Betta Tank Upgrade questions

Hi, I've had my crowntail betta, Hermes, for about 2 months now. I've kept him in a 1.5 gallon tank, though when I started reading a lot of the information here, I decided to upgrade him and maybe put him with a few peaceful, non-nipping tankmates. I've already set the tank up and will let the pump run for 2 days or so. We have really soft water, and I was wondering if I need to add a water hardener to it before I move Hermes into it.

After reading some of the threads here, I've also decided that I'd like to put maybe a cory or two and some cardinal tetras in with him, but no more than 5 other fish total. Any advice or other suggestions for compatible tankmates?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

 

With a 10 gallon tank I would put EITHER 2-3 cories or 4 cardinal tetras. Both of these types of fish need to be with others of their own kind. The tank is too small for both. Make sure you put the Betta in last so he won't get territorial and make sure the tank has lots of hiding spots (caves, plants).
The major thing you need to worry about when a Betta has tank mates is overfeeding. It is very difficult to control how much he eats since he will steal food from the others.
Bettas are very happy alone and don't get lonely. Best way to keep him healthy is keep him by himself.

Use NovAqua+ water conditioner. It should balance out the water to what he needs plus adds vitamins. If he has been living in that same water now for two months he should be used to it. Changing the water chemistry with chemicals can severely stress the fish and kill him. They are quite adaptable and can live in your water as long as it's not constantly changing because of chemicals added.

 

Ok, I wasn't sure about the water softness. Thank goodness I didn't do him any lasting harm, lol. I'm going to research Cories and Cardinal Tetras more before I make a final decision, though I'll post a picture of him once he's settled in his new home (after the cories or tetras).

Thank you, Phloxface

 

welcome to fishlore! generally we watch the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates levels.. and that's about it.. pH, kH, gH are usually something fish adapt to, like phlox mentioned and as long as they're steady, you're good. I think you do need to adjust meds for real soft water, but I could be wrong there. that would be a question to post in the freshwater diseases forum. Best of luck with your betta and other fish.

 

Another tank mate that would most likely get along with a betta are otocinclus catfish. They only grow to be about 1- 1 1/2. So you could probably get a way with getting 4 of those if you wanted to do those instead of corys. They are both great fish to have and do a wonderful job cleaning algae off the tank once you get some growth. Natalie

 

What is your pH and the level of water hardness (KH and GH if you can get them for us) and that will help to answer the question about the meds better? I do not think unless the readings are way off chart that it will make that much difference. It does make a difference though if we are talking about a commercial water softener. In that case we never use out of the hot water tap to fill the tank, just from the cold water tap. The salt in the tank of the water softener is not good for the fishies. Some folks temper their water from the hot water tap to regulate the temperature and that is not a real bad idea if you have PVC pipe and no water softener, but some folks have copper pipe and use a softener and that is not the best for some fish. The salt is always a bad idea and the copper can be bad for some species of fish so using cold water and letting it come to temp by letting it sit out or nuking some and mixing until you get a good temp is the best bet. I would not heat any and mix unless you have an aquarium thermometer handy though. It really is too hard to guess the temperature and it doesn't take a lot of heat to overdo it.

I hope some of that helps and does not confuse too much. Welcome to Fishlore.com and please introduce us to your little one when you have time. Congratulations on the move to a larger tank. Most of us who have done this have had happy surprises with more active babies and fun watching them getting to know their new digs. Don't be too surprised at some funny reactions, he may not be able to believe that the tank is all his.

The Cardinal Tetras run large in the tetra family and really need to be in groups of 6 or more to show their true nature. Cories need at least 3. Otos do well with 3 to 4. Cories do not eat algae so they will not clean the tank of algae. A lot of people think they are algae eaters and they do not touch the stuff. They actually eat bloodworms, shrimp pellets, and carnivore foods like the betta but like it better when it falls to the bottom of the tank so they do better with the foods that sink to the floor of the tank but they should be carnivore foods. They do come to the top to finish off some bloodworms but that will mean that they have to be there for the betta to overeat on them so that is not the best idea. If you want to give them bloodworms, pinch them in your fingers and release them at the bottom of the tank so they are there for them to eat at the bottom away from your betta.

