Betta + cories- 10gal

[houndbound]

Hi all! I've got a beautiful male betta with some snails in a 3gal, and am really wanting to upgrade tank sizes, and eventually start a community (ideally 20-30gal). The only problem right now being that I'm in school, living 5 hours away from my 'real home', and tearing down a tank of that size to go home for breaks would be a pain/impossible.

SO. My question for you all is: would it be possible/kind to keep my male betta with a couple cories in a 10gal tank? If so, would my 3gal tank be an appropriate quarantine tank for said cories, or would I need something larger? I've seen some people on here say that they've got male bettas and 2 cories living in a 10gal, but I've also read that they need at least 20gal of space? I'm not certain if I'm even going to go this route, I just wanted to put my feelers out there and get some input from you fine folks! Charlemagne and I both thank you ;)

[houndbound]

And actually, I'm not sure how to edit my post, but I realized... that if 10gal is a suitable size to house the betta and cories, I could just get the cories and quarantine them IN the 10gal, and introduce my betta later on. That way if things don't work out with the community for some reason, I could always put my betta back in the 3gal he's in now.

Ahh, critical thinking... THIS is why I go to college ;)

Also, I was thinking of getting panda cories, I feel like that information is relevant! Though I'd be willing to get pygmies instead if they'd be happier residents :>

[bettafish15]

I think 3-4 cories should be fine, if they're pygmy's then you could probably get away with 5 :)

[Kytkattin]

The pygmys would be happier because they love to be kept in groups and you could group more of them! On the other hand, you could get away with 4 pandas...

Glad to know you have a back-up plan in case your male doesn't get along with them.

Also keep in mind that if you betta is the peaceable type, you could get some ghost shrimp as well. They do virtually nothing for the bioload, and are at least cheap if he decides to make a snack of them!

[houndbound]

Thank you both! I'm definitely leaning towards the 3-4 pandas, as they were my first choice and don't get much bigger than the pygmies :> I love their little eyespots!

I did try three ghost shrimp when I first got my betta back in August, and they're either so good at hiding that I haven't seen them since, or he ate them :[ I have yet to see him flare though and he is very friendly/"social", so I'm thinking of trying the shrimp again. Maybe since he's better adjusted now he won't mind the company? :)

[SmokeNLark]

I love panda corys. Unfortunately I can never find them. But my peppered and albinos are cute too. :) But as everyone said, you can definitely do a small group of cories and a betta in a 10 gallon. Cories feel more secure the bigger the group the have. I would do 4-5 cories and really keep up on water changes.

[ManInBlack2010]

you can definately do corries and betta in a 10g like everyone has said, i have a female and 4 peppered corries in a 10g. they've been together for over a month and they've been great! the corries have actually chased her a few times, though, i think i just got some rare aggressive ones, lol

[Bombalurina]

Just be careful with transporting the cories. Pandas are stupidly susceptible to stress (though do well once settled) and a rough journey can mean they just randomly die off in the first few days.