Planning on building a female sorority + Neons/Glofish.

[Mashimon]

Hey, so this is my first post.

I currently have a 30 gallon tank cycling, getting ready to put some fish in. I'm waiting for my heater before I start stocking it. I'm currently using an old bacteria sponge, and have added bacteria, so I'm not too concerned about that.

I've already done a large bit a research on how to set up the female sorority, but my question regards the order of stocking. I currently have 5 neons in a 5g tank with a male betta. Those will be moved to my 30g when it's prepared. Should I add the neons/glofish first, or the female betta? My concern is that if I add the females first, they may become too territorial for the neons/glofish. I have plenty of plant/hiding cover, so I'm not so worried about that. Is this something I should be concerned about? Could I add everything at once? Should I do tetras before betta? Betta before tettra? Because it's a new tank, should I test it out with my current 5 neons before trying to buy other fish? Any advice would be appreciated.

[Bombalurina]

I would add the neons and glofish first, simply because the neons need to get out of the cramped space of a 5 gal pronto. However, I would suggest rethinking glofish. Although they are hardy and can cope with the warmer temperatures that bettas prefer, they are actually subtropical fish and prefer to be kept around 72, which is too cold for bettas. If you want to add more colour, why not look at some other tetra species, such as glolights? :)

Once the neons have been in about a week, then add your females (after you've quarantined them) all at once, so no one has a chance to claim territory. If they are going to bother anyone, it will be each other, not little neons. :)

[Saphira101]

Originally Posted by Bombalurina

I would add the neons and glofish first, simply because the neons need to get out of the cramped space of a 5 gal pronto. However, I would suggest rethinking glofish. Although they are hardy and can cope with the warmer temperatures that bettas prefer, they are actually subtropical fish and prefer to be kept around 72, which is too cold for bettas. If you want to add more colour, why not look at some other tetra species, such as glolights? :)

Once the neons have been in about a week, then add your females (after you've quarantined them) all at once, so no one has a chance to claim territory. If they are going to bother anyone, it will be each other, not little neons. :)

+1

[Mashimon]

Hey, thanks for the advice. I'll definitely reconsider the glofish.

Just another question, I've read a lot about odd numbers of female betta being key, but if I'm above 3, does it really matter? My original thought was 7, but I'm considering going down to 5. If I were to do 6, would that make a serious problem for them in building a hierarchy?

[Bombalurina]

I wish I knew where the idea of odd numbers being key came from. To the best of my knowledge it is total nonsense. My sorority has had every number between 7 and 1 as bettas died off over time, and most of the time I had six. I never noticed any difference based on odd or even numbers, mostly because fish can't actually count. :)

[Shadyr]

I've read GloFish come from nippy stock (Danios, it looks like) and might not be good friends for bettas. YMMV of course, and I don't have any personal experience with them other than admiring their striking colors at the store.

Tetras seem to work out well. I have 11 girls in my sorority, and 11 tetras (neons and glowlines) in with them. The girls steal the micro pellets I feed the tetras, and the biggest of the tetras boldly steal betta pellets if the girls aren't fast enough.