Starting a 29g Betta Tank

[Mashiro]

Hi guys, I may be coming into acquisition of a 29g aquarium+ all accessories for free. I was wondering how many female bettas I could keep in this one sorority. I was also wondering what my other stocking options were.

It will be a low-tech planted aquarium. How many female bettas, shrimp, snails, and other algae eaters can I fit in here?

I'm mainly looking for cleaner fish if it's not a female betta.

Also, what type of shrimp are best? Best type of snail? Maybe a mixture of snail species?

 

[Berylla]

For cleaner fish, Albino Bristlenose Pleco's are great and do not grow very big. You could fit two in this tank.

Shrimp - may not last in this tank since Bettas are meat eaters.

Snails - Nerites are the best (at least in my opinion). Great cleaners. Get a couple.

I don't have any experience with female bettas, so I'll let others chime in here.

Look forward to seeing photos of your tank soon!

 

[Mashiro]

I found a site called AqAdvisor.com and it's telling me I can have:

10x Female bettas
10x Amano shrimp
6x Albino Corys
3x Nerite snails
1x Blue Apple Snail

And the tank would only be 95% stocked. My question is, do all these species get along with each other?

 

[Mebbid]

While female bettas can be housed together.. It is usually a crap shoot. My room mate is attempting to breed bettas and her trying to find room for all of the females that wont kill each other has been a lot of trouble. Most of the time I find her females go at it just as gleefully as the males will although a few of the females tolerate some other females.. it's really strange. I've also watched her females gang up on a male betta. I'm not saying it can't be done, it will just take a lot of patience and you will need to be there to keep an eye on things for a while.

Other than that I don't see why any of those fish wouldn't be able to stay together.

Nerite snails seem to be about the best choice for aquarium snails since you wont encounter a population explosion with them. They also come in a number of different shell types which makes it look like a variety without bringing about issues from other types of snails. If you are going with a sand substrate it might be a good idea to get some Malaysian trumpet snails. Most people don't like them because they can be a pest species but they do a good job of loosening up your sand as well as eating extra food.

Amano shrimp are good, although they can be hard to see at times and won't breed like the other types of shrimp will. I prefer to use Cherry red shrimp, easy to keep, good cleaners, highly visible, and breed like crazy which is fun and will replace any shrimp losses you might encounter.

Also, I found that a 29g is a bit too small for 2 BN plecs. I tried to put 2 of them in my 29 and they just fought all the time.

Aqadvisor is a good start, using that my 29g was at 150% stocking capacity and everything stayed fairly healthy. I did have to do mandatory weekly 40% water changes to keep the nitrates under control tho. I would suggest that you use Aqadvisor as a starting point and then see where you want to go from there.

 

[ktomminello]

I have a history of doing the impossible with my community betta tanks (currently housing multiple male and females) in a 50g aggressive tank alongside gourami... I don't suggest this style tank to anybody who hasn't first mastered breeding and done some research into SE Asian biotopes and have successfully planted a growing biotope (my 2 non dueling males are brothers from the same bubble nest- definite rarity).

Here's a couple pointers to help your potential success rate from my personal experience of bringing betta into community tanks.
Java moss covered substrate with cavernous planted driftwood and plenty of broadleaf floating plants to rest on and hide in keeps them from feeling exposed and helps with stress.
A ratio that has worked for me successfully is 4 juvenile females to 1 equal size and temperament male in a tank of over 35g. In honesty, finding the youngest ones possible that are active but shy and same sized with an established well planted tank is almost a necessity...
Introduce your betta last- after making sure all your community fish are established.
1 large school (10 or more) of microschoolers and a school of 5 medium sized schoolers along with plenty of hiding places keep them from being able to fight.
Keep a close eye on how everyone is behaving, you can usually tell if something is wrong within a week.
good luck

 

[Mashiro]

I have a history of doing the impossible with my community betta tanks (currently housing multiple male and females) in a 50g aggressive tank alongside gourami... I don't suggest this style tank to anybody who hasn't first mastered breeding and done some research into SE Asian biotopes and have successfully planted a growing biotope (my 2 non dueling males are brothers from the same bubble nest- definite rarity).

Here's a couple pointers to help your potential success rate from my personal experience of bringing betta into community tanks.
Java moss covered substrate with cavernous planted driftwood and plenty of broadleaf floating plants to rest on and hide in keeps them from feeling exposed and helps with stress.
A ratio that has worked for me successfully is 4 juvenile females to 1 equal size and temperament male in a tank of over 35g. In honesty, finding the youngest ones possible that are active but shy and same sized with an established well planted tank is almost a necessity...
Introduce your betta last- after making sure all your community fish are established.
1 large school (10 or more) of microschoolers and a school of 5 medium sized schoolers along with plenty of hiding places keep them from being able to fight.
Keep a close eye on how everyone is behaving, you can usually tell if something is wrong within a week.
good luck

Thanks for all the advice!

But I definitely don't want to keep any males in this tank. Just female bettas.

What do you recommend for microschoolers?