New Frshwater Setup

[Cincotta82]

My girlfriend and I are going to start up my old 10 gal freshwater aquarium over december break and was wondering what would be compatible with her betta (which is in a small bowl right now). We wanted to use natural sand and have a planted tank and was also wondering what the cleaning requirements of a sand substrate would be, is it more difficult, what techinique should we use? We wanted to put in some neon tetras to compliment the blue betta, will they compatible, and if so what other fish do you guys think will be good for the tank (i.e. bottom dwellers, social fish...etc) Thanks for the help!

 

[SnyperP]

I was never a fan of using tetras with bettas. Even though alot of people said they were okay together, my betta was always stressed to be around them. He was always showing his stress lines and paler in color. I left the tetras in there for awhile to try to allow him to adjust. He never really did so i took them out and my betta showed much improvement after that. It's up to you. Give it a go and see how it goes. Bottom dwellers never hurt, but i'm not sure how cories and plecos would do with a sand substrate.

 

[Cincotta82]

Thanks Snyper, what type of substrate would you suggest which would be compatible with both live plants and plecos or ghost shrimp (any bottom dweller)?

 

[Billsgate]

I've heard, not sure it's true, that darker (maybe black) substrate stresses the fish less. I think flourite is dark substrate, if i remember correctly, and it's good for your plants.
Flourite.



HTH

 

[FawnN]

Tetras and danios, IMO are a little to fast for a betta. My betta got stressed from all the chasing and movement from my danios.

I personally would put some African Dwarf Frogs and maybe later add a dwarf pleco (pitbull) to control the algae with your Betta.

 

[Cincotta82]

Thanks for the advice guys, maybe it'd be better just to leave the betta in his bowl. I like th look of those Blue Rams, and their bio says they're fairly peacful but difficult to maintain..are they just not hardy or what???

 

[FawnN]

From my personal experience and understanding of Rams is:

German Blue Rams are generally tank raised, like harder more acidic water conditions and like temps more on the lines of 80-82. These are usually more expensive too. I currently have 5 in my 45 gallon and I paid 12.99 for each of them.

Bolivian Rams (Blue Rams) are generally caught in the wild and and are very sensitive to pH changes. Are easier to find, are bigger then German Blues, and less expensive $8.99.

 

[smallfry]

Don't leave the betta in the bowl....he will be MUCH happier in the 10g.

 

[poppab02]

Otos are great tankmates for bettas. Neons and Danios aren't great tankmates but some of the less active tetras can be good tankmates for bettas and white clouds also generally do well with bettas. I have otos in my 5 g with my betta and they are great algae eaters.

 

[poppab02]

Rams are not very hardy fish. If your water isn't pretty well suited for Rams then you are going to have a hard time with them. I've never really had much luck with them since my water is much better suited for african cichlids than rams. Other people on this site have had much better luck than me, but personally I can't recommend them since I've had bad experiences with trying to raise them.

 

[lyquidphyre]

Like someone already said, dont leave the betta in the bowl- he would much rather be in the 10gal, trust me =o)


If you want to get MTS rather quickly you could buy a 5gal tank for your betta and then stock the 10gal or buy a 20gal =o)


Oh and welcome to aquarium advice!

 

[Cincotta82]

Well this leaves me with some choices to make, I appreciate all the help