5 gallon npt buddies

[DragonFish]

Originally Posted by Xaltd1

I've had quite a go-round with how I house my girls. They are not divided; they are both basically fry, and seem to be great buddies. They bump into each other while eating, and one prefers the upper 1/3 of the tank, while the other likes the plants and zipping through the cave I built. On the advice of people on this forum, I bought a 20-gallon tank. It will tank me a week to set it up and cycle it. I'll add a catfish, the and the girls' pet snail. Apart from that, what fish make good companions for the girls? I love fancy guppies, but those fins might look like a snack to a betta.

To prevent the hijacking of this thread, I've sent you a PM. :)

[ChoclateBetta]

Fancy Guppies A need a ten gallon. B are too colorful but will work with some Bettas.

[Xaltd1]

What's a PM? Chocolate, I said 20 gal, not 10 gal.

[Xaltd1]

Oh, PM= Private Message. I can't figure out how to reply to it. When you hit "reply", it just gives the original massage, no space for more text.

[DragonFish]

When you hit the reply button, the textbox will have the previous message(s) in it already as a quote. You can simply select all of the message and delete it, or just push the message down by pressing the enter key a few times and then write your response. :)

[Xaltd1]

Or is this the private thread?
Either way, I feel like I'm always wrong on this board no matter what I suggest. I realize cats school and everything else grows to big, so I should upgrade to a 55 gallon... this hobby is just getting too riduculous! All I want is a few fish, but I keep getting shot down. I can't imagine it will take more than a week to get a tank up to speed! I was going to toss a couple of cheap fish in ther b/f my female bettas. The algae eaters I like all grow too big (except the bristlenose pleco, which I can't find for sale). I addressed this fact with the LFS manager. They will be happy to take a grown too-big fish back. I've seen lots of cats alone in community tanks, and I had a chinese algae eater (as a child) who we had for 7 years and he never got more than 4" in our 20-gal.

[DragonFish]

In your private messages, is what I mean. When you go to reply, you should be able to delete whats already in the text box or make some room at the top/bottom by pressing the enter key a couple times. :)

Like a lot of hobbies, if you really want to get into it and do it right fish keeping takes a lot of effort, research, and money.....its really not as simple as putting a few fish in a tank and that being it. It is a lot of work. And especially since we're talking about the health and well-being of living creatures here, its even more important to try your best to learn and do things properly so you can have a successful setup with healthy, happy fish.
I'm very sorry that you feel like you're always wrong, that is not at all my intention or the intention of anyone her on the forum. We say what we say and offer up our advice based on our own research and experiences because we want both your fish to be happy and healthy, and for you to have a good experience keeping them that way.

To start off, cycling a tank is a lot more complicated then just setting it up and letting everything run and it can tank a good 4-8 weeks. Give these threads a read, they should explain things in much more/better detail then I could.
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=47838
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=66595
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=107771

Unless you really want to get into larger species of fish(most of which could likely eat your bettas, mind, if you had wanted to add them in as well that is), then I don't see why you would HAVE to upgrade to a 55. Its great if you want to and you have to means to of course, but if not then why not just choose species that will fit in what you have? A 20 gallon is still a nice size. Can't put anything massive in there, but it does give you some nice options IMO.

Honestly, I would suggest putting anything in that will potentially outgrow your tank, especially when it comes to plecos or 'algea eaters'. Trying to keep a big fish in a small tank while its growing is not a good plan.....it can stunt their growth and cause all kinds of health problems that will pop up later on. Its best to stick with species that can really fit in your tank long-term, IMO.
Also, most plecos and algea eaters don't really eat algae at all/for very long anyway....and they produce a TON of waste, which will further limit your stocking options. As they get older, many species, like the CAE, can start to get rather aggressive as well and have been known to attack and suck the slime coats off of their tankmates.

But on a more positive note, you do have room in your 20 gallon for some smaller species of catfish, like Corys(or ottos, but they can be a little sensitive and finicky). You could easily fit in a little shoal of 5-6 corys to scurry about the bottom, even if you wanted to add a few more girls and start a Sorority. ;)

[ChoclateBetta]

Originally Posted by Xaltd1

What's a PM? Chocolate, I said 20 gal, not 10 gal.

Sorry thought you were the OP. Guppies will work in a twenty gallon. I would stick with a female Betta. Males Bettas and Guppies are a big risk.

[Xaltd1]

Since I don't know how to PM yet, I guess this thread is hijacked!
What I really want is suggestions about what fish I CAN have in a 20-gal. It seems like every idea I have is a bad one, so give me GOOD ideas! I've read a lot about fish that are high-bioloaders, so I don't want those (although people collect chiclids [sp?] and they seem to be pretty but lousy fish to own). I spotted a clown loach at LPS, but read that they're too aggressive. Sigh. I do plan on cycling the 20 gal w/ water from my 2 other betta tanks. Of course I'll consider a sorority! What got me into this whole mess is the "Betta Babies" that Petco is now offering. It appealed to me to rescue the cute, active ones. More often than not, the manager of the Topsfield, MA Petco can sex them at a glance. IMHO that store has it's act together like no other. It specializes in fish. The other 3 Petcos (all within 7 miles of me) focus on dog training, dog & cat products, but all have a small but good fish dept. The Topsfield store is closest to my house (unfortunate for my bank account, fortunate for my fish) but still, their advice conflicts with what I read online- it's discouraging.
What's also sad is the demise of the true "LPS". There was a great one a few miles further down the road from me. Just fish! Unfortunately, 7 Petcos, 2 Petsmarts, Boston Pet, all opening within the same 10-mile radius of greater Boston killed them faster than a male betta in a fry tank. The specialists have gone on-line. I ordered a $$ bristlenose pleco fry from one of them. It arrived dead as a doornail (the heat pack expired. It took moore than 72 hours to process the package- even though it was only coming from NY to MA!) As one that cares about living things, this is a risk I hate to try again. Of course the seller SHOULD and could have asked for 2-day service with delivery confirmation, but didn't!!!!

[ChoclateBetta]

For a twenty gallon 5 Otos after months of being cycled 5 cories and a Betta I would reccomend live plants and pothos in the filters.