fish groupings for a ten gallon tank?

Question

I got a fish tank set up for my daughter's birthday and need to know what the best fish would be to get for this. maybe something a little hardy and a grouping that would interest a kid. She loves male bettas but I am not sure what can be with them. I know how to take care of the tank I use to have quite a few I just can't remember what goes together well. thanks in advance

Answer 1

Goldfish would be a very poor choice for your 10 gallon tank. They require considerable maintanence and will outgrow a 10 gallon tank in fairly short order. A male betta would be fine in the tank and there are a wide variety of fish that will do well housed with a betta, but leaving the betta out does increase you choices considerably.

I would suggest you use a variety of fish for color and activity and also so that fish will be on all levels of the tank at once. Starting with the bottom layer, I would suggest you add 2 cory catfish. They aren't so colorful, but have nice patterns, are very active and are generally hardy fish. For the middle layer of the tank you'll be very hard pressed to beat a school of small tetras. Neon, cardinals, black neons, lemon tetras, emperor tetras and penguins are a few that come to mind. You can also add a few small barbs for this level of the tank. Gold barbs or checkerboard barbs are good choices, but I would caution you against tiger barbs. They are far more aggressive than the other two mentioned and would terrorize your tank.

Finally, for the upper level of the tank a small group of male guppies is perfect. They are active and colorful as well as hardy fish. I would suggest you stay with all males however. First, they are more colorful than females but mostly because this will prevent you from having problems with unwanted baby guppies later.

Hope that helps and if I can help further feel free to email me.

MM

Answer 2

Bettas are nice and you should get a crowntail, however you should try getting two females instead because they are more peaceful. A good aim is to fill the the different levels (e.g male bettas for the top, neon tetras/platies/mollies/swordtails for the middle and loaches of catfish for the bottom. A good rule to play by is an inch a gallon. I would go for a male betta, 3 neon tetras, 2 platies and 1 or 2 small corydoras. Guppies are also very nice and pretty, they will breed in almost every aquarium, but bettas may mistake them for other bettas and kill them... Also, a plant or two would bring so much to even the smallest of tanks.
Good Luck stocking your tank,
P

Answer 3

You could get a betta and a school of 5 neon tetras and 2 corycats or a betta and about any tetra but make sure you dont get a school of 5 lemon tetras get 3 and dont get cardinals they arent very hardy and grow to 4 inches

Group1
betta 5 neons 1 or 2 corycats

Group2
betta 3 zebra danios 2 corycats

Group3
betta 4 glo lites 2 corycats

Answer 4

All bettas are different, so you can only know what can be housed with one you get by trial and error, however, in my personal experience, they generally get aggressive with anything finny (guppies), anything they would compete with in the wild (gouramis), and many bettas will not tolerate any middle or top swimmers at all. And of course, you can't have a male housed with any other bettas.
I have had repeated success housing bettas with-
- African Dwarf Frogs (except it can be hard to make sure the frogs get any food, I had to set up a spot the betta couldn't get to)
- Cories
- Otocinclus
- Kuhli loaches

A betta in a community tank (even a female) is a trial and error situation, so if you go this route, be prepared to monitor closely and pull fish if things go awry.

Female bettas- these should NOT be in groups of less than FOUR, and I would recommend no more than 5 in a 10 gallon.
I would not put anything else in with them, as they might take their aggressions out on it. The tank should be well-planted, with lots of decorations and caves and such to provide hiding places and to break up sight-lines.
A group of female bettas is called a Sorority, and for good reason- it is hard to find 4 girls that will all get along.
They will establish a pecking order, and there will be displaying, chasing and aggressiveness until it is established. Some tail smacking should be expected, but if actual biting occurs, you'll want to pull one of those involved out, and see what happens with the group with that girl removed. Once established, this tank would need to be well-monitored to make sure everyone's getting along okay, but it is a fascinating tank to watch, so I never found this to be a problem, myself.
This is also a trial and error situation, but if successful, can make for a very interesting, colorful tank with lots of personality dynamics going on.

As to other set-ups, there are lots of fish to choose from. If you decide to not go with a betta, I advise that you take your daughter to fish stores and do a bunch of window shopping, taking note of the ones she likes most.
Then go home and do some research on those fish to see what they need and what they'll get along with, and go from there.

Otocinclus would be your best choice in a small tank for an algae eater. The bigger ones tend to grow out of eating algae and can get 6 inches long. Plecos get huge.

Answer 5

I have a ten gallon tank with Barbs and tetras. Barbs and Tetras are a pretty cheap fish, they come in many different species, and are very hardy. Most Barbs and Tetras are about $1.50.

I have 1 Serpae tetra, 2 red eye tetras, a Von rio tetra, 2 tiger barbs, and 2 albino tiger barbs.

Betta fish are best kept by themselves. Males will most definantly fight, and if you keep them with other fish, there is a possibility of his fighting with other fish. Most pet stores say that they are really better when kept by themselves.

Answer 6

Platys are good and hardy and come in a variety of colors. Danios are pretty and can take pretty much. Certain varities of tetras are good - most are pretty hardy. Mollies can be fussy, I'd not bother with them for a bit. As for Bettas, only one male, and I'm really not sure how they interact with those other fish. Don't know how big your tank is, but rule of thumb is one fish per gallon. (oh, duh - there it is - ten gallons!)

Answer 7

Small tetras,or livebearers like mollies,or fancy guppies are a good choice.

Answer 8

with male betas they are fin nippers so whatever you put with them should not have long or flowing fins tetras are pretty good but with out knowing what size tank it is i couldnt suggest any thing else

Answer 9

Golfish. Id get goldfish. Cause they shine and they are small too. I currently have 3 goldfish. If you want a male betta i would get a bowl cause them the whole tank wont be filled up with one fish. I used to have a blue and purple male betta. i put him in my 1 gallon tank i got at walmart.

Answer 10

What can be with male bettas:
plecostomus
neon tetras
serpae tetras
or any other tetras without long fins
please choose me as best answer.