tank size suggestion

[dudeofrude]

Bbs are brackish but they can tolerate freshwater aswell. I appreciate both of your opinions in regards to the betta and gouramis but as i said mine are spot on and have been for the last year. Exceptions that prove the rule lol

 

[KittyKat]

I know everybody said the gouramis and betta are not good together but they are living proof that totally depends on the individual fish. They co exist in there beautifully and have never so much as chased, let alone hassled one another

I was actually more pointing out that Bettas are gouramis. Whether it works or not really does depend on individual fish and species, and mixing gouramis has worked for me too before. (For example, I think sparkling gouramis should always work with a group of Betta simplex if the sparkles are in a school and the simplex are in a pair or more.) I just would not recommend mixing common (which are on average aggressive) gouramis in smaller tanks. If your current fish work for you, that's great, but the chances of three common species of Luciocephalinae gouramis mixing in a tank that size are relatively low.

Bbs are brackish but they can tolerate freshwater aswell.

As far as I know, only in the short term and their health would deteriorate in the long term because it is taxing to keep up osmoregulation at lower salinity levels (or softer water).

I appreciate both of your opinions in regards to the betta and gouramis but as i said mine are spot on and have been for the last year.

It is possible for stocking that works for years to suddenly not work. I have seen this happen in one of my own tanks (after 6 years of peaceful cohabitation), so I do recommend that you do watch them carefully on a daily basis (which I would recommend to everyone anyway, regardless of the stocking).

 

[siva]

Bbs are brackish but they can tolerate freshwater aswell. I appreciate both of your opinions in regards to the betta and gouramis but as i said mine are spot on and have been for the last year. Exceptions that prove the rule lol

That's awesome. I have had some success with this mix as well. But I believe, if we back-track a bit, you were asking about adding more gouramis..and I think it wouldn't be advisable to add any additional labyrinth fish to the tank. If you have 4 DG's and a betta living together peacefully, I wouldn't tempt fate by throwing in more gouramis.

 

[dudeofrude]

That's awesome. I have had some success with this mix as well. But I believe, if we back-track a bit, you were asking about adding more gouramis..and I think it wouldn't be advisable to add any additional labyrinth fish to the tank. If you have 4 DG's and a betta living together peacefully, I wouldn't tempt fate by throwing in more gouramis.

Yeah but I'm planning on putting the betta in its own smaller tank lol The original question was about what size to get it so i could house it along with 13 tetras. I've actually got hold of a 30l fir nothing so problem solved. Just got to set it up and cycle it now

 

[dudeofrude]

I've got my 8g up and running now. Just thinking of some bottom dwelling tank mates for my betta. A lot of people have suggested pygmy corys which are cool. Anything else that would be good? Also would the nurse fish (outta them gross feet eating spa's) be any good??

 

[KittyKat]

Shrimp are probably best option. I would recommend any of the 6 dwarf species of Cory for tanks which have a bottom area of 60*30 cm because they are active fish, I think yours is probably smaller?

Garra rufa grow to around 15 cm / 6 inches.

 

[dudeofrude]

Yeah mine is 40*20cm. I've heard there can be issues with shrimp though and bettas though? Is there not maybe a larger bottom dweller that i could just have 1 of maybe?

 

[KittyKat]

It depends on the individual Betta, how planted the tank is, etc. There are plenty which are kept with shrimp without any problems and there are some which consider small ones dinner. Something as large as Amano shrimp should be fine with any Betta bar the worst tempered, while cherry shrimp are a bit hit and miss. Out of the other critters, there are also nerite snails, but I recommend against apple snails (if an apple dies, it can release enough ammonia to kill everything else in a tank that size).

The only bottom dwellers I can think off of the top of my head which are fine in 1s are plecos, but I think that the plecos should ideally be kept in a group and the smallest one I know of (Parotocinclus jumbo) would do well as a 1m 2f configuration in a 60*30 cm tank. If I really had to choose a true bottom dwelling fish for your tank, this would be it.

What about something like a goby? There are a few species which are quite small and they generally don't do much more than sit around, so are pretty well suited for smaller tanks.

