10 Gal Tank, What To Put In It?

[Jessman]

My 10gal tank has a female betta in it at the moment, and im thinking of ideas of what else to put in it?
i like the idea of having panda corys, harlequins and a betta - but ive been told a 10gal is too small
is there any way of having all of these? for example if i only had one or two corys?
if not then no worries. 
 
i want my tank to look full and busy (without being too overstocked) and i want different types in it, oh and colourful!
 
has anyone got any ideas what i could keep in it? bearing in mind i also have the betta, so they would have to be compatible.
 
any ideas or advice would be great!

 

[Skies]

Unfortunately, you can't have a betta tank that looks "busy" to my knowledge, there isn't much else you can put in your tank other than a divider and another betta, although I wouldn't do that because I feel 10g is perfect for 1 betta fish. I have a friend who keeps shrimp and snails with their betta, maybe that might be something you can look into. I'm not an expert on betta fish, but to my limited knowledge there isn't much you can keep with a betta as they tend to be aggressive, they are called Siamese Fighting for a reason. Looking forward to seeing other replies.

 

[Jessman]

no i know bettas arent busy fish, but thats why i want busy looking fish around it. there are a few fish that can live happily wit bettas i just want suggestions on which ones could live in a 10 gal

 

[attibones]

(Actually they are called Siamese Fighting Fish as they hail from the land formally known as Siam, currently Thailand.)

You can have neither panda corydoras nor harlequin rasboras because they are schooling species. Having one or two of each species leads to very shy and vulnerable fish. If you want to get corydoras, try the Pygmy species. You could have five or six. Then possibly a small school of micro rasboras but I'm not sure how these will fair with your female. Of course, this would really be pushing the stocking, so I would probably only do the corydoras. Keep in mind that the smaller the Cory, the less likely it is to stay at the bottom of the tank.

 

[Jessman]

how small are the pygmys and the mirco rasboras? because im worried that my betta will be able to stuff them in her mouth!
do the boraras brigattae, emerald dwarf or the galaxy count as micro rasboras?

 

 

[Meeresstille]

I agree with Skies! 
 
A 10 gallon Betta tank is more on the calm side. One fish, maybe a few shrimp or snails if he/she accepts them.
 
I have a male Betta in a 40 gallon community tank, he seems to be a very tolerant, laid back fellow, whereas my new female Betta in her 5 gallon QT is quite a fire cracker who has eaten her shrimp friends I had tried her out with.
 
You can have fun adding live plants and bog wood, placing them creatively, it makes a Betta tank quite interesting to look at!
 
If you want a livelier tank you may want to upgrade to a 20 gallon long tank, or a 30 gallon. Then you can add different species for different levels of the tank!? 

 

[Jessman]

my betta was in a community tank at first too but she preyed on the small and slow ones, and i was also given false information by my lfs that they would be ok with guppies - wrong! 
 
i would love a 20 - 30 gallon but i dont have the space at the moment, and i havent had the 10 gallon for too long so i dont want to just forget about it already, i want to make the most of it.
 
what i want is a busy looking aquarium, with an exception for the betta lol

 

[Madjonny]

My betta is with platys, black widow tetra and a garra rufa, and he's fine...

Flares up if anyone dare go near the top of the heater but other than that he's fine...

 

[Jessman]

my betta was fine with platys too in the community tank, but i have enough of them downstairs lol

 

[Noahsfish]

I know this has turned into a discussion about bettas, but I'll try to help answer the first question. My 10g had harlequin rasboras, but I finally got the room to move them to a larger tank, which they really needed. I only have shrimp in the tank ATM, which leaves me open to a lot of fish. I came across this really awesome fish for smaller aquariums, they're called scarlet badis or dario dario, and you can keep about 5 in a ten gallon. I'm sure somebody has already mentioned Cpds...I have to temporarily house a dwarf puffer in a 2.5, and I can tell you he is a character! A pair in a 10g would be great fun, but you can't put many other fish with them, although I know otocinclus are fine. As mentioned if you want corys go for the dwarf corydoras. Also you could go for a pair of peacock gudgeons, beautiful, but again, not the "busiest" fish.

 

[Jessman]

Noahsfish, all those fish you mentioned look really nice! all im worried about really though is if they would get along with my female betta?!  

 

[Noahsfish]

Peacock gudgeons is a yes if you have "natural" barriers and a cave or two. A coconut is a great way to make a cave, there's tutorials on how to open them, clean them, etc. Dwarf puffers no. Scarlet badis, if there's say 3-4 of them imwould say yes, but again lots of plants and hiding spots. If your betta is super agressive though perhaps stay away from the delicate scarlet badis as they stay VERY small 1/2-3/4 inch. Safest fish for your tank would probably be the peacock gudgeons, a pair would do fine with a female betta. Mine aren't agressive, but stick up for themselves when it comes to feeding territory, etc.

 

[Meeresstille]

The problem is some Bettas get really stressed out over "busy" fish. If your female Betta already has shown signs that she is not friendly towards other tankmates I'm afraid she may be unsocial to other additions as well.
 
You can try her out with some other fish, otocinclus are great little fish, and they love to snack on the bio-film all over your tank, but they really need to be in groups of 6 (therefor I think a 10 gallon would be too small), and they should not be added to a tank less than 6 months old.
 
Kuhli Loaches are great with Bettas also, but a 10 gallon is a little too short for them! (I had Kuhlis in a 10 gallon before, with a Betta, now they are in the longer tank, they love swimming the length of the tank and are quite entertaining...when they come out to play!
 
Whatever you decide to add, you need to be prepared to separate the Betta from the new additions at the first sign of aggression!!!!!!

 

[Jessman]

noahsfish, i think i'll look into the peacock gudgeons, and where i can find them, they look really nice. are they a type of cichlid? and also what size are they?
 
meeresstille, you might be right with the bettas getting stressed.. well as long as i can see the other fish in the tank and they dont hide away all day its ok
and dont worry, i have another tank on hand if anything gets too aggressive! 

 

[Noahsfish]

They top out around 2" and no, they're not cichlids. If can't find them at a lfs you can order online, there's plenty of websites that carries them. If you do go to a fish store don't be discourages by their blank colors, once they're in your tank for amwhile they'll color up.