Hi i just bought a 10 gallon fish tank and a male betta. He looks lonely and my tank looks sooooo boring compared to my dads 20 gallon. I was thinking about putting a dojo loach in with the beta and maybe some sort of algae eater. I like dojo loaches so really want to put that in if its okay. Would a male betta and dojo loach be too much for a 10 gallon tank? If it is not what else can i put in. Thanks =)
Tank Mate For Male Betta
- Thread starter cloudz
- Start date
drobbyb
Bowhead
Welcome to TFF! It's great that you found this forum. Unfortunately a 10 gallon tank of too small for dojo loaches. They can reach 12 inches in length, and are a cold water fish like goldfish. There are other loaches that would fit though! Khuli loaches would fit the bill if you have your heart set on having loaches. I'm unsure of a proper algae eater for a 10 gallon tank, so I'll let the other members have a shot at it.
We have to be careful here. The betta is really prone to being fin nipped by other fish so we need to stay away from any known fin nippers like tiger barbs. What kind of fish do you like?
We have to be careful here. The betta is really prone to being fin nipped by other fish so we need to stay away from any known fin nippers like tiger barbs. What kind of fish do you like?
Thanks for the reply =) I'm not sure what kind of fish I like. I wanted to get a big tank so I could put a rope fish or fire eel or something like those, but since I didn't have enough money i decided to get a betta. I was also thinking about getting khuli loaches haha. My dad had a dojo loach so thats why i wanted one. The khuli loaches are black right? That's pretty cool. You said "Khuli loaches would fit the bill". Does that mean i can have more than 1? I guess if khuli loaches work i'll just have those and the betta. Does petco or petsmart sell khuli loaches? What do you recommend i put with my betta? Thanks =)
Good betta tank mates are snails and shrimp (unless the betta eats the shrimp), khuli loaches, otos and corys. In a 10 gallon you could have:
1 x betta
6 x pygmy corys
2 x ornamental snails (zebra snails/apple snails/mystery snails)
4 x ornamental shrimp (cherry shrimp, ghost/glass shrimp, etc)
Remember to do your research, especially into shrimp who can be very delicate.
Have fun!
1 x betta
6 x pygmy corys
2 x ornamental snails (zebra snails/apple snails/mystery snails)
4 x ornamental shrimp (cherry shrimp, ghost/glass shrimp, etc)
Remember to do your research, especially into shrimp who can be very delicate.
Have fun!
OohFeeshy
It's only forever; not long at all...
If kuhlis were the only other tankmates, then there would be no problem with a large group of, say, ten. They prefer large groups and have a very small bioload. If you add them in two groups of five, a few weeks apart, then the filter will be able to cope better with the additions.
just my personal stockin idea...
1 betta
3 corydoras'
6 ghost shrimp
2 african dwarf frogs
1 mystery snail
by the way, bettas really arent good community fish at all... they're pretty limited in terms of tankmates.
NinjaSmurf
Devils Advocate
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Five khulis and probably four ottos, plus maybe four or so shrimp. You'll have to feed the ottos algae if you don't have enough growing in your tank, and you would be surprised how much they can eat. And you will have to wait awhile for before getting them, as stated before.
Personally, I like shrimp more than ottos, they are much more comical and very awesome to watch sift around for food. Of course, your betta might eat them, so be prepared just in case.
Me, I'd have:
the betta
5 khulis
5 pygmy cories
4 or 5 shrimp
Whatever you decide to do add them in some small batches, it'll give your tank time to cope with the added bioload.
Personally, I like shrimp more than ottos, they are much more comical and very awesome to watch sift around for food. Of course, your betta might eat them, so be prepared just in case.
Me, I'd have:
the betta
5 khulis
5 pygmy cories
4 or 5 shrimp
Whatever you decide to do add them in some small batches, it'll give your tank time to cope with the added bioload.
Oohhh thats cool i was thinking about frogs too but i dont have a lid =(. I dont really like snails for some reason. The ghost shrimp and corydoras would be cool though =)
Ohhh i like yours too =) I think i am going to do yours =) or 5 khulis and the 4 ottos
oh my god my betta scared me today. I was looking at it and saw it was on top, but when i looked closely at it it was upside down. I thought it died, but when i poked it, it swam away. Do bettas do this or is there something wrong with mine
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
They -do- do kind of weird things like resting perfectly still on plants and things sometimes.. perhaps this was that sort of behavior. WD
I am going to interject that although the bioload of 4 otocinclus would be OK in a 10 gallon, it is too small a tank to feed them. I have not yet found an oto that I could feed using commercial food. In a 10 gallon, they will be out of food in a week. It takes a nasty 10 gallon, one loaded with algae, to keep even one otocinclus well fed.
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
Agree, hard to find enough algae to keep those things alive. We should have a small shoal of otos that we call the TFF-OTOs. We could pass them around and that small group would take care of all the TFF members who haven't figured out their light balance yet. 
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