Betta Tank Setup And What Else To House

[Filth86]

Hi All,
I am new to fish Keeping, well tropical anyway, I had white cloud minnows as a kid and thats about it for my experience so I am trying to get my research done.
 
I have speant the last week or so deciding what to keep in the 30 Litre (10 gallon) tank. Betta fish continually come up and suit what im after. I have ordered Filter, Heater, Gravel, Conditioner, Gravel Cleaner etc and waiting for them to arrive to set up the tank ready.
 
Now for the last couple of days I have been researching what to house with my Betta and as usual on the internet have come into contradicting information.
 
I really like Plecs but obviously with the size of the tank and the size even bristlenose plecs grow too this is a no no.
 
I have seen about Tetras and the risks of nipping etc but if I add these to the tank first it can help with the betta not being as aggressive and will also cycle the tank before introducing the betta.
 
I have also read that White Cloud Minnows are good and are less likely to nip the betta however need cooler water meaning keeping the betta at the lower range of ideal temperature.

Apple snails, Good tank cleaners and can defend against betta.
 
The above seemed like the best options hwoever I have now found out about the following.
 
African Dwarf Frogs - these can be housed fine with bettas however sounds a bit more involved and tricky to balance than the other options. Kind of puts me off
 
Otocinclus Catfish I like the look of these but some people say 10 gallon is fine some say not some say 1 with a betta is great and others say you need at least 2-3. What are peoples thoughts on these and if I had these it would be better to have live plants than fake so any advice regarding substrate etc welcome.
 
Cories (Corydoras Catfish) need at least 4 and are smaller some people say better to have sand than gravel?? again any advice welcome.
 
shrimp - I quite like shrimp but am aware bettas could see them as food. how many could live in this tank with a betta as long as they got on?
 
Any other recomendations I could look into. I would eventually upgrade to a bigger tank. At least a 60Litre maybe more as My bearded dragon is getting old and currently lives in a 4' vivarium which will make a good size aquarium onc ehe passes

. It would be good to take this into account as I would like some Bristlenose Plec when I upgrade so if there are issues of bristlenose with any of the above best to know now.
 
If I went down the betta and oto route would it be too much to also have white cloud minnows? or an apple snail?
 
 

 

[Filth86]

Sorry for double post, I can't find edit post? however I have just realised 30L is actually 6.5 gallons not 10

 

[Mamashack]

hi Filth

to TFF!
 
Tetras need to be in a bigger tank to be honest about 15G minimum and some would say 20G.
I have had amano shrimp in with my betta and they were fine as they are quite big and can jump out of the way quickly if their paths cross. Now he has nerite zebras in the tank with him.
I wouldn't worry about company for a betta they are quite happy being on their own and in fact can be aggressive to tank mates especially if they are nippers or have big colourful fins. I had to house mine temporarily in my platy tank and it was clear that the betta had been fighting with the alpha male platy as both had tatty fins so I had to separate them.
Have no knowledge of WCM or apple snails so can't answer that question
 
EDIT: The edit button is next to the Multiquote button but you have to hover over it to make it appear. Also you can't edit a post once someone has posted after it other wise the conversation might not make sense once edited. Once another post has been made the edit button changes to a Report button.

 

[Filth86]

Thanks for the reply. I know they don't require company but thought something else in there would be more appealing on the eye. Obviously not to the detrement of the fish though.

How about 2 or 3 female betta and snail? I've read conflicting information on this. Some say fine and some not. I know the fins aren't as long as the males

 

[Ninjouzata]

Can you give the dimensions of your tank? Is your water hard or soft? THIS is a lovely article on betta care, if you do end up getting one.
 
You'll want to cycle the tank before adding any fish. Adding tetras like you mentioned would be a fish-in cycle and is really not recommended as it can permanently damage fish and lead them to having a shorter lifespan.
It's much better to do fish-less which you can read about HERE. You'll want a liquid test kit (more accurate than strips, API is a popular brand) and some ammonia which you can see where you might find that HERE.
 
