# Last question I promise! Dx



## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Tank is still cycling.
I've decided to divide the 15 gallon.. 5 gallons for a new betta and 10 gallons for Gilbert. (Betta are really addicting..)
I was wondering, since the tank is 15 gallons, even though the space is smaller would I be able to do in the 10 gallon part:
-1 male betta
-5 Julii cories
-1 female honey gourami OR 3(?) Endler's


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Woops can't edit-
Just remembered that my water is bad for gourami.
Still wondering about the endler's.


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## djembekah (Feb 13, 2012)

from what i hear, gouramis shouldnt go with bettas


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Yea.. The honey is the only one worth trying since they are docile.. I wanted a female since it'd be even friendlier. But I have hard water which is bad for them


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## djembekah (Feb 13, 2012)

that's a too bad


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Mhhmm! I am going to try the endlers though!


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Just remember it won't be 10 gallons once you take into consideration the water displacement by substrate, equipment and decorations. 

I would prefer to see 6 Corydoras pygmaeus instead of the julii, as they are smaller and you could probably fit a small shoal of these in your allotted space. 

Endlers are a better choice than a honey gourami. I would personally not try to house a gourami/betta in such a small space.

Endlers don't grow very big, and prefer harder water, so they should do fine in your tank. It does depend however, on how docile or aggressive your male betta is as they are rather brightly coloured and active fish.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Hmm, I have only seen julii, peppered, panda and bronze where I am, so I figured julii would be my best bet. I will ask the fish store if they could order in some pygmies. They are pretty cute. They'd be fine in my water hardness as well. I read that they spend a lot more time in the mid section of the tank though, which worries me, I wanted a bottom dweller. 

I'm pretty sure my boy isn't aggressive, but he's not docile either. We had shrimp once, he didn't attack them, he just ignored them, so that's what I'm going off of. Of course it could be different with endlers, but I will just have to see


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Would hastatus or habrosus (I can't remember which, but one is a bottom-hugger) work in your water?


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Hastatus is the bottom dwelling one..
Sadly neither will work with my hardness. :/
We do have pygmy cories however. There was ONE at the lfs. They should get more in eventually..
There is only a 2cm difference between Julii and Pygmy. I love the Julii cories but if pygmies are best than that is what I shall do


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

pygmies are amazing little fish, you could easily have about 10 of them, along with the betta and 3 endlers


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Also. Just because of the fact that you have fairly hard water you can't be deterred from species such as Hastatus cories. They can do well in the higher areas of the water concerning PH and hardness, being able to thrive in a PH of 7.8 along with a maximum hardness of around 13 D. But the only note that I have about keeping these two species together would be that they do better in temperatures lower than a bettas prefered one. Hastatus Corydoras prefer a maximum of 78 while bettas prefer a minimum of 75 so meeting in the middle at about 76-77 or going the higher route to 78 could do well, but the Hastatus would much more prefer a temperature of around 74-75


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Mmmm my hardness is actually at 14-15dH. So pygmies and juliis are my two options. I'd prefer not to push the limits of the other guys.


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Pygmies would be much of a better choice as they stay very small, and have a very small bio load compared the there bigger cousins. Even though they aren't as pretty, they are much more entertaining and will be seen in the mid layers of the tank. You could also have about 10 along with the Betta and 3 endlers


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

That's the thing about pygmies- I don't want too many fish in the middle, I wanted something that'd stay at the bottom.


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Hey won't be mid dwelling fish. More so being in the higher levels of the bottom, about 3-4 inches off the ground.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Alright. Well here is my plan..
1. Add the endlers.
2. Add Gilbert the betta.
3. Add new betta (in the 5 gal divided section of the 15gal).
4. Remove Gilbert for a bit, then add cories, put Gilbert back.
 So I have some time, probably gonna go with pygmies though. I want the cories last since they need a better established tank.


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Oops. Major disfunction, on my part. I thought you were using the whole 15 gallon. Not part of it. A better alternative would be more so
3 endler
6 pygmies
1 Betta


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Oh yea- that was what I was planning for originally anyways, haha. 
I'm really annoyed, the LFS guy said "they don't know" when they'll get endlers in  
I think I'll just get 3 males, they're smaller and I don't really want to deal with a ton of fry haha. Heard they are okay in all male groups unlike guppies.


