Hi, so I’m planning a 20gallon tank betta sorority with 5 bettas, 10
ember tetras and 6 Pygmy cories. I’m getting the bettas from the sorority tank of my LFS. I have a few questions to ask. Firstly, is this overstocking the tank? If no, is it possible to add more bettas/ember tetras/cories to the tank? Even if it’s not overstocked, do you recommend me get a bigger tank? If yes, then what can my stocking be? Secondly, how heavily plated do it need to be? I know it has to be heavily planted, but how heavily? Any pictures for reference? Thirdly, in what sequence do I add in the fish?
Fourthly, how long do I have to leave the filter in my already cycled tank to have enough beneficial bacterial? Lastly, how do I plant plants in
sand? Like do I leave them in the tiny little pots they came with or do I take them out to them to plant them? How do I use
root tabs for the plants? Do I put them in the sand like how I do it with aquarium soil?
Thanks in advance and sorry for so many questions!
Make sure to go with a 20g Long for the sorority. It will give you an additional 6 inches I think. Its 13 x 13 x 30. I wouldn’t stock either that many embers or that many cories. Maybe 8 tetras and 4 cories. The 20g long will work for the 5 girls but I wouldn’t do more than that.
As far as planting it’s about breaking their line of sight and having hiding places for them. Make sure to have some decorations they can hide under or behind like a bridge, coconut shell,
cave etc. You can create height with those and block line of sight by buying java ferns and
anubias and super glue gel them onto the decorations. That will give a good break.
You will want to add the tetras and pygmies first I think and when ready add all 5 girls at once. If you find one starts bullying after awhile you can give it a timeout by floating it upside the tank for 30 minutes, then release it and see how it does. Doing this several times usually helps that.
Put your filter in the old tank for a week, then add the fish slowly, maybe the tetras one week, the cories the second and the bettas the 3rd. Make sure to test
ammonia,
nitrites and
nitrates before adding the next set of fish.
Plants. It depends on the type. Most potted plants are semi-aquatic so list the types you’re referring to but no you’re not supposed to leave them in the pots. Depending on the plant you can buy
plant anchors/weights and they’ll root in the sand. Stem plants are good and don’t require root tabs. I usually don’t use root tabs, stick with low-medium light plants and fertilizer the water column with
flourish, nitrogen and liquid “carbon”.
I’ll attach a few photos of my decorations to show you what I mean by putting the plants on the decorations and blocking line of sight.
Here are some ideas, this is a new tank so the stem plants haven’t grown much yet. At the moment I don’t have a sorority but I’ve had them in the past. I currently have a male so have to leave him alone.
In this pic you can see there are multiple places to hide beside and under. This is important in a betta sorority. You can also change things around, move decorations and plants in this setup if you find there is much territory debate. I never had a female kill another. Usually they establish their territories and dominance and will co-habitate ok after that.
This bridge is superglued to types of ferns, Java and Water ferns.
In front to the left is a
crypt wendtii green and the reddish one is a stem plant called
Alternanthera Reineckii And
christmas moss. In the back is a tall anubias super glued to a rock.
This picture is a large fake
drift wood piece with again,
java fern and water ferns as well as
java moss.
Lastly a coconut shell with christmas moss I just bought. More Alternanthera Reineckii, a
bacopa stem plant and a crypt and another tall anubias.
