# 29/36 gallon stocking options?



## MameJenny (Jun 11, 2012)

I'm thinking of starting a betta sorority in the next few months. I currently have a 1.5 gallon planted betta tank, and I also had a saltwater tank for a while. 

I've pretty much narrowed it down to either a 29 gallon or a 36 gallon bow front. I don't want a huge tank, but I want something bigger than my other tanks. I love betta fish, so I've decided to make it a heavily planted betta sorority community. I'd like for it to be slightly understocked instead of overstocked. Here's my idea for stocking:

-6 or 8 female bettas
-A small school of tetras (probably either 6-8 neons or 6-8 orange von rio tetras)
-1 or 2 African dwarf frogs
-A few Nerite Snails
-Possibly a few ghost shrimp

I would like to add a larger "show fish" to the tank as well. I'd like to get a colorful 4-6 inch long fish that won't beat up/be beaten up by any of the other inhabitants. Any ideas?


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

Do you know how hardness/PH of your water? That makes a big difference in how you stock your tank. Bettas don't really mind, Neons like soft water, and snails prefer hard water.

I'd avoid ADF'S as they can be tricky to feed, they have terrible eye-sight, and the other fish sometimes steal their food. ADF's can work in a community with a bit of effort. 

Neons often die quickly as they have been over/poorly bred and their immune systems are usually quite weak. This is not always the case, though.

You'd be better of with the 29 gallon - bettas (AS well as most tropical fish) prefer a long tank rather than a tall one.


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## MameJenny (Jun 11, 2012)

I have access to RO/DI water. I'm not sure what the PH of the pure RO/DI is, but I remember that I had to use special reef salt in my saltwater tank to get it above 7.8. I think the PH of the RO/DI is lower than that (should be about 7.0). I'm not sure what the PH of my tap water is, since I've never used it for my fish.

I didn't know that about the neons. Would it make a difference if I got them from a small-scale fish store? I'll probably go with the orange tetras anyway, since it seems like everyone and their mother keeps neon tetras. 

Any ideas for the one large "show" fish? I'm still not sure what species would work with the bettas, not have to be kept in a school, and be happy in a 29 or 36 gallon tank. I was originally thinking a rainbowfish or a molly, but the rainbowfish are schooling fish and I've read that mollies don't get along with bettas.


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## djembekah (Feb 13, 2012)

hm. you can probably do a bristlenose pleco? they're usually like, white (albino) or the brownish color, but they can be okay alone as far as i know. have you thought about cory cats?

my 29 high has 4 female bettas, 5 bronze cories, 7 zebra danios, 3 snails (an adult and two babies) and an albino bristlenose pleco. it also has a couple plants, soon to be more i hope!


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## MameJenny (Jun 11, 2012)

Well, after looking at some fish and aquariums in person, I've gotten some new ideas for my stocking plan. I'm now pretty sure that I'll go with the 36 gallon acrylic bow front tank, which measures 30"L x 15"W x 21"H.

How does this stocking plan look? I've really started to like rainbowfish, and I'm starting to think that I might prefer to have a small school of tiny rainbows instead of just one large fish. Would this work in a 36 bowfront?

-6 female bettas
-6 orange von rio tetras
-4-6 threadfin or dwarf neon rainbowfish
-2-3 ghost shrimp
-Maybe a few nerite snails

Also, just realized I never mentioned this - in addition to the live plants I plan to have, I'm also planning to use an AquaClear 70 filter. Would this be too much/too little filtration and water flow for the above inhabitants?


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## djembekah (Feb 13, 2012)

i plugged it into aqadvisor.com. here is what it says!










Note: Betta [Female] can still become aggressive even if she doesn't show aggression right away. Not recommended to be mixed with peaceful community species. Also, they may jump - lids are recommended.

Recommended temperature range: 24 - 27 C. [Display in Farenheit]
Recommended pH range: 7 - 7.5.
Recommended hardness range: 10 - 12 dH.


You have plenty of aquarium filtration capacity.

Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 224%.
Recommended water change schedule: 17% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 72%.

IMO you could do a few more fish, i'd add female bettas, in this case ^-^ plenty of filtration


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## MameJenny (Jun 11, 2012)

In that case, I might go with 8 or 9 bettas and maybe a few extra ghost shrimp. I'd rather keep the tank a bit understocked to keep the weekly maintenance down. Thanks for your help!


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Threadfins and rainbows are really sensitive about water quality and I personally would not put Threadfins in with bettas as they are quite delicate and shy. They really need their own set-up or one that only houses smaller peaceful species to look their best.

Something like pseudomugil furcatus or even tenellus would do well as they are boisterous and big enough to hold their own in a tank like that. My current rainbows get beat up by the tenellus males all the time. Blue-eyes are pretty feisty, and look stunning when they spar.


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## MameJenny (Jun 11, 2012)

How about dwarf neon rainbows? I think they're a bit bigger and faster than threadfins. Would they be okay with the bettas?


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