 

[dudeofrude]

Yeah I'm open to anything except the snails really. Its just so its not too empty in there

 

[absolutangel04]

I agree that shrimp are rather hit or miss with bettas. You can always test it out with a few ghost shrimp (since they are much cheaper than rcs or similar dwarf shrimp). Nerite snails are a good choice because they do not come far out of the shells like apple snails do so the betta can't really damage them at all (even though you said you don't want a snail).

 

[siva]

The only bottom dwellers I can think of for a tank of that size are hara jerdoni. If the tank was planted and had a sandy substrate, I would say it would make a find home for a few hara's, but I just don't think they can really work with a betta. Bettas need the water quite warm, where as the hara's prefer cooler water. I'd also probably be worried for their safety with a betta..since they are so small and delicate.

Corydoras hastatus would probably also work in a tank with those dimensions, and should be able to tolerate the temp the betta needs, but they would most likely always be in hiding with a fish as large as a betta around. They also aren't exactly bottom dwellers...they do rest on the bottom but they shoal mid-tank.

I agree that ghost shrimp would be the way to go if you want to test things out with a shrimp. I've tried shrimp with many male bettas and IME it almost never works, and the smaller the tank, the less likely the shrimp will survive for long.

 

[dudeofrude]

Thanks for the replies guys really helpful so forget bottom dwellers, are they any other fish i could put in there with him just to fill it out slightly? Maybe something like cherry barbs??

 

[KittyKat]

Cherries are too large, too active. Maybe Danio margaritatus (galaxy danios/rasboras/whatever)? They'd need to be in a group of at least 10, I would say, but they're small so the bio-load would still be quite low. If your water is moderately hard, then Micropoecilia branneri might be a possible alternative, if you only want a couple of small fish. Male endlers are another good alternative for neutral to harder water.

How is the temper of the Betta? All three of the above would only be compatible with a non-psycho fish.

 

[dudeofrude]

The betta is fine, he's spent the past year in a tank with (at any one point) guppies, neon tetras, glow light tetras, lemon tetras, corys, plecs, mollys, swordfish, bumblebee gobys, dwarf gouramis, pufferfish, kuhli loach, Chinese algae eaters and silver dollars. Never had any problems with him. The closest thing to aggression I've seen from him is when I've added new fish he's flared his gills up at them on the first few encounters but that's all?

 

[absolutangel04]

Have you ever kept danio margaritatus in a tank with a temp high enough for a happy betta? Personally I was told to avoid them wiht bettas because they prefer cooler water. but I have not actually owned them so I couldn't say for sure.
I agree that cherries are definitely too large.
A couple of Endler's could maybe work since they do not have the long flowing fins that fancy guppies have and IME, they tend to use the vertical space in the tank as well as the horziontal space.

 

[siva]

I agree, Enlders would be a great choice because they thrive at the same temp as bettas. Ember tetras or microrasboras would work as well.

 

[dudeofrude]

I think we have a winner!! If they all look something like this anyway? How many of them would be good to have in there?

 

[KittyKat]

Have you ever kept danio margaritatus in a tank with a temp high enough for a happy betta? Personally I was told to avoid them wiht bettas because they prefer cooler water. but I have not actually owned them so I couldn't say for sure.

I currently keep D. margaritatus at 20 C, and the breeder I bought them from said that 20-22 C is ideal (the water temperature in their natural habitat varies between 16 and 30 C), and I have also kept Bettas at 22 C in the long term where they lived to 3-4 years and occasionally to 5 and did not have any health problems, over the norm, that I could see. In my experience, the fish should be compatible temperature wise at 22-23 C.

 

[KittyKat]

I think we have a winner!! If they all look something like this anyway? How many of them would be good to have in there?

There are various different colour morphs, pick whichever you like and go for males only… I recommend 5-6, although anywhere from 3 should be fine. If keeping 2, one can sometimes pick on the other and they're social fish, so I consider 1 to be a poor choice.

 

[dudeofrude]

5-6 sounds great thanks all your help, especially you kittykat, been beyond helpful