I understand the risk of adding a betta to my community tank and am willing to go from 10 to 20 gallons.
I currently have 6-7 shrimp, 2 corydoras Annadell and Pan-chan, 6 Neon tetras and maybe 2 ramshorn snails.
According to aquaadvisor, I’m 97% stocked if I include the male betta I was planning to get.
Would I get a better gauge of their personality from a mom and pop or a Petstore? I’m inclined to get one from my local corporation just because I can sadly return the lil guy if he’s bullying the rest of my tank. On the other hand the mom/pop bettas are used to plants and seem to be in a better environment and are a bit more active, so I might get a better gauge on his personality?
Any advice and opinions are welcome! I’ve had bettas before but I didn’t have the intel I do now so any advice is appreciated.
https://i.redd.it/b6xf6v0wys6g1.jpeg
Posted by AsianSpaceBoy
6 Comments
There is no way to gauge the personality without just putting them in there to see how it goes. But in a 10g with corydoras and tetras I would not add a betta. Even when tolerant, they really still need their space and peace. Tetras aren’t exactly calm fish either, and are not really recommended with bettas to begin with because of their active, zippy and nippy personalities. Besides, the corydoras should be higher up on the priority list as they need proper groups, not pairs. They are a very social fish! Id pass on the betta for now and ideally get a bigger tank to up the cory numbers, and then maybe revisit the idea!
ur more likely to see a more active betta at a mom/pop shop if they are in actual tanks…. but tbh i’ve literally gone to 7+ small local fish stores in my state and pretty much all the bettas were in barely betta condition than the big stores…. a couple of them had big tank systems for the betta fish but even those fish still seems depressed and barely moving
My experience with pet store bettas is that they don’t live long. I know some people have better luck but I’ve never had one make it past 1.5 years before some sort of fatality (I promise my care is good-all my other fish do great). I think it’s partly because of bad breeding and partly due to the stress living in those cups for months puts on their bodies.
As for adding to a community tank I recommend getting a female. Even if you find a docile male it’s possible your neons will nip at his fins.
In general though I’d say to instead get a couple more corydoras rather than adding a beta. They do better in bigger groups. I can’t super tell in the photo but if your filter is good and you have a lot of plants you might could still add a beta later. Or when you upgrade to a 20!
If you have the choice, always choose mom and pop stores over chain fish stores
Honestly, there is no way to tell that.
Even LFSs are getting their bettas from the same highly overbred supply chains for the most part.
Females TEND to be less territorial, but you just never know.
IF you go with the 20 gallon yes, I would go for a female. ALSO it’s important to know that you’ll need at least 4 more Corys, they need to have friends. I would personally also add 4-6 more neons but it’s definitely not necessary. Looks very nice!