I know most always are worried about aggression from bettas but keep in mind it's not always them, they're also a good target for being nipped at due to their long, colorful flowing fins and slow movement.
 
Unfortunately 30L is too small to have multiple females together. If doing this you want a minimum of 5 females and a 10g tank.
It's also not the best for beginners as you need to know betta behavior quite well and plant it like a jungle. Doing a tank like this is called a sorority.
 
I would stick to a single male betta and some shrimp and/or snail(s) in this size tank.
Shrimp and snails are actually quite fun to watch, though like you said the shrimp may get eaten. I think you might have more luck with amanos like Mamashack mentioned.
 
For future reference, WCMM are cool water fish so don't match with the bettas high temp requirements. They're also quite zippy so do better in longer tanks and could stress out the betta.
 
Corydoras again are going to be better in something like a 10g and up. The only ones you could put in a 10g would be pygmaeus, hastatus, or habrosus which aren't always easy to find.
 
Otocinclus are best in mature tanks (cycled for 6+ months) and can be difficult to feed. They are best in groups of 6+ as they are a schooling fish. Due to this, even though they are quite small, I would want at least a 10-15g tank.
 
ADFs are very cute, I havn't had them myself. From what I've gathered they can be easily outcompeted for food so really best in a species only tank but have also heard many success stories of them being kept with bettas.
 
Sorry if that was long and a bit all over the place, I just wanted to try to touch on all the fish you asked about. A site you might like is Seriouslyfish, lots of information on different species. Gives diet, behavior, tank sizes, etc. .

 

[Filth86]

Looks like a male betta then and a couple nitrate zebras. The fact the zebras won't mate in the conditions is good.

Is it best for shrimp and snails to be in the tank first? Surely there won't be enough food (algae)? Guess you can buy suitable food?

 

[GuppyGirl20]

Betta are active fish. If you like you could have plants and things for the betta to swim through to make it appealing to the eye (also the bettas really enjoy it). 1 to 2 snails (or some shrimp) should handle the algae in a tank that size.

 

[Ninjouzata]

Yes you'd want them to go into the tank first (but only after it's cycled). You can feed them algae wafers I am not sure on the dietary needs of the shrimp so there may be another food to look into.

 

[Mamashack]

I have amano shrimp and they tend to ignore the wafers and even shrimp pellets in favour of grazing on the substrate which they seem to do constantly.
It may just be personal preference on their part, but mine seem happy with everybody else's left overs altho you won't have any in a new tank. I have to remove the very mushy wafers and pellets are a few hours of being ignored.
My baby blue cherry shrimp's in a newly cycled micro tank so am adding crushed flake or crushed algae wafers and it seems to be growing nicely. This little shrimp tends to ignore the wafers and pellets too, but that could be a size issue.

 

[Filth86]

Brilliant, thank you for everyones help. The Heater, Filter etc should be here this week so I can set it up and cycle. Im still uncertain on the plants. Fake silk plants sound good for the maintenance side however the look of real plants would be nicer and with it being a small tank I guess maintenance of them should be easy to keep on top of.
 
If going live plant route is it best to get them in before cycling?

 

[Alasse]

I have a 28L (7.4gal) tank with a male betta, an oto, cherry shrimp and a few tiny pep bn
 
Here's mine (its grown in heaps more since this pic)

 

[Mamashack]

You can add live plants at the beginning tho they will compete with the bacteria for the ammonia.
I waited until the tank was cycled before adding mine as I thought that if the planting went pear-shaped at least there'd still be enough bacteria to cope with the bioload.
That may be over-cautious, but my cycle took 26 days with a lot of mature gravel to kick-start the process
I think starting from scratch using the method advocated on here it should take up to 5 weeks depending on the amount of bacteria in the tap-water to start with.

Nice tank, Alasse!

 

[Filth86]

if I plant as heavy Alasse should I still use the filter or not?

 

[Ninjouzata]

Yes you should use a filter

 

[Alasse]

If you had just the betta you could get away with no filter. Having said that, if you need to use a heater, you will require either a filter or a powerhead to keep the water moving so the tank doesnt develop hot spots
 
My tank above is both heated and filtered