Can I house a betta with cories?

[lishspetlife]

Hey! I have a 10 gallon planted tank with 1 male betta. I also have 2 mystery snails. My male betta is really calm and not very aggressive. I’m looking for some tank mates for him (preferably a bottom feeder). I was thinking panda cories- or other small types of cories. Can someone let me know how many I can put in a 10 gallon? Thank you!

 

[Silvermist80]

Hey! I have a 10 gallon planted tank with 1 male betta. I also have 2 mystery snails. My male betta is really calm and not very aggressive. I’m looking for some tank mates for him (preferably a bottom feeder). I was thinking panda cories- or other small types of cories. Can someone let me know how many I can put in a 10 gallon? Thank you!

Hello! The rule of thumb is usually an inch of fish per gallon. There are exceptions of course. So following that rule of thumb, you could probably put a fair number of them in there without any issue. Corydoras are also social little guys, so you want at least 3. 5 or 6 would be better and probably be fine in a 10 gallon. Just make sure you provide plenty of food for both Betta and Corys, they are both omnivores.

 

[CassCats]

No. Can't have both for a few reasons.

Bettas need 78-82F temperature.
Panda cories need below 77F and still get too big for a 10g.

There are pygmy corydoras, but they can't go over 78F...

And the 3rd point... bettas can randomly turn on their tankmates and are best kept by themselves.

 

[Naughts]

We have 5 panda cories (6 would be good too) with a male betta in a 40 litre tank. Temperature is 77°f/25°c. They have been together for 18 months. The betta tries to eat the sinking pellets but the cories are oblivious to it.
As pointed out the bettas temperament is often an issue. Watch him very closely and have a back up plan if they need separating.

 

[Silvermist80]

Pygmy Corys such as C. hastatus, C. habrosus and C. pygmaeus can be kept in smaller aquariums. If you kept the tank at 78, both species would be fine. Bettas can be snarky lol, but I've seen some of them kept in Community Aquariums and thrived. Think it depends on the Betta though. Yes, a backup plan would be good. I was told I could house Gold Barbs with Guppies... yeah, no you can't lol. I had another tank for the Barbs though. Talk about snarky, those Barbs often go after the poor pleco in their tank. Have 10 in a 20 gallon. Fish dont always behave the way they're supposed to.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

No, I do not suggest it.

I would keep the betta by himself, with the snail, in the 10g. If you want some cories, I recommend getting a 29g tank. That gives you a lot of stocking options.