could fight with another one, I think we'd have to get 3 more females for that to work and we already have the 6 catfish. So we'd have to get a better tank. And if they didn't get along, we'd have to have separate tanks which unfortunately we don't have room for.

Oh, sorry. I didn't realize that there was already a betta in there


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