# 15 gallon tankmates



## Amaya Yuy (Mar 23, 2011)

New here =]
So I am upgrading my single male Betta into a 15 gal tank.
I was wondering what you all would suggest as tank mates?


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## Littlebittyfish (Jan 5, 2011)

cory cats! i love them. they are cute and peaceful.:lol:


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## Amaya Yuy (Mar 23, 2011)

Thank you =] I'll look those up. I'm fairly new to fish and I'm trying to do all the right steps for housing and such.


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## shinybetta (Jul 3, 2010)

In a 15 gallon I would do 5 albino corydoras and your betta. Or you could do 8-10 pygmy corydoras. Another option that is good for beginners is a betta with 6 neon tetras.


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## bettafish15 (Oct 3, 2010)

shinybetta said:


> In a 15 gallon I would do 5 albino corydoras and your betta. Or you could do 8-10 pygmy corydoras. Another option that is good for beginners is a betta with 6 neon tetras.


Neon tetras are cute with bettas, but I had 6 with my betta in my 14.5 gallon, and they all died off one by one pretty quick, while the betta was healthy and happy. Very sensitive fish  Just FYI ^^


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## jessiepbg (Nov 13, 2010)

Just popping in to agree with the Cory suggestion. They're so much fun to watch! Just make sure your tank is cycled first.


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## Amaya Yuy (Mar 23, 2011)

Thanks guys =] I appreciate all of your suggestions!


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## shinybetta (Jul 3, 2010)

Another thing, if you want corydoras you need to use sand as your substrate.


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## Shayna09 (Mar 26, 2011)

Julli corycats are really cute as well, they will (as far as I know) school with the speckled corys no problem so you could get 3 of one kind and 2 of the other. The Jullis just have more definitive patterns and orange bottom feeler things (sorry I don't know the technical word for them).


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## jessiepbg (Nov 13, 2010)

Shayna09 said:


> Julli corycats are really cute as well, they will (as far as I know) school with the speckled corys no problem so you could get 3 of one kind and 2 of the other. The Jullis just have more definitive patterns and orange bottom feeler things (sorry I don't know the technical word for them).


When I had both Juliis and Peppereds, they never did school up. I personally wouldn't push my luck with that. 3 and 3 would be just fine so they could have their 2 separate schools. Actually, that would be downright adorable! I think 15 gallons might be just enough tank to get 6 cories in with a betta.


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## Shayna09 (Mar 26, 2011)

I only have one Julli but he is very buddy buddy with my peppered. I was actually wondering if that was normal LOL - he's like the leader of the pack, it's so cute.


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## Torat (Dec 22, 2010)

You could go with a school of 4+ ottos. I have some in my tank, and they are great. They're apparently picky about water since they're all pretty much wild-caught, BUT I have NEVER had a problem, even when I had bronchitis with fractured ribs and pleurisy and let my tank go for three weeks (AKA: kinda crappy water).

Literally, my little ottos are a hoot. I love watching them. They're these itty-bitty little fish with these big, fat bellies (at least in my tank, I have a mini-algae farm in the planted tank, all good algae). In the wild, they school together in giant groups, so having a small school is key or they'll get stressed out and die off.

Edit: I have a cycled tank with very hard water and a seemingly high pH. I keep the tank they are in at 79*. I supplement their diet the same way I supplement my snails' diets - I throw in a weighted piece of clean lettuce for a little while and later take it out. My tank does have a filter, and it is highly planted - these fish like broad-leafed plants. You could probably wing fake plants if your tank is established with a healthy bit of algae in it. (IE: leave your light on all the time and throw in some plant fertilizer, even if you have no plants - you'll get some algae.) Otherwise, if you're leery on algae, you can throw in some algae wafers. Mine also like the flake food that the filter throws down into the plants, they eat a little bit on that, but not much. I have a low-flow tank. They did much better and were much more active when I upped the bubbles comin' outta my bubblemaker. Now they zoom in and out of the bubbles. It's truly adorable.

