Betta set up in a 29G tank

[BettaBaited]

I got them at different stages. Two of the females I got were young from the female section @ petco, one of them was a 'baby' but was around an inch, & the male that I thought was a female, was 3 months old, along with two sisters from a breeder.

Some of the babies from the petco baby bettas are true fry- so small they can't survive without live food. Go with the older babies, the ones without clamped fins or abnormalities. Introduce them all at the same time if you can. I wouldn't get too many- 5 or 6 would probably be a good number. Just make sure you watch them for aggression. If you remove more than 2 of them, you'll have to get more, just to even out the aggression. (that's what I had to do, when I got the siblings) Any less than 4 fish can cause problems. But if they're too crowded, they'll fight too.

I agree with the above ^ it's not a good idea to mix genders if you don't know much about bettas. So if you decide to go with the baby bettas, remove males as soon as you can identify them via aggression.

[ChoclateBetta]

No barb they are too nippy also be careful some bettas are so aggressive they can not have tank mates it is a hit and miss process like my betta I tried a lot of fish he is just too aggressive he is o e of those hyper aggressive.

[thekoimaiden]

I agree with what has been said about males and females in the tank. Not a great idea for an experienced betta keeper, and a very poor choice for someone who is just starting out.

While cherry barb are some of the gentler barbs, they're probably not the best bunch for your tank. White Cloud mountain minnows are neat, but they tend to do better at lower temps than bettas like. They live hard and fast at warm temps. Rasbora are a good choice for your tank. The common harlequin rasbora is a good choice. The smaller lambchop rasbora (Trigonostigma espei) is another good choice, and a few users here have them with male betta. If you have soft water (which I'm guessing you don't as you keep ciclids and livebearers) you could try the mosquito rasbora which is a beautiful little gem.

[Ami]

Originally Posted by LittleBettaFish

I also had a young male in with females and he lived peacefully with them for a year and a half. Until I purchased another female to add to my sorority and she killed him.

So I would never recommend housing a male and females together, no matter what size tank you use. Too much risk involved IMO and when in a sorority setting females tend to gang up and attack as a group. If it had just been one male and one female I probably would not have seen the damage I did when I fished my poor male's body out.

If you are not familiar with bettas I would certainly not recommend you mix males and females. It is something I would not advise even an experienced individual to undertake. Bettas are unpredictable at the best of times and all it takes is one small (and what might seem to you insignificant) change and your whole tank can dissolve into chaos.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'll stay away from mixing males and females. I guess I'll have to decide between a Betta community tank and a sorority tank.

[Ami]

Originally Posted by thekoimaiden

I agree with what has been said about males and females in the tank. Not a great idea for an experienced betta keeper, and a very poor choice for someone who is just starting out.

While cherry barb are some of the gentler barbs, they're probably not the best bunch for your tank. White Cloud mountain minnows are neat, but they tend to do better at lower temps than bettas like. They live hard and fast at warm temps. Rasbora are a good choice for your tank. The common harlequin rasbora is a good choice. The smaller lambchop rasbora (Trigonostigma espei) is another good choice, and a few users here have them with male betta. If you have soft water (which I'm guessing you don't as you keep ciclids and livebearers) you could try the mosquito rasbora which is a beautiful little gem.

Thanks !
You are right, my water here is alkaline. I need to get some almond leaf to lower the pH. Also planning to put in some driftwood as well (into my 10G)
I think I'll go for rasboras / neon tetras since I already have them in my other 29G community tank.
I saw your tanks. I love the DIY sponge filter and heater. Can you tell me how you made your sponge filter? I have a sponge pad from Aquaclear filters. I was wondering if I could make a hole in it and just stick an airstone inside it.
~Ami

[thekoimaiden]

I do love those sponge filters. I followed a tutorial I found on Youtube. I made one sponge filter and loved the way it functioned, so I now have six. One for each tank and an extra two for the goldfish tank. The ones in my betta tanks are permanent, but I use them as emergency filtration for my other tanks in case the power goes out.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDzgM9x3tc"]HOW TO: Build a very simple aquarium filter - YouTube[/ame]

[Pilot00]

Wondering what load can those handle....

[Ami]

Originally Posted by Pilot00

Wondering what load can those handle....

It depends on the size of the sponge. I'd reckon that if you used a sponge filter rated for an Aquaclear 50, you can use it easily for a 20 gallon tank. The reason I didn't say 50 is that I have Hydrosponge sponge filters for 10G, 20G and 80G. The Hydrosponge filter for 20G is about the same size as that of the sponge used for my Aquaclear 50. That being said, there is a great deal of bacteria in the substrate, aquarium walls etc. So if you put a bubbler bar or a couple of more airstones, you will immediately put a lot of oxygen into the system to let the bacteria oxidize the ammonia. Then there's the option of using easy plants like duckweed, hornwort, java moss, anacharis etc.

[Ami]

Originally Posted by thekoimaiden

I do love those sponge filters. I followed a tutorial I found on Youtube. I made one sponge filter and loved the way it functioned, so I now have six. One for each tank and an extra two for the goldfish tank. The ones in my betta tanks are permanent, but I use them as emergency filtration for my other tanks in case the power goes out.

HOW TO: Build a very simple aquarium filter - YouTube

Thanks ! I'll make one (or more) this weekend

[thekoimaiden]

You're very welcome. I forgot to mention. He uses large bottles in those videos. Due to a vertical space limit in my 10 gal tanks, I used that half-size water bottles. With a larger bottle you could probably put even more media in there and have it sustain a larger bioload.

I highly recommend making more and then stuffing them away for the day your power goes out (along with some battery-powered air pumps). I've never lost a fish during a power outage since I began using these.