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divided 10gal whats good company for bettas

2K views 16 replies 3 participants last post by  Kiara1125 
#1 ·
i have two bettas and one of them is not compatible with ghost shrimp, eats them up, the other is fine ignores them until feeding time when he/she tries to snatch the shrimps rations but is not aggressive or nippy or anything like that with the shrimp
so what can i get to help with poop and sunken food on the shrimp eaters side
 
#2 ·
I would try to go with some kuhli loaches. Mine were fine in a 10g and I'm sure they can bury under the divider if they want to [without moving it for the bettas to get through]. Kuhli loaches are GREAT scavengers and all my fish just leave them alone. They only get 4" [except when you have random ones that exceed that ... I have an 8" long solo black kuhli in my 40gB]. I would suggest 2 or 3 of them for that one side. They should be fine. I have 5 of them in my 20gL community, but, IMO, they don't need groups. They mainly ignore each other and do their own things. They're always alone and on opposite sides of the tank just scavenging. Look into them. They're $2 each at petsmart. Hope this helps. :)
 
#4 ·
Well, you still have to clean the gravel. There's still going to be poop. Just, be careful that you don't kill a loach while you're vacuuming the gravel. I learned that the hard way ... :(
 
#6 ·
I use just the plain ole Lee's gravel vac, self siphoning. I crammed it down in the gravel too quickly. I would suggest knowing where the kuhlis are, the sticking the gravel vac in and stirring it around in the gravel. Once a month sounds good.
 
#8 ·
The siphon drains a 10g fully within 2 minutes. My kuhlis LOVE burying themselves in the gravel. My gravel isn't jagged, so they're fine with it. They also love to hide underneath my terra cotta pots. You can put one in there on each side for the bettas to hide/sleep in. The holes in the bottom never cause a problem for me (3 years of keeping terra cotta pots and pieces with bettas and other fish), but the kuhlis love them and will slip right through them. They love digging under the gravel and pressing themselves underneath the pots. If you do use pots, make sure that they're brand new and have been boiled for at least 10-20 minutes.
 
#10 ·
The only problem with khuli loaches in a divided 10 gallon tank is that they need to be in groups of 3-6. So the minimum you could get is 3 for each side. They get to be up to 4" so having only 5 gallons each might be too small of a space. Petsmart advises a 10 gallon tank, but since yours is divided they don't have enough room.
Get a nerite snail. They will eat leftover stuff on the bottom plus algae if you ever have any. They have a low bioload for a snail and their eggs won't hatch in fresh water.
 
#11 ·
For one, kuhlis are recommended to have groups, they don't NEED to be in groups. My one kuhli in the 40gB is doing great being alone. Been like that for 8 years and outlived the group. Also, the OP is looking for scavengers, not algae eaters. Merited only eat algae.

I buy my pots at Walmart and such. They range from under a dollar to a few dollars depending on the size. They have to have never had plants in them and they MUST be pure terra cotta without a glaze.

Also, as for the stocking, it should be fine. Kuhlis have a very low bioload and I believe would fit perfectly in that tank. The 1" per gallon isn't really used anymore. There's more that goes into it, such as the bioload. You can have a 4" pleco in a 5g. That would work for the rule of thumb, but the bioload would label the tank as too small. See what I mean? Kuhlis stay pretty small and they have a low bioload. They're excellent scavengers and are extremely fun to watch. I would highly recommend them for your tank. Also, is your divider completely down to the bottom of the tank? Because, if its not, then the kuhlis can dig underneath it. I'm not saying that they will, I'm just saying that they can technically have 10g instead of 5g. lol
 
#12 ·
alright thanks guys for your input !!!

my divider is all the way down and glued on all sides touching glass i had too many accidents in 2.5 betta bowl so i made as secure as possible and i put a jump discourgement canvas at the top

and im looking for something to help clean up sunken food i guess i need to reconsider my mystery snail i didnt check if they ate sunken food
 
#13 ·
Welcome! The mystery snails are scavengers, but they have a large bioload, as do all big snails do. Mystery snails get HUGE. lol

Anyways, wow about the divider. I had one jump incident which resulted in near death injuries. I healed them up and kept them away from each other. Also, I leave the water level down an inch below the divider.
 
#14 ·
the snail is small right now but big enough that the betta leaves him alone (so far)
man that must have been frustrating to have them fight that bad
in my case they just tore fins until the last fight when they tore scales out as well it was so frustrating and disappointing
 
#15 ·
Yep, they took chunks of flesh out of each other in 2 hours. A black orchid CT (Titanium who took the most damage, but is still alive almost 6 months later) and a maroon DTHM (Firefly, who died of dropsy shortly after).

Anyway, mystery snails get really big and will drop down on top of fish if they're hungry enough. Don't overdress yours, but keep it well fed. Look up how big they get. I put one in my palm and it was almost the same size ... lol it was like a golfball.
 
#17 ·
Yeah, that's how big both of mine got. I'm somewhat debating having one in my community again, but I'm not sure.
 
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