[Conwork]

I currently have a 20 gallon that is going through the cycle process and then turning it into a Betta sorority (i've had a sorority in the past and just love them). Im going to be having 6 female Bettas in this tank but not sure what other tank mates i should get.

Here is my AqAdvisor: http://aqadvisor.com/AqAdvisor.php?...AqSpeciesWindowSize=short&AqSearchMode=simple

Here's some information about my tank setup:
- I have 2 filters running. An Aquaclear 50 and i forget the name of the other one but its for 20 gallon tanks.
- Temp set to anywhere from 76-78 degrees
- pH sits at around 7
- Bunch of low-tech live plants. (I run an 18" Flourscent light 10-12 hours a day)
- Bunch of rocks/caves
- Plan to do 30% water changes weekly.

Here is the fish i was thinking:
- 6 Female Bettas
- 7 Neon Tetras
- 3 Otos
- 3-4 Cory Catfish

Is this overstocking my tank? AqAdvisor is saying its not but i'm still not sure. What other fish should i get that would work/look better? Pretty much the 6 female Bettas and the 3 Oto's are the only for sure fish im going to be adding... the rest is still undecided.

Any help/advice/tips would be appreciated! PS. I love schooling fish.

TL;DR: Is 6 Female bettas, 7 neon tetras, 3 otos and 3 corys overstocking my tank? I provided an AqAdvisor link of my setup

 

[merrycat]

Otos and corys get along well with each other but, in my experience, they're generally happier it groups of at least 5 or 6. Otos, particularly, tend to be kind of shy in smaller groups. That's just my experience though.

 

[beautiful Betta]

I would say your tank will be overstocked. Most will recommend a 5 gallon for a single Betta, at least 2.5 a betta. It will also depend a lot on your set up as well. If your plants thrive you might be alright. But if they don't, you are likely to have high nitrates, which will cause algae issues especially with the amount of time intended of having the lights on.

Whatever you do if it is a new set up don't add all your fish at once, you will need to do it gradually give the tank a chance to cycle slowly. Then you can increase your fish slowly that way you shouldn't avoid a massive ammonia surge.

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

AqAdvisor says your stocking level is 121% which is overstocked. You could ditch the Peppered Cories and Otos and have six or seven Pygmy Cories instead. Or, you could have five Otos and your stocking level would be 111%. Still overstocked but AqAdvisor tends to be a bit conservative.

Also, don't you want odd numbers of female Bettas to keep down aggression? I read that somewhere on this forum but can't find it.

 

[jaysee]

From a bioload point of view, you would not be overstocked. Your filtration is more than capable of handling that, and your nitrates would not be hard to control. From a space point of view, eh. Like was said both the Corys and otos should be in larger groups. If it were my tank, I would skip on the otos and up the Corys.

 

[lilnaugrim]

For compatibility wise, if you are dead set on having a Sorority and having it work out well; ditch the schooling fish. They will do nothing but stress out your already stressed out Female Bettas. Bottom dwelling fish are fine like your cories but the Neons will be rowdy within themselves which will eventually stress out your females.

Sororities are an already high-stressed environment so as the keeper you want to be certain to try to do everything you can to minimize this stress. This means keeping the water sparkling clean to avoid infection, plant this tank so it's a literal jungle. Even if you have fake plants you need to buy enough so that the fish can barely move. This breaks up the tank so that the females lower in the hierarchy can't be chased as much and they can seek refuge among the plants out of site of the other girls. And then lastly, keep them well fed and don't get other schooler fish besides cory cats. If you want a community tank then don't do the sorority but you really can't have both together unfortunately. Otherwise it ends in disaster.