In a 10 gallon, you could put a betta and 3 cories but that would be all. Or you could have a Betta and 5 Cardinal Tetras, it would be a little short of a school but probably okay. Or you could have a Betta and 2 Otos and 2 Dwarf (Chain) Loaches. There are probably other combinations, but these are combinations I have personally tried and had success with except with the Tetras.

Rose

 

I just thought of another way you can give him better water without adding chemicals. Why not buy a Brita Water filter? I have one of the Brita Water filters that attach right to the faucet and I always use filtered water for my fish. It takes a lot of bad things out of the water but also some good trace elements. As long as you use a good water conditioner like NovAqua+ to replace what is lost you should be fine. My fish have done great on filtered water.

 

Phlox: The water we use is well water straight from the ground. It's run through a filter to remove sand and such, but there's no chemicals added, nothing added to it at all. I did add a dose of NovAqua+ and it's helping out a lot.

Chickadee: I tested the water while I'm typing this (using the little dip strips), and the results are between 6.2 and 6.8 for pH, 0 alkalinity, 25 for water hardness (higher than when I first filled the tank), 0 nitrite and 20 or less nitrate. The temperature is reading around 79 degrees. I think it's balancing itself out fairly well, like I said I was a little worried about the softness, but even that is balancing out.

I think I've decided to go with 3 cories and Hermes. Once everything is set up, I'll post pictures of the tank. Thank you so much guys

 

Sounds good!

 

- when you get a chance, this would be a great testing kit. It will end up saving you money over the strips, in addition to being much more accurate and having the ammonia test.

looking forward to the pics.

 

Sooooo, I have this spare 10 gallon laying around and decided at work today I should give my Watts and his shrimp and snail friends an upgraded pad (he's in a 5 gallon currently). Off to get a lid and do the ever tedious swap, I'll post pictures when we're done! I'm excited!

 

Do you always think about your tanks when you're at work?

 

Haha, pretty much. I'm the only waitress at a tiny little restaurant so when we're slow I get to do lots of busy work, plenty of time for the mind to wander, lol.

 

Well. ....transfer compete. I took pictures and then promptly dropped my phone in a bucket of water...... it's hanging out in a bag of rice atm, pictures later if my phone recovers

Watts is swimming around checking everything out, he seems very confused so far, lol.

 

Oh no! Hope your phone recovers and Watts gets used to his new digs

 

Thanks, me too (on both counts)! I really didn't need a non functional phone this week, ugh. Oh well, at least my kiddo has lots more room now!

 

Yay!!! I bet he loves it! Oh, and I hope your phone will start working again!

 

He's so funny, he's charging around staring the plants down like he's never seen them before, lol....I even arranged it basically the same as the old tank, he remains suspicious of those plants though. ...

 

Well, yeah! Plants aren't supposed to move, but they did

 

True! I suppose I'd be suspicious too if I left my house and came home to find all my furniture in 'almost' exactly the same place but not quite....., lol.

 

True! I suppose I'd be suspicious too if I left my house and came home to find all my furniture in 'almost' exactly the same place but not quite....., lol.

Lol I totally get what your little guy must be feeling lol. You're right, I'd be slightly suspicious too if I came home one day and everything had moved "slightly". Lol.

 

I thought everyone thinks about their tanks at work.

 

Phone works again, so we have pictures! I definitely need more plants now. ....

Watts is a lot more settled in today, he came up and ate lunch as usual and seemed perfectly happy

 

Aw, that's awesome! He looks so happy in his new home!

 

Sooooo, I have this spare 10 gallon laying around

My spare tanks never stay spares for long. It looks great

 

Thanks guys, it looks pretty bare atm, I'm hoping my poor bacopa will like the added lighting and recover a bit, that and I'll be transferring some plants from the 40 over since it's looking a bit like a jungle these days. ....

And, whenever my stand arrives I've got a new 55 grow out tank to set up and swap 200 snails and around 50 fry into. That makes me tired just thinking about it