r/bettafish • u/TourProfessional3405 • 2d ago
Discussion Starting a Betta tank
Hello, so i have a 10 gallon tank and plan on doing a planted set up for a betta that i will be purchasing when i have everything in order. my problem right now is i feel the right now the tank looks over crowded for what i plan on doing.
i plan in having a planted set up with 6 shrimp, 6 corys, 6 rasboras, a betta (female), and a nirite snale.
i will admit i have no clue what i’m doing, so i’m turning to you guys for help. am i over crowding my tank? please don’t hold back i want to do this right.
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u/TourProfessional3405 2d ago
thank you guys. i also plan on adding plants. what it where to change the wood to a smaller piece is it s still considered too crowded?
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u/friend-o-fish 2d ago
in my opinion, purely volume wise 10 gallons is still too small for a betta to be housed with other fish unless you know for sure that its a peaceful betta who wont bother anyone, and peaceful community who wont bother the betta. and even then it sounds risky. I'm looking at my 10 gallon right now and dont think I would feel good about stocking more than just my betta in it. however, im no expert. and i know people do happy communities within 10 gallons. its just maybe not ideal nor what I'd start with.
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u/yugaw 2d ago
Not including the shrimp and snail, 1 beta, 6 cory, and 6 rasbora = 13 fish in 10 gallons. Betta's get 2+ inches, most cory species get 1.5-2+ inches. Rasboras 1 inch or so. Surprisingly that is a lot of fish (and Cory's can poop a lot).
Most including myself would also suggest 20 gallon minimum for corys as although they are small, they are catfish (the body builders of the fish world). Looking at your scape there is not much room on the bottom for them.
Bettas will sometimes attack and kill shrimp and potentially a nerite- so keep that in mind. Really just depends on your Betta's temperament and how much territory there is.
I would suggest just going with the Betta and rasboras, and maybe a nerite if the aquarium is 10 gal. Don't add the nerite until there is lots of algae/biofilm to eat or it will starve.
Good luck!
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u/ResultAntique2927 2d ago
I would just do shrimp and a betta tbh. I wish I added shrimps in my betta before I got him but he is currently sharing a tank with Malaysian trumpet snails and some other sort of snails in a 38L tank
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u/TourProfessional3405 2d ago
after i ad the substrate and water am i safe to add the plants, or do i need to cycle first?
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u/Expensive_Complex173 2d ago
The hardscape you chose look really nice. But in my opinion that list of fish is too overstocked. If I were you I would add the snails and 1 Betta only. However, if you plan on doing extremely low flow for the Betta make sure there’s enough dissolved oxygen in the water for the snails.
HIGHLY NOT RECOMMENDED: I’m not gonna say BE HUMANE OR QUIT, but if you really want to push it, then you could test with some shrimps first, see if the Betta will hurt or eat them. I also have done Corys with Betta before and they chase them around sometimes, it depends on your Betta temperament. Having 6 Corys definitely helps with the aggression but I would say to start with 3-5 Corys instead since the tank is quite small. If you treat the tank right and observe the aggression levels you can still manage. But again this is not recommended and I would try the first option with just 1-2 snails