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Have you thought about wild guppies instead of endlers, wild guppies are much cheaper and sold under the name of feeder guppies commonly. They look practically the same, are just as active, and have the same requirements


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

http://aqadvisor.com/AqAdvisor.php?...AqSpeciesWindowSize=short&AqSearchMode=simple

Sounds pretty good 
Wild guppy could mean so many things.. Anything that's a feeder is often so mistreated I wouldn't want one. 
Googling it I am seeing photos of endlers.
And the less desirable endler x guppy.
I would prefer to keep a pure endler strain, I was considering breeding them at one point, but I may put it off a bit.
I love this colour for them but I believe I'd only find them on aquabid.
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1038/1384069053_d30a87006a_m.jpg


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Most endlers up to date ad actually crosses. Finding a true endelr will be very hard to do, even a one that looks true probably has strains that have once been bred with guppies

Here are some pictures of wild guppies
http://www.google.com/search?q=wild...Q&biw=1024&bih=644&sei=XoBuT8WXKoqQ2QXohvjwAQ

Here are some pictures of endlers

http://freshwater-fishs.blogspot.com/2010/06/endlers-livebearer.html


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Well that's the best I can do.. Either way I don't want anything labeled "feeder" kept in a dirty overcrowded tank.. Our store does a much better job with the "pet quality" animals care.


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

The "feeder" tank where I live are very well kept. But it's all a matter of opinion. And if you feel better off getting endlers then go for it. It's just that my feeders did much better, and lived longer in the same exact environment that I kept my endlers in


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

The Pygmy cories look small enough that a betta would eat them.... They are like the size of my pinkie nail, around 1cm... Is that a problem?


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

No. Unless you have a mean Betta, all my pygmies did very well and he even followed them around, my Betta is a social freak


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

I have pure strain Endlers. I wonder if there is any way I could get some to you, when I'm not a registered breeder or anything? I know import licenses cause all kinds of problems.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Australia to Canada?  No prob!
Actually I would consider that, not with these first guys, but maybe if I like them in general I'd be interested.
Have you seen those white/red colours anywhere? I've seen only a few people selling them on aquabid. They are lovely.


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

If it could actually be done I'd be happy to get a set of these guys across to you.  They aren't the white/red ones, though. These guys are a stunning patchwork of rainbow. They have orange and green on their tails, blue and black on the dorsal and red, green and orange on the body (mostly).


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

I'm kinda worried about my LFS's endlers, last time I just saw a few tiny fry in the tank.. Also it's pure luck about who's working when I'm there! One lady will put anything I ask for on a list for what they need brought in, one guy said they get whatever whenever and it's just luck what comes in  pet store people are really annoying.


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

My Endler males look like the third picture (on the right) on the seriouslyfish profile: http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?id=139 but brighter and with more colour and fewer transparent bits.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Alright so the tank cycled, Gilbert's been in the 5 gallon section since Wednesday. 
Since I've been having 0,0, and under 5ppm ammnia/nitrite/nitrate, I went to the store to buy 3 endlers today.
No endlers in.
I almost walked out with 3 balloon platies, but they only had males and I wanted 3 girls. I've been secretely eyeing balloon platies for a while..
They said no pygmy cories were in. As the guy was catching platies, I saw one lone Pygmy Cory. He confirmed that's what it was. I saw this one Pygmy Cory there LAST SATURDAY, alone too. I felt so bad for him, big scratchy gravel and a tank full of bumble bee gobies  so I took home the lone Pygmy instead. Figured it'd be better than that tank. The guy said hopefully more will be in in Saturday, so I'll get him friends if get more. Right now he's just chillin in the 10 gallon section.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Okay I figured the cory would just be hiding, but he has been swimming up and down the back of the tank for like 2 hours. I think he sees his reflection or something. I couldn't get him to eat flakes, so I put in some cucumber, in the path he's going in. -__- But I don't know if he'll eat.


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

He is probably playing with his "friend". I hope he does ok. I love pygmy cories and I am massively jealous!


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

I turned off the light, I hope he nibbles some food. I have to take it out before bed anyways. The little bugger slipped right through the divider, but I fixed it lol. Gilbert is massively interested. He's so tiny, but doesn't seem all that shy.


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