# Might consider converting 10 gal. betta tank into community?



## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

Hey everybody,

So recently i have been thinking my 10 gal. tank has been looking kinda dull. Although Honeycomb is thriving with his weekly water changes and as energetic as usual, my tank just feels like it needs more activity. I am afraid of converting it into a community though for the following reasons:

1) I have had Honeycomb in this tank for 2 YEARS and i am concerned he will not welcome any newcomers and either be aggressive( which he usually isn't) or become very stressed and ill

2) I have had a community tank before and have had the following fish and invertebrates( not all at the same time):

-oto (otoniculus sucker fish)
-2 Zebra Danios
-3 guppies
-3 neon tetras 
-1 mystery snail

and now i have Honeycomb who is thriving and has lived longer than ANY other fish i have owned. Out of all my fish, the Danios lived the longest, but they all died very strange deaths. One neon disappeared completely,(checked filter everything, probably snail ate it), the other two died of ich that bloomed after they were introduced in my tank for a couple of days. The oto just died, probably because my tank has high ph (7.8-8.0) and Alkaline water. The guppies died, one was bloated and the other just died. And the Danios, which ALMOST lived a year died. One seemed to have passes from TB, it was all bent and contorted, and the other just passed away.


So just by reading this (ugggh i know i write too much ) you can tell i have had bad experience with ANY fish besides BETTAS! 


NOTE*: When i had all of these other fish, i was still fairly new and didn't think about my water parameters. I only cleaned my tank 3 weeks-to a month(i know-that was realllllly sad and stupid of me), but now my tank gets cleaned EVERY week thoroughly.

I have a TOP FIN 10 gallon glass tank (originally from a kit) with a standard TOP FIN HOB power filter with cartridges and activated carbon i clean and replace every month-2 months. I also have a Neptune Submersible heater.


Here is what my tank looked like when i bought it from Petsmart: 

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=10868052

I add to my water 1) Tetra Aquasafe (dechlorinates and conditions)( 2 teaspoons per 10 gallons, i add 2 teaspoons per 20% water change)

2) Tetra Easy Balance (stabilizes water chemistry) (says to add 2 teaspoons per ten gallons) (i add 2 teaspoons per 20% water change)

My current water parameters BEFORE my water change today:


ammonia:not tested
Nitirite: .5ppm?
Nitrate:0 ppm
hardness:75-150 (not as hard as usual, frequent water changes must be helping)
akalinity:300
ph:7.8-8.4


i do not real want fish that will breed readily

NOTE*: I am using JUNGLE 5 IN 1 TEST STRIPS QUICK DIP

HERE IS THE COLOR CHART FOR THE STRIPS I AM USING:

http://images.search.yahoo.com/imag...b=1427j990v&sigi=136ug67rs&.crumb=bnhGB7C..Uj


I have also attached a picture of what the strip looked like after putting it in the tank water.


Thanks, and i apologize for all the lllooooonnnngggg writing, i just want to make sure my pets are as healthy and happy as possible! Any serious answers and thoughts are welcome!

Thanks again!


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## vaw103 (May 21, 2012)

I'm a hugeee fan of betta community tanks, so I'l be advocating for that  lol

To help with any aggression issues you're worried about, you can rearrange the decor in your tank when you add other fish. He won't recognize it as his territory anymore :-D

I don't think adding other fish should stress him out too much, but that all depends on his personality. In my first betta community, he was actually so friendly that he tried to school with my tetras hahaha. My next community wasn't as successful; he was a push-over and got picked on by my male platy. He was a bit of a fin-nipper, and the poor thing just wouldn't stand up for himself. He's back to bubble making in his solitary 5 gallon, though :-D You just have to be careful about tankmates that you pick. My female platys never picked on my betta, it was only the male. I've never had Danios, so I don't know if they would work. I had 5 cardinal tetras with my first community, though, and that worked out really well, so I imagine neon tetras would be good too, since they're basically the same :lol: 

Sucker fish and snails are good too, they won't do anything to a betta, and they're pretty well protected from them  I would just be careful with sucker fish though, a lot of them are probably too big for a ten gallon. I would definitely stay away from guppies; their long fins might be confused for another betta.

I wouldn't worry about your bad luck :-D That's before you learned all about water parameters and such, right? I think we've all been there. I lost my first community to the nitrogen cycle before I knew anything  Besides, most pet stores should let you exchange dead fish within' the first 30 days for free. Mine just asks for a water sample, and if the parameters are good and you have the receipt, it's all good 

I looked at your strip, I think you accidentally flipped nitrite and nitrate? It looks like you have 0 nitrites and some nitrates. The nitrates are really low, are you sure that your tank is fully cycled? You might want to just double check that before you add anything :-D If you can get your ammonia tested, that would help you figure out if it's cycled. Your LFS should be able to test it for you :lol:

Good luck with whatever you end up doing!


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

vaw103 said:


> I'm a hugeee fan of betta community tanks, so I'l be advocating for that  lol
> 
> To help with any aggression issues you're worried about, you can rearrange the decor in your tank when you add other fish. He won't recognize it as his territory anymore :-D
> 
> ...



Thanks, my tank has been running for 2+ years. I did a really thorough water change though the week before and changed the filter cartridge and sucked up A TON of food and poop from the gravel bed( now i realize that was probably the bacteria i sucked up). I have added BACTERIA SUPPLEMENT for the last 2 water changes though to fix any problems that must have caused. Next week i won't use the gravel vacuum on the gravel bed, instead i will just siphon the water so that some bacteria can build up again> i will add bacteria supplement. Thanks!


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

Bacteria supplement is not needed. I gravel siphon all of my tanks weekly and all of my fish are fine.

If your fish is happy, I wouldn't risk stressing him by adding tankmates.


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

ok so what about JUST my betta and a pit bull or bristle nose pleco? I LOVE those animals! I really want one. But would it be an issue with my betta or my water quality? my tank is cleaned every week, but it has a 7.8-8.0 ph and has hard-very hard water. I am willing to let the pleco have the whole tank if he needs too.
I also have a lot of algae he can snack on, algae wafers, and i could give him live vegetables once or twice a week. Does anybody have care sheets on these pleco's, or know if they can live in these conditions?


Thanks again!


ps, any certain requirements they need? Will they hurt my betta?


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

Bristlenose plecos get 6" and they require a 20 gallon. :/


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

MaisyDawgThirteen said:


> Bristlenose plecos get 6" and they require a 20 gallon. :/


Thanks! I think that as much as i love them, i want happy fish so here is what i am thinking about adding (note:my tank is 2 years old, but seems to be going through a mini cycle ( kinda high nitrites , no nitrates) because i changed the filter media (i know, stupid me) ). 



here is what i am thinking about adding after my tank finishes the mini cycle:

I already have had my betta in there for almost a year and a half, so i will maybe be adding (hopefully i won't stress him):


2 or 3 bronze or green corydoras (not the dwarf species, because i heard they were fragile)

can these live in HIGH ph and HARD-VERY HARD water?


or.....

should i get some ghost shrimp?


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