Betta agression...how to rework tanks..

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

SnailorJ

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Nov 9, 2013
Messages
161
Location
Texas
Hi all,

So I currently have 2 tanks, both heavily planted and with driftwood. One is a 10 gal and one is a 20 gal high. I have a betta in my 10 gal who was my original fish long ago. I got some neon tetras that he was with for a while, but he became stressed so I moved him to the 10 gal by himself (with 2 nerite snails) and he was very happy. However, I would prefer some activity in the tank so I decided to get 5 habrosus cory cats to add in, thinking he wouldn't mind them since he was never bothered by my kuhli loaches previously. However, he immediately started chasing the poor things and they had a hard time getting away, so I have the tank divided at the moment.

In my other tank (20 gal) I have 12 neon tetras, 4 kuhli loaches, and today I added a pair of german rams. The rams are just hanging out in a corner for now.

It seems like I should just return the cory cats and keep my betta as king of his tank. Maybe I'll add some ADF but they don't add much activity either. However, I love these little cories! They're adorable! I'd love to move them to my 20 gallon and move my loaches to the 10 gallon (I'm eventually getting a few more so they have a group of 6). They are not super active during the day, and I've seen them swim all around the 10 gallon at night (more active there than the 20 gal), but I know everyone says they need at least a 20 gallon. So, I'm a little unsure on what to do. Does anyone have opinions/suggestions?

Here are pics of the tanks right now. You can see the rams hiding the the back left corner of the 20 gal but you can't see the cories in the 10 gal!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0138.jpg
    IMG_0138.jpg
    256.5 KB · Views: 73
  • IMG_0139.jpg
    IMG_0139.jpg
    257.5 KB · Views: 72
Couldn't you just move the corys into the 20g? I find lots of plants go a long way readjusting bioloads. You should get your betta a 3 and use the 10 for something else since he cant have tankmates.
 
Well aqadvisor put my stocking level at over 100% when I tried adding in the cories, and said some aggression may develop. That was my initial thought though! I would move the betta to a smaller tank, but I really don't want to have more than the 2 tanks I do right now, so the 10 gallon is his domain. Does anyone have any strong thoughts on the addition of the cories to the 20 gal?
 
Back
Top Bottom