How soft are Betta fins?

[BigFish99]

Hi guys!
I am currently in the middle of a fishless cycle for a 10 gallon tank. In a different thread I said I would go with harlequins, but I went to my lfs and checked out their new stock of them (which were in qt by BTW because that's how good the store is), and they were absolutely tiny. Not fry size, but small enough so that they would not be the most enjoyable to watch for a while yet. I had the idea of a betta and corydora community tank, but there are no live plants. I know that bettas can live without them, but I am pretty concerned about ripped fins. The plants are not overly sharp, but I can see the fins ripping... This is where my question comes in. How soft are their fins? Will they literally rip on everything that's not silk or do they have a certain degree of toughness to them? Am I better off just doing a cory tank?

 

[awilkinson871]

Their fins are pretty delicate especially the longer ones. You can add silk plants or live ones. I would not do plastic plants. I will say that their is no guarantee that the betta will be friendly to the corys and the corys like to have plants and caves to hide in when they get nervous. I say go for the corys to start. You need to add stock slowly so a few at a time and by the time you have all the corys then add harlequins. If you add too many fish at a time you run the risk of having a mini cycle.

 

[BigFish99]

I think I might just go for a cory only tank
Thx tho!

 

[CrackerboxPalace]

what kind of cory were you thinking? the only kind i would keep in a 10 gallon are pygmy and habrosus.

 

[BigFish99]

Oh well in that case maybe not... What are some other options for my tank? Harlequins are out, all neons are out due to size, betta is out, ember tetras are out. Any suggestions? I might do some lyretail panchax. Would that be a good option?

 

[Cue]

Lyretails would be good, but fair warning, killifish don’t really live that long, and some might not survive a year even under perfect conditions. They are also a pain to find and you’d likely have to order online.

some suggestions:
4-6 white cloud mountain minnows (no heater needed as long as your house stays fairly warm)

5-7 Pygmy corydoras (they might not be the most colorful but they are so cute and energetic)

1-2 pea puffers (personally don’t know jack about these guys)

4-6 celestial pearl danios

 

[BigFish99]

I just looked into pea puffers and they sound great. It says they like live plants but the main thing seemed to be about making your scape very busy. any special info about these guys thatI should know?

 

[awilkinson871]

They are VERY picky eaters. Most will only eat live and frozen food. They can also be very territorial so a well planted tank with broken up sight lines is best. Also try to avoid 2 males to keep aggression down. They are also very sensitive to changes in water parameters so make sure the tank is cycled and you keep to water changes regularly. They have a high bioload so most people choose to overfilter with a larger than normal filter.

 

[BigFish99]

Thx1

 

[NearMeBettas]

As said, bettas fins ae super delicate and need silk or live plants.

Pea puffers would be a great idea though. They are super fun.

 

[nanoist]

You could always do a plakat betta. Their fins are shorter and definitely not as prone to tearing because of how much shorter they are. They also tend to swim a bit better bc they aren’t weighed down by the large fin.

Ember tetras would be fine in a 10 gallon? Also you could maybe do a school of dwarf rasboras since they’re so tiny and generally wouldn’t and couldn’t hurt a fly.

 

[CrackerboxPalace]

You could consider sparkling gourami, chili rasboras or various types of killifish. Lyretail killifish are not annual species, so they will live for several years.

 

[BigFish99]

I went with harlequins...