hey! Saw lots of people doing this so I thought I’d make one too, any thoughts or suggestions? I just got a 50gal tank and am working on filling it with plants. Substrate is aqua-soil capped with a thick layer of pool filter sand. I’m trying to decide between pea puffers OR a beta imbellis (apparently more peaceful and non aggressive than other betas) but am leaning towards the beta, even tho I really love puffers, because the puffers seem to require a higher PH than what is ideal for the others, especially Kuli loaches. Correct me if I’m wrong though, I’ve compiled some notes on the second pic that I’ve taken after researching the water parameters needed for these fishes.
Initially I was just gonna go with the Beta, but someone told me about pea puffers when buying my ramshorn snails, who they were planning on feeding to their pufferfish. It seems like a good way to slim down my over population of snails from my neo shrimp and guppy tank. Does anyone have any experience with pea puffers/beta together with Kuli loaches and Cory?
And also, side note, are there any eel-like cool fish such as rope fish or Birchir but can live in a 50gal freshwater tank (with or without other fish) After getting to feed an eel a large chunk of frozen shrimp w/ tweezers at a LFS, I think I’m addicted to eels 😅😅 and fish/snakes that would come out and snatch food from tongs like that lmfao.
Thanks!!
Posted by Blinkyekko
9 Comments
As a general rule Bettas get along well with cory’s. Every fish is an individual!! My betta actually became happier when I introduced the cory’s🌺
Khulis are probably a good shout with imbellis since betta and khulis tend to be found in the same habitats together. My own betta is slightly territorial towards my embers (albeit only chasing, no nipping), but leaves my khulis alone. Corys and betta also tend to do well together and since pygmys tend to be mid-level fish you won’t have to worry so much about competition for food between the and the Corys.
That said, imbellis can be just as aggressive as any other betta, so it might be an idea to keep a spare tank on hand *just in case*.
https://preview.redd.it/rc30nivw6icg1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=620c5d09ced1cba76fcf6cab132064b48dec9ffd
He thinks he’s a cory (; shrimp are great too
https://preview.redd.it/toyaakyy6icg1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=82a8091cfa31d0179ca669d33a3a1fafa22a36fc
Definitely no pea puffers and betta together. Peas tankmates must be chosen really carefully, as they can be aggressive or even just curious and a betta will likely be a big target of nipping. I could also see the betta getting aggressive with the puffers in return, so overall a very bad tankmate combo.
For kuhli loaches, that pH seems like a very low range, and I keep them in a pH of 7.6, which I hope is alright as Ive had them for years, but people regularly keep them with pea puffers with success. Pygmy cories are also usually good with peas. With pea puffers they mainly eat live food and somtimes frozen if they aren’t too picky, and will need more than just snails for their diet.
For your eel, a half banded spiny eel would fit your tank size, but they’d likely eat all of the other listed fish as they are very small and eels are opportunists.
Id do some more reading on the wild betta imbellis to make sure you set up an appropriate setup for it. The standard brightly lit, clear water and open setups people generally keep their communities and bettas in might not be the best fit for a fish that does best in a setup that mimics its shaded natural habitat with leaf litter to pick through and tannin colored water. The “peaceful” bit is also very blown out of proportion btw. They can do well, but can also be totally freaked out by something that zooms around as much as loaches sometimes do lol
But if you’re really set on a betta, a standard domestic splendens should do just fine in a 50g with some loaches! 🙂
Get discus fish maybe u like
Make sure you read up on pea puffer feeding. You are going to need to start building a snail culture and black worm culture long before you get pea puffers to be able to sustain feeding them.
I’d get a larger corydoras species. Especially if you don’t get the pea puffers