Best tankmates for betta

[mugofbananas]

I have a 40 Litre tank, for my betta, im not sure whether I will be getting a male or female betta. Once my betta is settled, I want to get some tankmates for them, I was thinking pygmy cories, panda cories or albino cories, I was also interested in a african dwarf frog. Would 6 cories, a betta and a frog make the tank too overcrowded? I plan for it to be quite heavily planted with lots of places to hide and rest. I keep getting mixed answers whether a 40 litre is too small for that amount of fish, so was hoping for a more solid answer. If those fish arent suitable as tankmates for a betta, which would be better?

[TOtrees]

I think that could work. I'd get the frog first and the betta last. I'd go with the smaller cories, so you can get maybe a few more than 6. Albino cories are the same species as bronze, and they're on the hefty side for a 40 litre/10 gallon. I mean, you can, but it's not ideal. 

[Solstice_Lacer]

I might choose between the cories and the frog, then if it seems to be going well you can add the other later. Pygmy cories like to go midwater sometimes from what I understand, Panda cories are on the smaller side and should stay more on the bottom. Depending on the species of albino cory they could get pretty chunky eventually. 

[mugofbananas]

@TOtrees Thank you so much, thats honestly helped a lot, I will look into the smaller cories and adding my betta last! 

@Solstice_Lacer Do you think panda cories would be more suited for the tank, as they are smaller? 

[Solstice_Lacer]

Yea I think a group of pandas would go nicely

[EricksonAquatics]

Personally I think Pandas are a bit large for a 40 liter. As with most fish, they do best with larger groups and I don’t think you could fit more than 6 in your tank. Personally I would do some of the dwarf Cory’s like pygmies or salt and pepper Cory’s.

Also something to note - when adding tankmates, it’s actually best to add the betta last. That way, he/she can’t establish a “territory” and get mad when other guys invade the territory. Just gives you a higher chance of success since Bettas can be super rude sometimes!

[Tony s]

I have rasboras, neon tetras, platys, kuhli loaches, and corys with bettas. No issues. But that all depends on the betta. Some have a screw loose. And of course, you couldn't put some of those fish in a 10-gallon tank. The pygmy cory could potentially work as they are less than an inch. Panda corys, at an inch and a half, are pushing the limits of the tank. My best combo is with a small group of harlequin rasboras in a 10g, and platys in a 20g. Green neons could do well with them also.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I agree that I personally wouldn’t do Albino Cory’s as they’re simply too big for a 10 gallon. 
 

I currently have ~20 Pygmy Cory’s and an African Dwarf frog in a 10 gallon. Started with 12 Pygmy’s a couple years ago and over time they have passively made a few more. I see them breeding, I see the eggs around the tank, and I just let them hatch and see what happens. Obviously some have made it over the years. 
 

Personally I would feel comfortable adding a Betta to my tank, if that’s what I was going for. I would recommend a female Plakat as females tend to be a little more mellow in my experience, and being short-finned they can maneuver more easily. ADF’s tend to dart around a bit, and those long flowing fins of males could be a potential disaster in that it’s hard enough for them to move around, and some frog claws could tear those fins up if they collided.

[mugofbananas]

@EricksonAquatics How long should I wait before adding the betta fish? 

[Lennie]

On 8/16/2024 at 10:15 PM, mugofbananas said:

Once my betta is settled, I want to get some tankmates for them

Bad idea. Once it settles, thats his/her tank now. Any future addition wont be welcomed

 

You should decide your other fish first and add your betta last to the community tank.

I did witness female bettas hurting pygmy cories in the past. At the end of the day it is all luck based to see if it will work. And you should have second plan to try such combination, so you can separate the fish if you see it didnt work.

I have kept bettas in many different combinations. The only thing that doesn’t  worked well for me is the combination of betta with similarly sized and colored fish, specifically dwarf cichlids. They dont like or liked by similarly sized colorful fish in my experience. 

No comments or experience on the frog as they are not legal in my country to my knowledge. We dont have them here 

 

[Tony s]

On 8/17/2024 at 6:09 PM, Lennie said:

The only thing that doesn’t  worked well for me is the combination of betta with similarly sized and colored fish, specifically dwarf cichlids

@mugofbananas completely agree with this. Then you’d have 2 fish with potential attitude problems in the same tank. Possibly extend that to any cichlid at all with a betta. Too many potential conflicts 

You can try your own combos, provided you’ve got a backup plan and a spare tank. I would never have thought platys until I tried it. The downside being your fry are going to be gone.

[Tony s]

The ones I’ve found that don’t work at all are skirt tetras and lemon tetras. Way to fin nippy for bettas. The skirts were an emergency situation. The lemons were supposed to be very peaceful, apparently not for bettas

[EricksonAquatics]

On 8/17/2024 at 3:49 PM, mugofbananas said:

How long should I wait before adding the betta fish?

After you’re happy with the tankmates. So start with Pygmy Cory’s or anything else you’d like to add first, get them settled, then move on to adding the betta.