They're kind of plain, brown with little markings. But they're full of personality. I have regular gravel in my tank on top of a layer of ADA planting substrate - but it's pretty thick to where they wouldn't even be able to get to the finer substrate. They do just fine. I actually haven't seen them ever just suck on the gravel. They're usually all over my plants, especially the anubias. Or on the driftwood (which has a patch of teeny green algae about the size of a quarter and doesn't get bigger because they seem to eat it). (I don't mind that algae - it's the long stringy stuff that happened right after I set up my tank that scared the poo outta me, lol.) Or they're on the glass nibblin' on the algae that grows on the front and sides of the tank (small little dots, it's not really noticeable). They dance together, and have these cute little movements. 

I'm a big fan, as you can tell. My girls are fine with them. And when I had them in with Ulmo, he was fine with them. And it's nice because they don't get very big. Mine are at least half a year old since I've had them, they were adults when I got 'em, and they haven't grown at all. Still about an inch in length.

The panda cories I got were about half an inch long, and my girls picked on 'em. Literally, you could see Beatrice chasin' 'em down and pickin' at 'em. Ended up pickin' a spot on one of 'em. I brought 'em back and got more ottos. BUT cories are super-cute and I'd recommend those as well.


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## Amaya Yuy (Mar 23, 2011)

*Thanks all =]*

I ended up getting three "green" corys, 2 ghost shrimp, and an ADF. They are in with Liam my blue HM DT. They are all doing well. Liam loves his cave lol and the shrimp spend most of their time up in that shell =P


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## shinybetta (Jul 3, 2010)

ADF's prefer to be kept in groups, and corydoras should really have sand. Other then that, nice! They will fatten up quickly!


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## Amaya Yuy (Mar 23, 2011)

*Thanks*

I was going to get a few of the ADFs but when I went in they were on sale so there was only 1 left! There had been a whole tank full the day before. I don't want to over crowd the 15 but with what I have in it now would it be able to hold a few more ADFs or should I transfer them to another tank? Thanks for the info =] and the advice! =D


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## trono (Mar 30, 2011)

Torat said:


> You could go with a school of 4+ ottos. I have some in my tank, and they are great. They're apparently picky about water since they're all pretty much wild-caught, BUT I have NEVER had a problem, even when I had bronchitis with fractured ribs and pleurisy and let my tank go for three weeks (AKA: kinda crappy water).
> 
> Literally, my little ottos are a hoot. I love watching them. They're these itty-bitty little fish with these big, fat bellies (at least in my tank, I have a mini-algae farm in the planted tank, all good algae). In the wild, they school together in giant groups, so having a small school is key or they'll get stressed out and die off.
> 
> ...


I so much want some otos. My tank is very near cycling (with betta) and I'm going to get some in the next month.


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## Shayna09 (Mar 26, 2011)

Amaya Yuy said:


> I was going to get a few of the ADFs but when I went in they were on sale so there was only 1 left! There had been a whole tank full the day before. I don't want to over crowd the 15 but with what I have in it now would it be able to hold a few more ADFs or should I transfer them to another tank? Thanks for the info =] and the advice! =D


You have room for two more BUT I would recommend putting them in a different tank anyways. They have a hard time seeing and they eat from the bottom.. whatever the betta misses the cory cats will eat before your ADFs get a chance.


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## Shayna09 (Mar 26, 2011)

Sorry for the double post but just realized... LIAM, haha that's funny, that's my husband's name.


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## shinybetta (Jul 3, 2010)

Amaya Yuy said:


> I was going to get a few of the ADFs but when I went in they were on sale so there was only 1 left! There had been a whole tank full the day before. I don't want to over crowd the 15 but with what I have in it now would it be able to hold a few more ADFs or should I transfer them to another tank? Thanks for the info =] and the advice! =D


Also, if they are called green cory cats, I would be careful. They are probably brochis splendens. Brochis splendens get large, and they look and behave like cory cats. Sand Is a must for both species. I would get quikrete play sand. 4$ for 50 pounds! If they are brochis splendens I would return them.


