# 20 gallon planted betta community tank (no fish yet, stocking paralysis) - looking for advice, suggestions and encouragement!



## buckystanton (Oct 5, 2020)

Hi folks,

I came into the Betta world when a roommate left suddenly at the start of the pandemic and left a very small, tattered and lethargic female betta in my care. A third of her body had semi-melted away even, it was really sad. I put her in a 6 gallon tank and started learning. I didn't want to have to euthanize her but was ready to if she didn't recover. She popped back to life rapidly, it was honestly really inspiring and sounds cheesy but her strength made me stronger in the craziest times of the pandemic. We made it a solid 8 months or so, but it turns out she was quite old when I received her and I'm sure the terrible care prior stressed her body. She peacefully passed away recently. 

While I did not purposefully get into fish keeping, I really fell in love with my betta and a sort of smaller/nano fish planted aquascape. I find it really relaxing, I love observing my fish and seeing how every life really is special and rife with personality. Caring for them also helps me remind myself to care for me. The gardening aspect of planted tanks is also relaxing and fun. I love learning about all of it!

Given that female betta's are less sought after I wanted to give more female bettas the love and care I gave my old friend. So to honor my dear fish friend who helped me stay sane in the pandemic I dreamt up a peaceful betta sorority in a 20 gallon. I imagined 5 female bettas around the same age and starting young as the top level fish. Some nice dither fish to distract them and for me to adore and care for and also a loach or two to help with clean up but mostly to just be funny lil friends to care for! I've done a lot more research and unfortunately I'm not sure this could work. 

The first problem is that female betta sororities seem really fraught and I don't want to stress out any fish let alone 4-5. The second is that I learned most loaches should be in schools to be happy, just because they are bottom feeders doesn't mean they don't deserve to be cared for as precisely as the bettas. And lastly, with dither fish, I need 6-10 and with my two drift woods and plants that seems really crowded on top of 4-5 female bettas and 4-6 loaches. I really don't want to overstock and stress every fish out! I have the old 6 gallon tank to use but I'd prefer to just focus on one tank. I'm an academic so I spend a lot of time at my desk and reading so one tank next to it is really ideal.

So now, after what feels like weeks and weeks of research I've got the 20 gallon up and running and 6 snails in there just sort of getting the whole thing going. I used some of the old substrate, plants and rocks and optimized the filter (HOB) in a variety of ways -- the tank appears to be turning ammonia in nitrates just fine. I'm stressing about the stocking because I don't want to make any fish unhappy and have gotten cold feet about the sorority (of course I was committed to giving the best life, but now feel I should have gotten a 30 or 40 gal). I'm currently ociliating between doing the 4-5 female bettas and having a family of loaches and no dither fish; and 1 female betta, a larger school of dither fish and a more robust grouping of loaches and maybe a shrimp. 

I'm in no rush and really want to let the tank grow in, properly cycle and start thriving before I throw the fish in so I've got time to think. Any suggestions on what's best? Any recommendations on community sorority tanks and if 20 gallon is just not enough for that? Will one female betta be happy alone with other fish? Is 4-5 bettas, 6 dither fish and 2-3 loaches too much and if not, will they all be happy with those numbers? 

I'm sorry for whatever naivety is in the post and really appreciate anyone reading through. I'd love commentary of any sort on the ideas on how to proceed - again, no rush. I've got plans to keep refining the hardscape placement and plantings but need to know what stocking im going for before that can really proceed. I also have a white fuzz issue on new driftwood I'm waiting to pass as well so I have time to think.


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## buckystanton (Oct 5, 2020)

20 gallon HIGH" forgot to mention


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## Asbofish (Sep 25, 2020)

Welcome to fishkeeping. I'm really happy to hear you have a good size tank and have done your research on the nitrogen cycle, that's one of the best starts I've seen.

The best advice I can give you is don't stock too much too soon. Also keep it understocked as much as possible it will be a whole lot more forgiving. It might mean you only get to keep 1 or 2 fave fish, but it's better for them and you in the long run.

