Tankmates?

[audi0]

Hi,
I currently have a male betta veil tail in a 3 gallon tank and he is fairly docile and tame. I've only ever owned my betta because I took him in after having to use a betta fish in a somewhat cruel and cramped ecocolumn experiment at school. I've been wanting to upgrade him to a bigger tank and add in some tank mates for the longest time and I finally have the allowance to do so. I was thinking about putting him into a 15 gallon tank and then adding 2 African dwarf frogs in. Are there any other peaceful fish that I could add in without overstocking the bioload? I was thinking about a shrimp or two but I'm scared the ADFs will eat them. I'm basically looking for a somewhat easy maintenance tankmate that won't bully the betta and frogs or be bullied.

Thanks,
Audi

 

[Essjay]

Bettas are better kept alone, or maybe with a snail for company.

Having once kept dwarf frogs in the same tank as a betta I would never, ever do so again. Frogs are almost blind and find their food by smell. It was a nightmare trying to stop the betta eating the frogs' food before they could find it. Then one day one of the frogs mistook the betta's tail for food and clamped onto it. I found the betta frantically swimming round the tank trying to dislodge the frog. I moved the frogs and half the filter media into my quarantine tank. The betta developed fin rot from the bitten area, and his tail never regrew properly.

As for fish tank mates, there are few fish that would be suitable for a 15 gallon tank, and those that would be OK would be smaller fish which would be eaten - or at least become very stressed by a betta attempting to eat them.
Fast swimming fish would stress the betta.
A lot of small fish have teeth, and even the most placid fish usually cannot resist the long flowing fins of a betta.

 

[audi0]

Bettas are better kept alone, or maybe with a snail for company.

Having once kept dwarf frogs in the same tank as a betta I would never, ever do so again. Frogs are almost blind and find their food by smell. It was a nightmare trying to stop the betta eating the frogs' food before they could find it. Then one day one of the frogs mistook the betta's tail for food and clamped onto it. I found the betta frantically swimming round the tank trying to dislodge the frog. I moved the frogs and half the filter media into my quarantine tank. The betta developed fin rot from the bitten area, and his tail never regrew properly.

As for fish tank mates, there are few fish that would be suitable for a 15 gallon tank, and those that would be OK would be smaller fish which would be eaten - or at least become very stressed by a betta attempting to eat them.
Fast swimming fish would stress the betta.
A lot of small fish have teeth, and even the most placid fish usually cannot resist the long flowing fins of a betta.

So I went to Petco yesterday and by chance they had the $1 per gallon sale and I ended up buying a 20 gallon so I can start thinking about somewhat more fish. I don't think I'm going to get the frogs because of the difficulty feeding them and the fact that I bought a 20 high since 20 longs weren't there. I've read about many success stories with a school of 8-10 tetras and a single male betta. Would a good school of tetras and a school of 6-8 panda corys be okay for the tank? And if not panda corys, what about dwarf corys and the tetras? To add on, plenty of people say ghost shrimp are fine with some good foliage too which I was only worried about getting before because of the frogs so I was thinking of getting 2 or 3

Also how long should I let the tank cycle? I want to plant java moss in the sand but I don't know what much else can grow in sand easily. Can anyone suggest tall plants that grow in sand for my betta?

 

[Byron]

I suggest you leave the Betta in the 3 gallon tank, on its own. Bettas are not community fish, and it is not fair to risk the health and well being of the fish when it is not likely going to work in the end.

Cycling...there are articles in that section of this forum that will explain cycling. If you do have live plants, once they are growing you can add a few fish and slowly progress, without "cycling" as such.

Betta need floating plants more than others, so I would look at getting some Water Sprite or Water Lettuce.

 

[NickAu]

I would use Water sprite, it forms a nice ball that Bettas use to sleep in.

To get it like that quicker I regularly trim the long leaves, and its ok to trim the roots if you like.

 

[Demeter32]

Meaning no offense whatsoever, I would seriously like to know where everyone is getting the idea that dwarf frogs are good with bettas. Amphibians and fish just shouldn't be mixed IMO, unless you want one or the other to get eaten or badly injured.

As for tank mates, I stick to bottom dwellers. While it is safest to keep bettas alone, some can have success with bottom dwellers like kuhli loaches and BN plecos. Shrimp and snails are often a safe bet as well, but the betta may eat them.