Would this stock work well with a Betta?

lateinningmagic

Call Me E-Man
Apr 14, 2009
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New York
My sister has not stopped bugging me about getting a Betta, and was on youtube yesterday showing me videos to convince me to get a Betta. She's really wearing me down. Also, my cousin bought one of those small plastic containers with two Bettas (luckily there is a divider, but still way too small for even one Betta), so I'm thinking of buying one off him.

I want to put the Betta in my 10g which has/will have gravel, fake plants, decorations, and a cascade brand filter.

I'm thinking of moving something from my 20g tank since its a bit overstocked, and will be definitely overstocked when the Plecos get bigger.

20 Gallon Long:
7 Zebra Danios
6 Neon Tetras
4 Guppies (2 pairs because no lfs will sell me females by themselves)
3 Baby BN Plecos
3 Mystery Snails (I'm going to remove them because my 20g, which has lights and is in the living room gets too hot for snails. Freezing bottles sucks)

I know Guppies + Bettas = a big no-no.

I don't want to move the Neons since they add a lot of color to my 20g and they are the least hardy. (They are the only fish I've lost)

The Plecos are about an inch big each, so they aren't a problem yet, but when they get bigger, could I move one to be kept with a Betta in a 10g?

I really like my Danios since they are very active, but I seem to have too much pale/yellow fish in my tank (Gold Zebras, the plecos at this point and 2 yellow Guppies). I was thinking of buying 3 more "regular" zebra danios and mixing and matching the colors. The end result would be five zebras in the 20g and five in the 10g.

What I was thinking was this:

20G:
5 Zebra Danios (3 Regular, 2 Gold)
6 Neon Tetras
4 Guppies
2 BN Plecos
Snails (when the temperature gets colder)

10G:
Betta
5 Zebra Danios
1 BN Pleco
Snails (when the temperature is warm, if/when they breed)

What do you guys think. Danios aren't fin nippers are they? I'm going to try one more time a lfs to see if they will sell me female guppies by themselves. If they do, I'll probably scratch the whole Betta tank idea and make it a Guppy only tank,
 
I think any of those stocking plans would work. You've done your homework. But as you know, the BN Plecos will get to 5 inches, maybe 6, and I think even one would be too big for a 10 gallon. You could make it work with water changes, but I don't think the fish would be comfortable.

Danios can be fin nippers, but kept in groups, they tend to keep to themselves.

Also, Im surprised that no LFS's will sell female guppies alone. Kinda strange. I guess they're a little more rare since lots of places only stock males and the fish breeders keep the females for baby factories.
 
I think any of those stocking plans would work. You've done your homework. But as you know, the BN Plecos will get to 5 inches, maybe 6, and I think even one would be too big for a 10 gallon. You could make it work with water changes, but I don't think the fish would be comfortable.

Danios can be fin nippers, but kept in groups, they tend to keep to themselves.

Also, Im surprised that no LFS's will sell female guppies alone. Kinda strange. I guess they're a little more rare since lots of places only stock males and the fish breeders keep the females for baby factories.

I might try to sell/give away a pleco to a guy I met when I bought driftwood off of him. He has a nice 55 gallon tank and is a member of MFK, I'm sure he'll take good care of a pleco.

I was surprised they wouldn't sell me female guppies by themselves too. I thought the reason for the "pairs only" policy was that most people would want males over females, so they do the "pairs only" thing so they aren't left with unwanted females. I've tried 2 lfs out of 4. I'm going to try the other 2 soon. I think I can get one of those two to do it since they are your typical big chain stores with uniformed employess. Although one of the workers was very helpful and offered to help me if I ever started a saltwater tank, since that store doesn't carry any SW fish. Another one though couldn't tell me if the fish I wanted were zebra danios or not. He only knew they were 88 cents. :lipssealedsmilie:
 
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