For full benefit I feel I should explain my first ever community tank was a 13 gal which I fishless cycled and seemed all good to go and still had an ammonia spike the week after I put my 6 White cloud mt minnows in. I ended up having to do a fish-in cycle which meant bailing water daily for 2-3 weeks. 6 months later I added some Platies and Corydoras and had another ammonia spike. Truth be told even though I thought I knew what I was doing, I was much too keen to fill up that tank far too much and much too soon. Hopefully sharing my first community story helps you out here.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Welcome to the Forum!

Can you post a photo of the tank? Thank you.

I don't think much of sororities so, personally, I'd have a Betta-based community tank.

If I were to have a sorority I would want a 20 long as opposed to a 20 tall. The only successful long-term sorority of which I am aware is a 40 gallon breeder that is 75% planted. It has been running for 5+ years.

BTW, SeaChem Stability is your friend. You dose it when adding new fish as it helps prevent mini- or crashed cycles by compensating for the added bioload. I only buy online and have added 20 or more fish to a tank with no issues.


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## buckystanton (Oct 5, 2020)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> Welcome to the Forum!
> 
> Can you post a photo of the tank? Thank you.
> 
> ...












I have settled on designing a community tank around just ONE betta lady. My phone camera makes it seem a bit brighter and slightly cloudier than it really is - but I am trying to help the plants (many of which are in the melt stage of a tank transplant) prosper. You'll also see that the spider wood is covered in what appears to be a white fungus common to driftwood (I did boil, bleach and soak but alas hahah). In the last two days some areas where the white fuzz have receded or been replaced by brown diatom algae (I think!). You can see the diatoms on top of the left drift wood piece and the log next to the left wall. I've chosen to not intervene and simply wait out the ecosystem development for a bit before I get worried - often an intervention leads to a string of interventions and I think its best for me to have patience with the tank ecology. I started this tank about a week and a half ago. I have only changed the water once at the beginning to clear substrate dust. Six snails live in the midst of it and are seemingly comfortable in their new environs, coming out at various times of the day and snailing around! I have plans for more plants but I would like for the opening fungus/algae thing to pass - the fungus is killing some of the plants I think. Trying my best here but also trying to just let it shake out before I screw it up more.


Asbofish said:


> Welcome to fishkeeping. I'm really happy to hear you have a good size tank and have done your research on the nitrogen cycle, that's one of the best starts I've seen.
> 
> The best advice I can give you is don't stock too much too soon. Also keep it understocked as much as possible it will be a whole lot more forgiving. It might mean you only get to keep 1 or 2 fave fish, but it's better for them and you in the long run.
> 
> For full benefit I feel I should explain my first ever community tank was a 13 gal which I fishless cycled and seemed all good to go and still had an ammonia spike the week after I put my 6 White cloud mt minnows in. I ended up having to do a fish-in cycle which meant bailing water daily for 2-3 weeks. 6 months later I added some Platies and Corydoras and had another ammonia spike. Truth be told even though I thought I knew what I was doing, I was much too keen to fill up that tank far too much and much too soon. Hopefully sharing my first community story helps you out here.


Thanks for your comment. I think I'm committed to just one female betta and designing the tank around her rather than a sorority. I will of course take your stocking advice seriously. Any commentary on what a good order of stocking is? Like do we want to work the ecosystem up from the top down or the bottom up or are their other factors to consider?


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## Asbofish (Sep 25, 2020)

Since we know you'll have the female betta I think a small school of little fish that like similar ph and temp would be fine, something like Neon or Ember tetras (not Serpae tetra, I know female betta don't have as long fins but Serpaes are still a bit nippy) that are quite small and like to school but short term you could add them incrementally in threes over a few months so their bioload isn't likely to be too much, after that you'll probably want some nice clean up crew to help, maybe something like a few amano shrimp when you're certain the water has been stable for a good while. Exact species is entirely up to you as long as they are betta compatible but to stay understocked it's all about having as tiny an effect on bioload as you can. You might even add your betta after the others so they are the more established fish and less likely to be challenged but then again I haven't kept females myself and I hear they can be a lot less territorial than the male, in general, I know they can be totally individual personalities.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Going to be a really nice tank.

