New To Fish, Few Questions To Ask.

Hi, so I've been coming here for a little while for research, and have finally taken the plunge and started my first planted 10 gallon tank. It's been about 5 days so far, so a very new tank. I'm doing the fish-in cycling method with a betta, and am monitoring it pretty religiously and keeping up with water changes etc.

Anyway, my veiltail betta Mars has(so far) been happy and healthy, eyes are clear, fins look good, swimming at the top, pooping, etc, so I think I'm doing alright there. So here are the questions:

1) I would like to add an african dwarf frog to the tank when the cycling is complete, but I've been reading conflicting reports on whether or not they will get along with bettas. I know it can be hard to nail it down due to the different personalities of the animals, but another thing is that my substrate is the black eco-complete gravel. It's pea-sized and a little rough. Would that be potentially harmful to the frog, in terms of scratches/swallowing etc? And would it be a risk having one with my betta?

2) After the frog I'd like to finish filling it out with a few neon tetras. Hopefully the frog won't eat them, and I've read that they generally get along with bettas, so I'm hoping they'll be alright. I've heard they're kind of delicate, so I'm planning on adding them after the frog, I guess about 5 of them. With that in mind, would it overcrowd the tank if I also added, say, a mystery snail to help with the algae?

And finally, in the event that the snail would not overload the tank, are african dwarf frogs prone to nipping at snail tentacles?

Sorry, I know it's a lot, but I'm just trying to be as knowledgeable as I can before I start spending money, and I want to risk as little animal life as possible!

 

Small gravel like that doesn't sound good with the frog. Their is a risk of injestion and impaction within the frog. You also don't want abrasive services in with frog. As for the neons, how big is your aquarium exactly.

 

Neon tetras are recommended to be kept in at least a 20 gallon tank.

 

No fish is recommended for a 10 with a betta. Its simply not enough room for them to get away from each other. Neons are subtropic so not a good match temperature wise either. As far as the frog the 2 biggest issues with having them with any fish especially a long finned one is they have poor eyesite and can easily confuse fins for food as well as fish mistaking the frogs toes and legs as food.

 

I agree with david, neon tetras need cooler water than bettas and need a bigger tank. The recommended minimum size for a betta community is a twenty gallon so the fish have room to get away from the betta. Frogs do best in species-only tanks.
You could try a mystery snail but I have heard of bettas nipping at their eyes, nerite snails would work well and they are better at eating algae.

 

Hmm, so no fish with the betta in a 10. Would ghost shrimp be a good alternative?

 

I personally think the behavior of Bettas is about the most difficult thing in the hobby to predict other than the behavior of Angelfish. More often than not I think they work with ADF's . A snail would also be fine although I recommend Nerites as they won't lay viable eggs in freshwater and therefore no chance of a snail horde.

Lastly neons and bettas don't make great tank mates as neons prefer water a good bit cooler than bettas. You could try chilI rasboras or ember tetras ! Just know the betta could decide he hates everyone and become a mass murderer.

 

I'd say so, but it all depends on your particular fish. I've personally never had any issues with them, but that doesn't mean you won't, either.

 

Hmm, so no fish with the betta in a 10. Would ghost shrimp be a good alternative?

Ghost shrimp can work but the betta might eat them and I have heard of ghost shrimp being aggressive. Amano shrimp would work, they are bigger than ghost shrimp, they aren't aggressive, and they are also excellent at eating algae.
Welcome to Fishlore!

 

Yeah I was originally going to do glowlight tetras but then I read that bettas don't like them because they're too bright. The frog was something that popped into my head yesterday, so I didn't have my heart set on it. I'm fine with a snail or shrimp instead , I love the guys.

Thanks shutterbug13!

 

Yeah I was originally going to do glowlight tetras but then I read that bettas don't like them because they're too bright. The frog was something that popped into my head yesterday, so I didn't have my heart set on it. I'm fine with a snail or shrimp instead , I love the guys.

Thanks shutterbug13!

Personally, I've had ghost shrimp that got their own tank because they had so much personality!

 

Yeah I was originally going to do glowlight tetras but then I read that bettas don't like them because they're too bright. The frog was something that popped into my head yesterday, so I didn't have my heart set on it. I'm fine with a snail or shrimp instead , I love the guys.

Thanks shutterbug13!

No problem!

 

Personally, I've had ghost shrimp that got their own tank because they had so much personality!

Yes, if I go the shrimp route I'll definitely get a marimo ball or two for them to play around on. That looks like fun to watch.

 

Just recently there was a thread here where someone's african dwarf frog swallowed a chunk of gravel and blocked up its, throat, so I would say no. On the other hand though, they can work with bettas in some cases, if you find a way for the frog to get food. Ghost shrimp are sold at around 30 cents or less a pop as feeders so you could buy a few just to see if there will be agression. You could keep a male betta, ghost shrimp/amano shrimp, and snails if the betta decides it's cool with the shrimp.

 

Yeah, I'm very curious to see how he'll do with other creatures in the tank. He's pretty happy on his own but I'd like to have a little more life in there. I did hear that bettas can sometimes find it amusing to ram snails off of the tank walls, so we'll see Anyway, it won't be for a while, since I just started a few days ago, but I can already feel myself getting addicted to the aquarium hobby...

 

Yeah, I'm very curious to see how he'll do with other creatures in the tank. He's pretty happy on his own but I'd like to have a little more life in there. I did hear that bettas can sometimes find it amusing to ram snails off of the tank walls, so we'll see Anyway, it won't be for a while, since I just started a few days ago, but I can already feel myself getting addicted to the aquarium hobby...

It's like a drug addiction, except way more expensive

 

Oh, I've already found that out! My current tank was originally for my kids, but unfortunately we did little research and were given ill information from the pet store, so the tank was bad to start off with. Then my father-in-law (who knows nothing about animals in general) came and dumped 6 Wal-Mart goldfish in and pretty soon they were all dead. The tank sat around for a while and I've now reanimated it for my own use and my wife has been giving me the side-eye up until yesterday when she realized how much beauty it added to the bedroom.

 

If you’re set on trying a tank mate, I’d do a snail .

My Betta killed ghost shrimp in his tank, however as others have stated, it depends on the individual Betta fish’s personality.

 

If you’re set on trying a tank mate, I’d do a snail .

My Betta killed ghost shrimp in his tank, however as others have stated, it depends on the individual Betta fish’s personality.

Also depends on how much cover you have, a heavily planted tank gives more opportunity for tank mates to hide and survive if they're being hunted

 

My tank is pretty well-planted and I would still like to add some java moss or marimo ball so I'll likely try the shrimp first, then the snail as FishFlake38 said. Thanks for the help, everyone! Glad to be part of the community.