Tankmates for Female Bettas

bassbonediva · 10-15-2009, 04:08 PM

I currently have nine very laid-back female bettas. All of them are full-grown, except one (I just barely bought her the other day and she's TINY compared to the other girls! LOL!). Anywho, for my birthday (which is in nine days), I bought myself a used 45gal bowfront set up. Up to now, the females had been in an 18gal Eclipse 1 system. I definitely want more fish in the new tank than just the nine females. I do have three otocinclus cats that were in the 18gal that will be going into the 45gal as well. So, does anyone have any suggestions for tankmates for my girls? I was thinking about penguin tetras, black mollies and a few Glofish (hook up a blacklight to the regular light strip and turn the blacklight on at night...thought that would look freakin' cool

). So, do those sound good, or does anyone have any other suggestions? I love tiger barbs, but I think they might be a bit too aggressive to go in with the girls. Any suggestions are appreciated!

Oh, and the tank came with a Penguin 170 filter (although it's missing the BIO-Wheel assembly...working on getting that replaced), a heater and some miscellaneous stuffs.

In addition to the nine females, I also have six male bettas (five veiltails and one crowntail) in various set ups. I have pics, but not many of them are very good.

ValRasbora · 11-09-2009, 02:53 PM

penguin tetras should be good, nothing nippy or agressive (tiger barbs are a no, unfortunately.) and nothing with really long fins (male guppy, angelfish, gourami, etc.) or anything territorial. Just research anything you want **before** purchasing it. And no male bettas!
And happy belated birthday!

ValRasbora · 11-09-2009, 02:54 PM

oh, also otos are great, very peaceful. They'd be good in your setup! and I found this on penguin tetras-- make sure to read the comments: http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile36.html

sheamurai · 11-09-2009, 09:44 PM

I'm a fan of rasboras! I have a small school of Harlequins with a male betta, and no issues after almost a year together.

ValRasbora · 11-10-2009, 07:49 AM

I'm a fan of rasboras as well

just make sure to have a school of at least 3, when I had a single harlequin rasbora, he was kinda agressive. But since I got more, he became waaaaaaaay more laid back!

bassbonediva · 11-11-2009, 02:26 AM

I'm kinda confused now...I went to the link that everyone recommends in the newbie section for determining your tank capacity and it says I'm right at my limit with what I have now, but most people think I could way more fish in there. Which is correct? I kind of want to get some more fish for my son (since the 18gal I sold to get the 46gal was supposed to be his tank and I kind of took it over with my female bettas :-P), but if I'm at my limit in the big tank with what I have, then I can't get anything else.

sheamurai · 11-11-2009, 06:55 PM

seems to me that 9 female bettas and 3 otos are not topping out your tank. I wouldn't put any more bigger fish in it, but a small school of rasboras/cards/smaller fish wouldn't put you over the top, IMO. I tend to count otos at half their "inches" due to being surface huggers.
Opinions will differ on this, stocking a tank is a wildly debateable topic.
The website is meant as a tool, not as a rule.

bassbonediva · 11-26-2009, 10:11 PM

Well, the verdict is in. I showed my son pictures of the fish I'm considering for the tank (since they'll technically be "his" fish...long story), and he fell in love with the black mollies. Boring, I know, but he's five. :-P Thanks for all the great suggestions, though!

Newman · 11-27-2009, 09:13 AM

make sure the black molly to oto ratio isnt too much. they will try to out-compete eachother for algae.

bassbonediva · 11-27-2009, 10:44 AM

Really? Didn't know that mollies liked algae. Huh. What would be a good ratio then? I was planning on only about five mollies...and maybe about eight otos or so (depending on how many I can find at Petsmart at one time...they tend to sell fast :-P).

10-15-2009, 04:08 PM	#1
bassbonediva Large Fish Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Northern Arizona Posts: 637	Tankmates for Female Bettas I currently have nine very laid-back female bettas. All of them are full-grown, except one (I just barely bought her the other day and she's TINY compared to the other girls! LOL!). Anywho, for my birthday (which is in nine days), I bought myself a used 45gal bowfront set up. Up to now, the females had been in an 18gal Eclipse 1 system. I definitely want more fish in the new tank than just the nine females. I do have three otocinclus cats that were in the 18gal that will be going into the 45gal as well. So, does anyone have any suggestions for tankmates for my girls? I was thinking about penguin tetras, black mollies and a few Glofish (hook up a blacklight to the regular light strip and turn the blacklight on at night...thought that would look freakin' cool ). So, do those sound good, or does anyone have any other suggestions? I love tiger barbs, but I think they might be a bit too aggressive to go in with the girls. Any suggestions are appreciated! Oh, and the tank came with a Penguin 170 filter (although it's missing the BIO-Wheel assembly...working on getting that replaced), a heater and some miscellaneous stuffs. In addition to the nine females, I also have six male bettas (five veiltails and one crowntail) in various set ups. I have pics, but not many of them are very good.

