[Joshaeus]

Hi everyone! My circumstances have allowed me to pick up a 20 gallon high that I will be setting up this month and which will be ready for fish sometime in January. I am currently trying to figure out what I want for this tank, and am considering splendens complex bettas...however, my prior pair (a pair of blue smaragdina) was completely incompatible and could not even cohabit long enough to spawn. Would a harem with one male and 3-5 females work better in a tank this size? (I tried to keep the prior pair in a 5 gallon, which may have contributed to the problem). I was going to try to have a lot of cover in this tank, chiefly as artificial plants (though I was likely going to have a patch of water lettuce in the tank). Thanks

 

[Joshaeus]

...no thoughts yet? This must not be a common way to keep wilds...

 

[thijswildbettas]

Hi there.

In a 20 gallon I wouldn't recommend keeping more than a trio of for example Betta smaragdina in there. For imbellis maybe 3 females. Well planted this should be fine.
in my experience if you want a harem you would need to have a 30 gallon, or a low water-level 20.

You would also have to look into breeding because they'll spawn every couple of weeks if.
You could add some shrimps with it. As of your last tank, I am pretty sure it was indeed because your fish where housed in a tank too small. For a male alone it would be fine, but for a pair certainly not.

Also, put as many real plants in there. Fake plants are not very useful and your bettas will like real a lot more.

Good luck!

 

[Joshaeus]

Hi there.

In a 20 gallon I wouldn't recommend keeping more than a trio of for example Betta smaragdina in there. For imbellis maybe 3 females. Well planted this should be fine.
in my experience if you want a harem you would need to have a 30 gallon, or a low water-level 20.

You would also have to look into breeding because they'll spawn every couple of weeks if.
You could add some shrimps with it. As of your last tank, I am pretty sure it was indeed because your fish where housed in a tank too small. For a male alone it would be fine, but for a pair certainly not.

Also, put as many real plants in there. Fake plants are not very useful and your bettas will like real a lot more.

Good luck!

Why so few bettas? Not as if they're straining the bioload...I was hoping to dilute the male's aggression between multiple females and I have a sneaking suspicion that only two females would not be enough. The tank has two air powered filters that should produce ample surface agitation to prohibit bubble nest building in the main tank; I was going to spawn them in a separate tank.

Plants only keep the tank cleaner if they are healthy, something I could not achieve with my MANY past attempts with planted tanks (as evidenced by the algae that inevitably overran them); unhealthy plants just pollute the water as they decay. I don't see why they would prefer live plants over fake plants on the grounds of cover, and while HEALTHY live plants would do look better to me I am no good at keeping healthy live plants.

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

Dwarf Puffer are tiny at 1". Their bioload has nothing do to with why you can only have two in a 10-15; it's territory. According to species profiles and people I know who keep Wilds, the minimum for a pair or a group of three Imbellis is 24" w x 12" L. Exactly as advised by thijswildbettas.

Have you thought of only buying a couple of Anubias to see how that goes? I cannot keep many of the so-called "beginner" plants for beans.

 

[thijswildbettas]

Why so few bettas? Not as if they're straining the bioload...I was hoping to dilute the male's aggression between multiple females and I have a sneaking suspicion that only two females would not be enough. The tank has two air powered filters that should produce ample surface agitation to prohibit bubble nest building in the main tank; I was going to spawn them in a separate tank.

Plants only keep the tank cleaner if they are healthy, something I could not achieve with my MANY past attempts with planted tanks (as evidenced by the algae that inevitably overran them); unhealthy plants just pollute the water as they decay. I don't see why they would prefer live plants over fake plants on the grounds of cover, and while HEALTHY live plants would do look better to me I am no good at keeping healthy live plants.

Bettas will become agressive when put too close to each other. Just like @RussellTheShihTzu
said it isn't about the bioload... And this is from my own experience. Even in a 17 gallon I only did spawns on one male and one female and I remove the female right away or she would get killed. At max place in one male on a couple of females in a tank. Never put two males together. Also not when they have 2 or females each (wich is too small for your 20 gallon).

Regarding to your plants I would try to get to the cause of why your plants die. Test your water, lighting and see how that goes. Try putting some fast growing plants in there for oxygen and against algea. Anubias are great too.
They feel safer with real plants, those keep your water clean and are softer for the fins and all this makes them feel less stressed. Trust me, they really notice the difference