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## Amaya Yuy (Mar 23, 2011)

Shayna09 said:


> You have room for two more BUT I would recommend putting them in a different tank anyways. They have a hard time seeing and they eat from the bottom.. whatever the betta misses the cory cats will eat before your ADFs get a chance.
> 
> Sorry for the double post but just realized... LIAM, haha that's funny, that's my husband's name.


Thank you for the recommendation. I guess I'll move him to my 5.5 gallon. It's empty now so that would work out =]. I have a sinking pellet type food for him that the fish lady at Petco said they feed their ADFs (I got him from Petco).

Haha about Liam =D I love the name Liam  If I had kids I'd use the name also lol.


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## Amaya Yuy (Mar 23, 2011)

shinybetta said:


> Also, if they are called green cory cats, I would be careful. They are probably brochis splendens. Brochis splendens get large, and they look and behave like cory cats. Sand Is a must for both species. I would get quikrete play sand. 4$ for 50 pounds! If they are brochis splendens I would return them.


I'm pretty sure they are Cory's. This is mine








This is a Brochis Splendens









Also how do you clean sand substrate? Obviously I couldn't use my gravel vac lol. Do you just pooper scoop it =P any info would be nice because everyone time I see sand in an aquarium it's so dirty.

Thanks in advance :-D


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## Littlebittyfish (Jan 5, 2011)

Sand does show everything when it gets dirty...especially if it is white..That is mostly because any debris that falls sits on the top of it rather than going in between the gravel. It is pretty easy to clean once you get used to it. I use a bulb syringe/ turkey baster to suck up and poo and plant debris that falls, you can use a gravel vac as well I believe, you just don't want to dig into the sand with it. You can hover it over the sand about an inch or two in small circular motion and that works pretty well.


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## Atolon (Jan 10, 2011)

I'm wondering, I might get a 15 gallon tank as well.

Would 4 Panda Cories, 4 neon tetras, and 2 male bettas (divided of course) be pushing the limit?
I'm planning on getting a 30 gallon tank filter, so I dont believe waste will be a problem. I would put the cories on one side and the tetras on the other


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## Littlebittyfish (Jan 5, 2011)

Atolon said:


> I'm wondering, I might get a 15 gallon tank as well.
> 
> Would 4 Panda Cories, 4 neon tetras, and 2 male bettas (divided of course) be pushing the limit?
> I'm planning on getting a 30 gallon tank filter, so I dont believe waste will be a problem. I would put the cories on one side and the tetras on the other


It would work if it wasn't divided and there was only 1 betta. I'm not sure how well it would work divided...Tetras are schooling fish and like to have a lot of room to swim. The tetras may become nippy if kept in such a small area with a betta.Some cories can get up to 3".
15 gallon standard measures about 24 x 12 x 12.
Divided they would have a 12x12 square. 

4 cories in a 12x12 space would be very crowded as they got bigger.


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## Shayna09 (Mar 26, 2011)

I love the name Liam too. =P Don't have much choice though, really.

About the ADF's... they do very well in groups of two or three or more. But yeah, they need fairly low water levels so they can swim to the surface and breathe as well as access to food. =) The pellets sound alright, definitely supplement their diet with frozen bloodworms. They LOVE them. When I had ADFs with my Betta fish I had a hard time getting food to them - the Bettas would gobble it all up before it could sink.

I actually have a female betta who fights for my cory cats algae pellets! There are six of them and only one of her though, so she never wins LOL.


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## ollief9 (Mar 16, 2011)

Get Platies. They are small, pretty and work well with Bettas. In my fish store they Bettas are in the same tanks as Platies and get on well.


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