Female betta in a 29 gallon community tank?

[DaPrawf]

I have a 29 gallon tank with an AquaClear 50 HOB filter and an air stone. It's stocked with:

• 1 male honey gourami
• 12 green neon tetras
• 5 orange Venezuelan corydoras
• an uncertain number of red cherry shrimp (I started with 10 but at any time I can only see 3-6 not sure if the rest are hiding or dead; I know they're not in the HOB filter).

I was thinking about adding 3-4 guppies and a female betta, along with a few more shrimp.

If the female betta would be a bad idea, how about a blue flame dwarf gourami?

AqAdvisor says either would be within my stocking limits.

Thanks.

PS: The tank is going well. Ammonia: 0. Nitrite: 0. Nitrate 10 ppm. pH: 7.4

 

Edited August 19, 2022 by DaPrawf
Add images and information

[FLFishChik]

Sounds like it would be ok- just depends on the disposition of the Betta. I added my Betta to the tank last so everything else was already established. Just keep an eye on her to make sure she isn’t harassing the Gourami. Adding another dwarf Gourami would present the same issues. Either way, you want to keep a close eye that the Honey Gourami isn’t being picked on.

[Cinnebuns]

So there's a few things to bring up here. 

The betta MIGHT work but you need to have a backup plan just in case. Like @FLFishChik mentioned the issue is with the honey gourami. Gouramis are related to bettas and they tend to not like them because of that. 

I would suggest not adding a powdered blue gourami for the same reasons mentioned above. Gouramis usually don't like gouramis. Ofc there is always exceptions but most likely it's a situation in which it may work short term if the blue is young but when it grows up it might become an issue. @laritheloud is kinda the gourami dude so he can correct me if I'm wrong. 

Tbh, what I would suggest is getting 2 more honey gourami. They would do well in a 29 gallon. At one point I unintentionally had 3 honey and 3 thick-lipped (often labeled as red honey) in my 29 gallon. I do not suggest that tbh but it was ok short term. I ended up rehoming the 3 honey because they hid all of the time and didn't seem like they liked my tank when it became more "loud."

The last thing I will leave you with is thoughts on the guppies. You mentioned getting 3-4 but didn't mention what sex they would be. This matters for 2 reasons:

1.  If it's all males then that is not enough. All male guppy groups require at least 5 to work and even then I say it's pushing your chances. Males will pick on each other. Having a larger number means they won't pick on the same one over and over eventually killing him. It's also important to note that it's wise to have hiding places like plants, live or fake, so they can break line of sight if they are being chased. 

2.  If you are planning to breed them and do 1m 2-3f that is fine but keep in mind how quickly they will populate that tank. In this case the betta would be a beneficial add because it will likely eat some of the babies and serve as population control. The honey gourami may also eat some but in my experience they didn't really. I literally saw a baby hanging out in front of one of mine and it didn't care. Also keep in mine that although usually bettas help with population control nothing can account for personality. I have heard a few people get a betta for population control only for the betta to ignore the fry. 

All in all I think you have an amazing start and great ideas tbh!  I wanna make sure you have fill information to make your decisions!  If you have any other questions lmk!

Edited August 19, 2022 by Cinnebuns

[macdaddy36]

Honey Gouramis are generally not a good mix with other Anabantoid fish because they are very peaceful and Bettas and Dwarf Gouramis can sometimes be aggressive. It is doable, just be careful. However you can keep multiple Honey Gouramis together and their behavior together is interesting. The best option is to get 1 male and a couple females, or just multiple males, but make sure you do not end up with more males than females. Another option is to try Sparkling Gouramis. I have heard they are generally peaceful with other fish but I have not kept them so try at your own risk. Just so you know, Bettas or the Dwarf Gourami may attack the Cherry Shrimp.I keep my Honey Gouramis with Guppies and it is fine. If you get males and females just make sure you have somewhere to put the fry. If you do end up getting a dwarf gourami or betta, try to get a shorter finned guppy so that they can swim away faster. Either way, I would make sure there is some cover in the tank (live or fake plants).

[Cinnebuns]

On 8/19/2022 at 6:32 PM, macdaddy36 said:

Honey Gouramis are generally not a good mix with other Anabantoid fish because they are very peaceful and Bettas and Dwarf Gouramis can sometimes be aggressive. It is doable, just be careful. However you can keep multiple Honey Gouramis together and their behavior together is interesting. The best option is to get 1 male and a couple females, or just multiple males, but make sure you do not end up with more males than females. Another option is to try Sparkling Gouramis. I have heard they are generally peaceful with other fish but I have not kept them so try at your own risk. Just so you know, Bettas or the Dwarf Gourami may attack the Cherry Shrimp.I keep my Honey Gouramis with Guppies and it is fine. If you get males and females just make sure you have somewhere to put the fry. If you do end up getting a dwarf gourami or betta, try to get a shorter finned guppy so that they can swim away faster. Either way, I would make sure there is some cover in the tank (live or fake plants).

Jinx. We kinda typed the same thing at roughly the same time haha

[laritheloud]

I would NOT add a betta in with honey gouramis. Honeys are very mild and shy and won't do well with a much more assertive betta, even if it's female.

Just as a note @Cinnebuns I am a woman, though I'm flattered that I come off as male! 😃

[Cinnebuns]

On 8/19/2022 at 6:42 PM, laritheloud said:

Just as a note @Cinnebuns I am a woman, though I'm flattered that I come off as male! 😃

Oops sorry haha. You can still be a woman dude if you want to!  I believe in you!  Haha. I mad respect the gourami knowledge tho!  🤩

Come to think of it, ik why I thought male. I read lari as Larry.