Betta Tank Recommendations?

[rswfire]

Originally Posted by ollief9

For a 10 gallon tank, you could up to 6 more fish with your Betta. I would recommend Platies; they're hardy, colourful, and go well with Bettas.

I was just reading the profile on the Platy and it says that they don't like temperatures above 78. Right now, Gizmo's tank is at 84. Otherwise, I think I would have gotten them! I could probably lower Gizmo's tank a little, and I might anyway, but not below 80. I feel guilty for keeping him cold for so long, lol...

[Seka]

If you lower the temperature gradually to 78, he'll be fine. 78 is still a great temperature for bettas. In fact, it is better than the 84. 84 is a bit high.

[rswfire]

Originally Posted by Seka

If you lower the temperature gradually to 78, he'll be fine. 78 is still a great temperature for bettas. In fact, it is better than the 84. 84 is a bit high.

Yeah, I think you're right. I've been observing him for the past two days since I got the heater and he's certainly fine but he doesn't seem as active. I'll taper it down to 78. I'm really nervous about getting him any sort of tank mates, so I've been looking up all the fish you both recommended. I think I may just get him some toys instead, lol. This thing looks pretty cool:

Zoo Med Floating Betta Log - Fish - PetSmart

Are cories "swimmers" or do they just hop around like bottom feeders?

[Seka]

You're not required to get him a tank mate. By all means if you're not comfortable with it, don't.

That's a cool log. I think several members on here have it.

Cories aren't swimmers like tetras, glofish and such as they don't spend their time swimming around that way. They can swim like that, but they spend most of their time going over gravel (or sand), driftwood and plants, sweeping everything with their bristles. You'll rarely see them in the middle of the tank with nothing close to them since their bodies almost always touch a surface. They are bottom feeders. They're pretty low profile so they aren't as overwhelming to the betta the way some of the other fish might be.