a little backstory: My roommate bought a beta fish at the start of the summer, and then promptly left for the remander of the summer leaving me to take care of said beta. This was no problem to me as I am a fish lover and enjoyed taking care of the fish. The Beta (who me and my other roommate named Fisher Stevens) was living in a large (novelty sized) champaign glass for about a month and a half until I could no longer stand having him in such a small tank. So I got a small 2.5g tank that i had from my parents house (my dad used to be quite into fish keeping so he has a wide range of tanks in storage) and kept him in there for a couple months. With the winter approaching I figured that I would need to get a heater for the tank so that Fisher wouldn't freeze, and i thought "hell if Im gonna start buying things, might as well upgrade to a bigger tank size", so I grabbed the 10g from my dad and starting setting it up.
Tank set up: 10g, in-tank whisper filer, under-gravel filter,a heating unit, 4 plants and a little rock formation, looking to add another rock formation this weekend to add cover.
Fish: I currently have 5 Peppered Corys and Fisher in the tank and im wanting to add a few more fish is possible, including some kind of alge eater (if needed, i think corys might eat the alge) and another schooling fish that would swim mid tank.
My question is what fish would fit the bill and would work well in the tank?
Sorry for the long post, I look forward to any feedback regarding my tank or fish choices, (could post a pic of the tank if wanted as well, just ask)
Hi and welcome to the forum! It's great you're taking such good care of the fish :) I wouldn't recommend adding any fish to that tank. The general rule is 1 gallon of water per inch of fish, so with just your cories you've filled out that tank! However, since you have your filters their bioload probably won't cause any problems if you keep up on water changes. Adding any other fish would be overstocking your tank, and most schooling fish tend to stress bettas out. Platys do the best with bettas in my experience but you don't have room for them. You also might want to be sure that the flow from the filter is not too strong, bettas don't tolerate currents well. Algae is not usually an issue in betta tanks, especially with two filters, bottom feeders, and no live plants.
EDIT: I assumed your plants were fake. Even if they're live you shouldn't have an issue with algae.
I have to agree with GreenTea, your tank is full :) For algae you can always just clean it yourself, those magnetic algae cleaners are good to have. You may be over feeding or not changing the water often enough. Those are two factors that can cause algae, or at least in my tanks it does. Would love to hear more about Fisher Stevens, welcome!!
Thank you for your feedback! I think im going to keep the tank with the fish that it has now! However you said that schooling fish stress beta's out, what non schooling fish work well with betas?
The Filter I use is one of the tetra quiet ones that i saw recommended on this site, so its very low current and doesn't seem to bother Fisher at all.
The Tank is pretty new so im not having any alge problems currently, but I had some growth in my 2.5g tank (some green forming on the rock formations) and im assuming that i might have the same growth in my new tank. But I will play it by ear, as deal with it as the problem arises.
Sorry, I wasn't very clear. I meant that while some people might recommend danios or tetras, those smaller, faster schooling fish tend to stress bettas, especially if they are bright. Some tetras get a little nippy as well. Platys school and are generally good with bettas, and cories school and are good with bettas but you already know that ;)
I have had 4 in a tank together and they never have, they also lay their eggs above the water line so even if they did it would be easy to remove and spot potential offspring.
If everything is set up properly (well-cycled tank, appropriate filter, heated, committed to a water change schedule, etc), you can fit one or 2 more fish in there. Remember, live plants (a lot of them) will really help reduce the bioload.
You don't have room for a school of anything, so look for peaceful livebearers like platies or mollies - just MAKE SURE YOU KNOW THE GENDER. You could get 2 female platies or mollies, but don't get 2 males, and don't get 1 male and 1 female. They can get aggressive if the sex ratios are off.
My bettas have done well in community tanks with cories and female platies. The male platies got a little rough during mating season (which will happen about once a month) so I don't keep bettas with males. Just make sure you don't get anything too fast, with long fins, and especially one of those things with bright colors.
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
Similar Threads
Finishing up a 10g