I'm sure you know but others may not. That's why the more detailed reply. 

With Betta-based community tank, plants should cover 75% of the tank but 50% will do. The more cover the fewer lines of sight and chase. This applies to both Betta and the other residents. Sometimes Betta need to retreat when activity becomes too much. A heavily-planted tank allows for this.

There are three levels: Top, Middle and Bottom.

Betta, of course, are considered top dwellers. But in a larger tank can share the area with male Guppies or Endler's Livebearers. Both are mid-to-top fish.

Middle level fish are smaller Rasbora like Chili, Strawberry, Harlequin. Tetra like Embers, Ruby, Green Neon. Pygmy and Hastatus Cory are good mid-tank. Green Neons are not as nippy as regular Neons.

Bottom would suit Cory. The Habrosus/Salt and Pepper Cory is the smallest. Kuhli Loaches can grow up to 4" but there are other, smaller Loaches.

When housed with a predator, shoals of Nano fish should be 10-12. That would work for you if you did one middle shoal and one bottom shoal.


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## tillwill (Apr 23, 2021)

buckystanton said:


> View attachment 1022321
> 
> 
> I have settled on designing a community tank around just ONE betta lady. My phone camera makes it seem a bit brighter and slightly cloudier than it really is - but I am trying to help the plants (many of which are in the melt stage of a tank transplant) prosper. You'll also see that the spider wood is covered in what appears to be a white fungus common to driftwood (I did boil, bleach and soak but alas hahah). In the last two days some areas where the white fuzz have receded or been replaced by brown diatom algae (I think!). You can see the diatoms on top of the left drift wood piece and the log next to the left wall. I've chosen to not intervene and simply wait out the ecosystem development for a bit before I get worried - often an intervention leads to a string of interventions and I think its best for me to have patience with the tank ecology. I started this tank about a week and a half ago. I have only changed the water once at the beginning to clear substrate dust. Six snails live in the midst of it and are seemingly comfortable in their new environs, coming out at various times of the day and snailing around! I have plans for more plants but I would like for the opening fungus/algae thing to pass - the fungus is killing some of the plants I think. Trying my best here but also trying to just let it shake out before I screw it up more.
> ...


Wow it looks so good! Probably I missed the info but what is the brand of the tank? I'm looking for a similar one to buy.


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## buckystanton (Oct 5, 2020)

tillwill said:


> Wow it looks so good! Probably I missed the info but what is the brand of the tank? I'm looking for a similar one to buy.


It's a 20 gallon Aqueon I think - it's a "high" so not a "long" 20 gallon. It's been an amazing "large" nanotank! Re: stocking paralysis, here is the update:

Shrimps: 
somewhere between 6-8 Amanos, a single wood shrimp

"Pest" Snails: 
A nice stable population of "pest" snails (I don't think they are bests they are my friends and excellent ecosystem maintainers): Ramshorn are my favorite and Im trying to select for a blue jade variant! But also got some bladder snails.

Fancy Snails: 1 Nerite Snail (brother is on glass cleaning duty 24/7 and a truly hard worker) 1 Sulwasei snail (he is weird and very ungraceful but has the cutest trunk and churns the front substrate well

Fish: 
3 Sparkling Gourami (1 male/2 female)
A dozen or so Pygmy Cordoras 
A dozen or so chilli rasboras

Other:

It's been about 3 months since I last saw one of my three Thai microcrabs, I hope they are doing well! 

Here is an update pic, the scape has changed immensely.


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## buckystanton (Oct 5, 2020)

buckystanton said:


> It's a 20 gallon Aqueon I think - it's a "high" so not a "long" 20 gallon. It's been an amazing "large" nanotank! Re: stocking paralysis, here is the update:
> 
> Shrimps:
> somewhere between 6-8 Amanos, a single wood shrimp
> ...


The front dwarf sag carpet was much thicker a month ago but I had a Planria problem and had to go to war sucking them up all the time so currently the carpet is recovering.


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