# 10 gallon tank, for a betta and 6 neons



## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

Well i have found that i can set up a 10 gallon tank very cheap and ive always liked how female betta's looked (surprisingly ive never liked the male look that much) so i was planning on buying a 10 gallon aquarium for 10 dollars, use old aquarium gravel from my 20 gallon, get a lot of fake plants, use the light from my old 20 gallon as well as ornaments from it, buy a heater and probably build my own stand. Then add the female betta and some neons after ive done a fishless cycle. I will probably use a cheap filter since the bio-load is so small, one that doesnt create too much current for the betta, what filter would you suggest?

Is this possible, should i mix neons and female bettas, i have no plans on breeding so will the female be stressed since it wont be able to lay her eggs? Can i fit any more fish? All information will be nice.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

I dread the mix of neons and bettas.:shake: Not since I had my bettas killed several of my tetras regardless of their gender. I would prefer not to mix neons in a 10 gallons with bettas. Still, you have your choices.

I don't see how the female is going to be stressed without laying eggs. Get some otos or cories for bottom dwellers.


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## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

probably not otos or cories since i dont really like cories in tanks smaller than 30 gallons (more of a personal preference) and otos, well ive had bad experiences with otos. Can i get shrimp in that tank? I dont want that take for only 1 betta, what fish are compatible besides cories and otos? Nothing with long fins obviously....


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## tophat665 (Sep 30, 2006)

You might could get by with 5 or 6 female bettas in a 10 gallon tank. They do better either solo or in a group of 6 or more (so that the low one in the pecking order doesn't get beat all to hell by the alpha babe.)

As I mentioned in an eearlier post, one of the dwarf cory species might be the way to go.

Alternately, a microrasbora species might be good - they don't nip like tetras. If I were going to have any fish that were mid water swimmers, though, I'd make sure to put in some realy plants with bushy leaves, like hornwort, cabomba, rotala, or amubulia. Something that the smaller fish can hide in.

Bettas may or may not get along with shrimp. Everything I have read about it suggests that it's an idiosychratic thing for each betta. So I'd go with Amanos at the most expensive.

As for the filter, I have a 5.5 gallon betta tank (cycling - waiting for a good halfmoon betta to come into my LFS) with a Duetto 50 in-tank filter with the outflow pointed at the glass. Since it's a planted tank, I have taken the carbon insert out (and I am going to replace it with a second bio-sponge). It's keeping the water crystal clear. I had previously run it in a 10 gallon with a half dollar sized turtle, and it did a good job keeping that filtered until the impeller got gunked up. (The turtle is now the size of my palm - and I have big hands - and has a 75 gallon to itself with an Emperor 400, and I am going to be adding an Eheim 2217 to that as well.)


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## Andyandsue (Jan 23, 2007)

Oh nooooooo! Bettas and neons are not a good mix! I had an "issue", as I'll call it, with everyone just getting along. You can mix them with standard danios (not the long finned), but I understand the best are golden white clouds. I think the mix of a betta with the beautiful colors of the golden white clouds would be a beautiful display. If the betta is a dark variety, the color contrast would be really cool. I love goldens anyway, they are perfect community fish.

You could also ask your LFS what their opinion is.


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## pixielou85 (Jan 9, 2011)

I have a 7.5 gallon tank set up recently with a male betta and 6 neons,

The neons are picking on the betta. the betta has not went near them.


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## Alex09 (Aug 9, 2010)

I have a 10 gallon set up with one female betta and 4 platies. She is such a good girl - never ever seen them fight. So platies may work. They are pretty and colorful too.


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## bettafish15 (Oct 3, 2010)

I had neons and a male betta in my 14g tank, and everyone just got along fine. I think it was because there was so much space, so maybe neons arent the best idea for a 10g. Platies seem like a good idea, or do a sorority of 5-7 females


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

This thread is almost 4 years old!


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## pixielou85 (Jan 9, 2011)

my bad lol


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

I have a male DTHM with 5 neon tetras. They seem fine. The betta occasionally chases them, but he is too slow. Generally, they are fine. (In my case)


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

My previous post was wrong.(sort of) I returned the previous betta and got a new one. The next day the betta ripped the eye out of one of the neons:...(
I feel Sooooo bad!


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

pixielou85 said:


> I have a 7.5 gallon tank set up recently with a male betta and 6 neons,
> 
> The neons are picking on the betta. the betta has not went near them.


This is over stocked. Bettas can only have tank mates in ten gallons and up. 

And like dramaqueen said the thread is four years old! Check the date before posting


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

I heard that you have to introduce the betta after the neons/cardinals? Is this true?


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

Neil D said:


> I heard that you have to introduce the betta after the neons/cardinals? Is this true?


Yes. Bettas should always be introduced last.


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

So the guy at the lfs said that i should put my betta in a separate container for two weeks while the tetras are alone in the tank, then add the betta. will this work? Oh yeah, and the bettas glass container is in the tank, so the water will be warm.


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

You don't have to wait that long. Just add the betta the day after the tetras.


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

Yeah, but I got all the fish on the same day, and put them in at the same time, after acclimatizing them of course. But the bettas container is in the tank, and he can see them. I'll leave the lights off from now on until they ar together again, as per another members advise. So should I wait until this weekend?


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

You can release him, it isn't necessary to wait that long, unless you were quarantining the fish. What I do when introducing new fish is I keep the light off the first day they are swimming together. They can still see but it is dim light.

So you can release him right now, and then leave the tank light off all tomorrow.


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

I'll do it tmrw, when I come home from school. If there is another fight, what should I do? I don't want another hurt tetra! Would rearranging the decor help?


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

Neil D said:


> I'll do it tmrw, when I come home from school. If there is another fight, what should I do? I don't want another hurt tetra! Would rearranging the decor help?


If your betta shows aggression, there isn't really anything you can do. Some bettas just can't live with tank mates, they are too aggressive. Rearranging the decor won't help, as the problem wouldn't be territory necessarily. Most likely just incompatibility.


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

What if I redecorated so the decor is new to the betta, but gave the tetras time to get used to it. Would this be an added safety?


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

Neil D said:


> What if I redecorated so the decor is new to the betta, but gave the tetras time to get used to it. Would this be an added safety?


If that specific betta has already shown aggression, changing the decor won't make him less aggressive. It could for a few days while he gets his territories set up, but once he does he will have no problem nipping if he deems it necessary. 

Sometimes bettas are just too aggressive to have tank mates, no matter what precautions are taken.


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

Okay. Another question. My heater has enough room on the bottom to let a betta or tetra to sit under it. It is in the vertical position. Can I move it horizontal. The instructions say I can, but could this prevent this 'heater sitting' and/or distribute the heat better?


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

Horizontal…vertical.. either is fine. The position won't really make a difference.


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

What about the tetra/betta sitting under it?


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

What about it? lol


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

Is it okay. Or is it them being fish?


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

Yeah that is okay. Fish like to rest in weird places. But if all they do is stay in that one spot, there is probably something wrong with them.


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

No, just once in a while. Is it normal that if the tetras get scared they hide in the gravel, head down? Usually they're fine


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

If your tetras are getting scared then you need to take the betta out. Constantly living in fear of the betta will stress and kill them. I don't think this betta is compatible with tank mates...


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

They aren't scared of Josh( the betta) just whenever I clean tank or something, that's when they get scared.


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