11-09-2009, 02:53 PM	#2
ValRasbora Large Fish Join Date: May 2009 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 603	penguin tetras should be good, nothing nippy or agressive (tiger barbs are a no, unfortunately.) and nothing with really long fins (male guppy, angelfish, gourami, etc.) or anything territorial. Just research anything you want before purchasing it. And no male bettas! And happy belated birthday! __________________ Fish aren't boring like everyone says! 20 gallon planted swordtail, platy, neon tetra, harlequin rasbora, albino corydoras, otocinclus Betta bowl (heated) nothing so far. soon to do a 10g betta tank with betta imbellis. Work in progress !

11-09-2009, 02:54 PM	#3
ValRasbora Large Fish Join Date: May 2009 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 603	oh, also otos are great, very peaceful. They'd be good in your setup! and I found this on penguin tetras-- make sure to read the comments: http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile36.html __________________ Fish aren't boring like everyone says! 20 gallon planted swordtail, platy, neon tetra, harlequin rasbora, albino corydoras, otocinclus Betta bowl (heated) nothing so far. soon to do a 10g betta tank with betta imbellis. Work in progress ! Last edited by ValRasbora; 11-09-2009 at 02:57 PM..

11-09-2009, 09:44 PM	#4
sheamurai Teenie Weenie Fish Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 39	I'm a fan of rasboras! I have a small school of Harlequins with a male betta, and no issues after almost a year together. __________________

11-10-2009, 07:49 AM	#5
ValRasbora Large Fish Join Date: May 2009 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 603	I'm a fan of rasboras as well just make sure to have a school of at least 3, when I had a single harlequin rasbora, he was kinda agressive. But since I got more, he became waaaaaaaay more laid back! __________________ Fish aren't boring like everyone says! 20 gallon planted swordtail, platy, neon tetra, harlequin rasbora, albino corydoras, otocinclus Betta bowl (heated) nothing so far. soon to do a 10g betta tank with betta imbellis. Work in progress !

11-11-2009, 02:26 AM	#6
bassbonediva Large Fish Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Northern Arizona Posts: 637	I'm kinda confused now...I went to the link that everyone recommends in the newbie section for determining your tank capacity and it says I'm right at my limit with what I have now, but most people think I could way more fish in there. Which is correct? I kind of want to get some more fish for my son (since the 18gal I sold to get the 46gal was supposed to be his tank and I kind of took it over with my female bettas :-P), but if I'm at my limit in the big tank with what I have, then I can't get anything else.

11-11-2009, 06:55 PM	#7
sheamurai Teenie Weenie Fish Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 39	seems to me that 9 female bettas and 3 otos are not topping out your tank. I wouldn't put any more bigger fish in it, but a small school of rasboras/cards/smaller fish wouldn't put you over the top, IMO. I tend to count otos at half their "inches" due to being surface huggers. Opinions will differ on this, stocking a tank is a wildly debateable topic. The website is meant as a tool, not as a rule. __________________

11-26-2009, 10:11 PM	#8
bassbonediva Large Fish Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Northern Arizona Posts: 637	Well, the verdict is in. I showed my son pictures of the fish I'm considering for the tank (since they'll technically be "his" fish...long story), and he fell in love with the black mollies. Boring, I know, but he's five. :-P Thanks for all the great suggestions, though! __________________ 55gal-7 female bettas, 7 platies, 10 guppies, 5 neons, 2 otos, 3 black kuhli loaches, 1 albino cory and 1 USD catfish 29gal-Under construction as a paludarium for my son 10gal divided-Alec, Laurent, and Dragon 10gal divided-Edward, Gordon, Jasper, James Hex5-Emmett and 2 otos All tanks are moderately planted ^^Credit goes to Lludu!^^

11-27-2009, 09:13 AM	#9
Newman Super Fish Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Northern NJ Posts: 2,752	make sure the black molly to oto ratio isnt too much. they will try to out-compete eachother for algae. __________________ Credit goes to Lludu

11-27-2009, 10:44 AM	#10
bassbonediva Large Fish Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Northern Arizona Posts: 637	Really? Didn't know that mollies liked algae. Huh. What would be a good ratio then? I was planning on only about five mollies...and maybe about eight otos or so (depending on how many I can find at Petsmart at one time...they tend to sell fast :-P). __________________ 55gal-7 female bettas, 7 platies, 10 guppies, 5 neons, 2 otos, 3 black kuhli loaches, 1 albino cory and 1 USD catfish 29gal-Under construction as a paludarium for my son 10gal divided-Alec, Laurent, and Dragon 10gal divided-Edward, Gordon, Jasper, James Hex5-Emmett and 2 otos All tanks are moderately planted ^^Credit goes to Lludu!^^