Thinking of getting a 10 gallon. What friends will work with a betta?

[pcs17]

So, I am pretty new to the whole fish owning thing but I am considering buying a 10 gallon tank when i have enough funds to do so. (i'm a poor college student ) Anyway, I am considering getting a betta for the tank but am not sure what some good compatible species will be. All we have in this little Podunk college community is a Walmart so my options are pretty limited. (I actually bought my current betta fish at a Petsmart in Saint Louis where i live and drove them to my college because the betta supply is so crappy at our local Walmart. Half of them are always dead and the other half just don't give me alot of options for what i want.)

Anyway....A few questions I have concerning this:

I know the other day I saw fiddler crabs (i think that is what they were called) and I was wondering if a couple of those could do well with a betta fish. And if so, what do they eat and how do i get the food down to them?

Would a bottom dweller sucker fish work in a 10 gallon? And if so, same questions apply as with the crabs.

What other species of standard fish would work too? I'm sorry that I am not familiar with the names of my common species so I'm not positive what exactly they have at my walmart. I'm going to look as soon as i post this so i could update with species names later if anyone wants.


Any help or advice would be appreciated, thanks.

[BabyBoyBlue]

I'm not sure about crabs. I wouldn't want them to grab hold of my Betta.

I have Panda Cory in my tank. Cute little fishies. :) They do better as a group of 4-6.

[PiscisAmor]

I used to keep neon tetras in with my betta. They were small enough that they didn't mess with him and chew on him too much, and they add some great spunk to the tank!

I'm not sure, but I've heard that fiddler crabs need access to the surface of the tank to breathe. I'm sure you could figure out something in a 10 gal for them, but it'd be tricky.

[Pitluvs]

Crabs can eat your fish, don't do it. By sucker fish you mean pleco? If so, no. Most grow to be way to big for a 10g tank (12"+). Cory catfish in groups of 4+ or some tetras. Remember most fish need groups of 6+ to feel secure and healthy. 10g isn't all that big sadly when it comes to community tanks.

[Yaoilover12397]

I'd go for Neon Tetras or Corydoras in groups of 5+ or more.

[shinybetta]

Is your betta social? Some bettas will kill all tankmates. Fiddler crabs need some salt in their water and air access so they aren't good betta tankmates. Neon tetras are good, but they could get nippy. A couple platys is a good idea, and the eat some algea. For algea eating tankmates your best option is a yamato shrimp ( also called yamato numa ebi or algea eating shrimp) Otocinclus are good, but they need groups of 3+ and very clean water. Dwarf orange crayfish are another interesting tankmate that don't harm fish like other crayfish. Enjoy

[pcs17]

What about some sort of shark species? I saw a few of those when i went to the store yesterday.

[Olympia]

That'd depend on what kind of shark.. most of them get really huge and you wouldn't want that! They also tend to be somewhat-quite aggressive, you should go with a really peaceful species.

[cmcasey98]

I have a 10 gallon tank as well and a beeta,for tanks mates i got two snails and two Red Wing Platies which they have worked out great with the beeta.