# 60 Gallon Tank and a Betta?



## SteffiT (Apr 25, 2020)

Hello there!
We started having fish tanks just about 4 years ago and Betta was the first fish! It was just a 5 gallon ( later we got another tank with 30 gallon but for my husband and he put other fish in ) tank with a beautiful Blue Halfmoon male. We got it for our daughter, who likes fish a lot and yes... her first word was fish. Looking back, I wish I knew that a 5 gallon tank is just a little on the small side for a Betta. I know they don't need much room but after we moved to Germany we set up a 60 gallon tank for my husband and and the new Betta for our kids room was the happy homeowner of a 30 gallon tank and he is LOVING IT! He rests in his float plants, takes a nap on the Anubias plant and just explores his kingdom ( He is a Crowntail ). I am debating right now to give him some peasants to rules over. We are going to add 5 dwarf corys for sure because they are just a 10 on the scale of awesomeness! Also I thought of about 10 Neons and that would be it. I don't want him to be too stressed out.
We recently got another 60 gallon tank so yeah... we own 2x60 , a 30 and a 5 gallon tank now and I still would get more 😄! So my Hubby has his Tank set with Cichlids as the main fish. Well.... and I took over some fish from a lady who needed to rehome them. Right now I have 10 Platys in my 60 gal tank, about 15 corys ( gotta have them... love them so much ) and 4 black Mollys. Originally, I wanted to add about male 20 Guppys and that would be it... well that's what I had planed. NOW I am debating If I could add one single male Betta,cause I know even with a big tank like that i should stick with one male ( What if they are siblings? ). Or maybe 4-5 different Betta girls ( Or siblings ). My Tank has float plants, big sandbank for the corys and about 60% of the bottom is planted with all kind of plants of different sizes for hiding. Some of the plant reach aaall the way to the surface. I did read too that you are suppose to keep Bettas in shallow water but it seams that some people have experienced, that they are fine in deeper tanks too as long as there are enough plant to rest on, which I do have.
Soo... what do you think? One male? More males if siblings, if that is even possible? Or should I stick with some females to prevent to much aggression and fights? Male guppys a go with any Betta or rather no?
Well, this went on longer then I thought

Any help very appreciated !!

Steffi


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Welcome to the Forum!

A sorority should have 75% planting with plants front to back and side to side with an area in the front that's fairly open. If you can get siblings you have more of a chance for success. I have a friend who has a sorority in a 40 gallon breeder. She said after years of experimenting she wouldn't have a sorority in anything less. This one has been going for four or five years and she still has some of the originals and has not had health/disease issues. The _caveat_ is she does not recommend sororities and when this one depletes she won't have another. They are too volatile and can turn in an instant. 

A five is not too small for a Betta. Size is opinion and preference and, unfortunately, there are many who don't know that. I even have one currently in a 2.5 because he bites his fins in anything larger.

If you add tank mates with your Betta, start with the Cory and see how he does. I find Neons extremely nippy unless the shoal has at least 20 members. Anything much less and they seem to direct their aggression outward. Heavy planting is needed so the Betta has places to retreat.

As far as shallow tanks, that is yet another myth. Betta are faculative breathers. This means they do not depend on their labyrinth for respiration; they depend on their gills. The labyrinth _allows_ them to breathe from the surface. Mine are all in well-filtered/oxygenated tanks and I can't remember the last time I saw one surface to breathe...years ago, I'm sure.

Have fun!


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## SteffiT (Apr 25, 2020)

This is the tank and I can put in more plants for sure.


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## SteffiT (Apr 25, 2020)

I can skip the Neons and try the dwarf corys for her 30 gal first. Maybe some calm tetras would be better then Neons. I will add some more plants for him too... some of her plants didn't make it 

For the 60 gal... you think I could try the 20 male Guppys with some female Betas? I just don't want them to feel stressed. Picture is the 60 gal


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## SteffiT (Apr 25, 2020)

I thought about it I would add 20 male guppys and one betta in my 60 gal... i think that is probably the best way
our blue betta in the 30 gal gets some dwarf corys, i know he is okay with them. He had them before but we removed them because we saw that a 30 gal was just not big enough


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## SteffiT (Apr 25, 2020)

This is our crownprince 😁. Ruler of the 30 gallon tank in the childrens room


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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

I had to take my male guppies out of my female betta tank, they thought she was a female guppy! They wouldn’t leave her alone even if she chased them around the tank 50 times lol. Then when they started fighting over the female betta I just took them out. They were way too stressed over breeding rights to a female fish they can’t even breed, plus she didn’t appreciate the attention at all (I don’t blame her) I really like my guppy boys and I don’t want them beating each other up, I ended up with a tank just for the guppies lol


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Below is an example of the proper amount of planting for a sorority to have a chance. This is one of my old tanks (20 long) from a few years ago. Here is something you might find useful.

www.aqadvisor.com


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## Mr Grumpy (Feb 28, 2020)

Something like this is a good start for 1 betta.


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## SteffiT (Apr 25, 2020)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> Below is an example of the proper amount of planting for a sorority to have a chance. This is one of my old tanks (20 long) from a few years ago. Here is something you might find useful.
> 
> www.aqadvisor.com
> 
> View attachment 1017316


That looks amazing! I'll definitely go with more plants!


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