Tetras! Cories! Bettas? Oh my!

[bluerose]

I have 3 Neon Tetras- they tend to school together... my Glolight Tetra schools with them from time to time but not all that often.

They all schooled together in the tank at the store (which is how I ended up with 3 neons and 1 glolight!)... do I need another glolight or will he be OK? He has one spot he tends to hang out in by himself...

Also one of my neons is taking on the same look as a pregnant guppy... should I be concerned? (This very well could be the greedy one who eats faster than everybody else and goes and has some algae wafer too.. haven't fed yet today and it looks a little more normal)


I have 2 Cory Cats as well. one is dark spotted and one is mostly silver- male/female? or is the silvery one too young to have spots yet? He/she is EXTREMELY active and zooms all over the tank- doesn't stick very close to the bottom unless he/she's looking for food.


And for my final question!... I have heard conflicting things about tetras and bettas- it's an 8gal tank and could really use a 'focal point' fish... the tetras tend to hang out together and the cories are generally in the plants or under the driftwood. If a betta would not work in this tank, what is another more extravagantly colored fish that would?

Thanks guys!

 

[newfound77951]

The glolight would probably appreciate some more friends, as would the neons. Given it's only an 8g tank, you might be better off returning the one lonely glolight to his friends at the LFS and getting a few more neons to up the school to 6 or so. I've noticed a difference in behavior with several different fish species once their numbers reach a certain threshold, all of a sudden they start behaving more naturally.

The cories are likely two different species. Often they are in mixed lots at the LFS. Different species of cories vary in how much time they like to spend at teh bottom vs. in the water column. They would also appreciate another friend or two.

I'm not sure about the betta. Personally I've never had much luck with bettas but I think that's just me. You could try a dwarf gourami as a centerpiece fish, I think one would do nicely in your tank and there are several species with different colors that you can choose from.

 

[saffikeagan]

please stay away from true Dwarf Gouramis unless you get them from a trusted breeder. There is a DG virus that is rampant in the LFS.

 

[bluerose]

I wasn't planning on a Dwarf Gourami... if anything I'll end up going to the LFS and asking his opinion.

Nobody has anything to say about a betta?...

 

[Alaris]

Tetras sometimes nip on bettas. I think your tank is too full already for a betta.

 

[bluerose]

You mentioned that before Alaris- thanks for reminding me though.

OK, so new idea: How many tetras could I have in an 8gal? I could add another cory, a few glolights and a couple of neons... maybe 6 total of each? Or would 12 be too many? Maybe 4 of each? 5?

My tank is just barely cycled and handling the bioload quite nicely- all my tests have come out 0-.25ppm ammonia, 0 nitrites, 5 nitrates for the past few days. I'm planning on adding more live plants as well.

I would also love a few RCS if I can figure out where to get them (I don't trust them getting shipped- I'm in a dorm and the package center is open very odd hours and I can't always make it when I get packages!). Perhaps the LFS can order a few.

 

[rachael.chesnutt]

With an 8 gallon tank you probably would be over doing it with 12 fish. I'm sure you've heard this before, but it's one inch of fish per gallon of water. When I first started out I WAY over stocked my tank (5 gallons - 8 fish. Yikes.) and they all either ended up dead of nipping each others fins because of lack of room and what not. I think Neon Tetras are bold and beautiful enough to be a focal point. Add a few more of those, and I agree about sending the Glolight back to his buddies at the LFS. 6 Neon Tetras and 2 Cory Cats would be a very good combination, and even that is pushing it stocking wise!

Good luck! =]

 

[rachael.chesnutt]

Oh! And my Betta did well in a 10 gallon with 5 Zebra Danios and 2 Otocinclus! But it really all depends... Betta's are just too temperamental to deal with in a community tank, in my opinion.