# betta in planted tank



## raven89 (Mar 16, 2007)

I have a planted tank which is abt 3x1.5x1.2 feet, it is not heavily planted(more of driftwood and stone) but it does have some plants to add colour in the tank. I i am intrested in keeping as many types of fish as i can. I have around 30 neon, 5 black neon, about 15 rummy nose, 5 glowlight, about 15 pork chops and 1 balloon ram i was thinking about keeping bettas in the tank. I have kept bettas before but always in a samll glass cube tank, i know that the males are aggrsesive to each other, so how many bettas can i house in my tank and is it advisable to have female bettas in it too?Are there any other fishes u guys can recommend thta couold add colour to the tank?


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

Tank is way overstocked. Reduce fish count to about 30 tetras.


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## K20A2 (Aug 12, 2006)

You should use this as an excuse to set up another tank to take some stress off of this one. Move some of your current fish to the new one when its ready to go perhaps?? 

But to answer your question, a betta should be fine living with fish such as you mentioned. Mine really seems to love the plants in his tank. I'm always catching him just resting on the leaves or buried deep in a huge moss pile I made for him.


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

He would probably get picked on or pick on the others, I had a plakat with a ram before and they fought like they were both bettas.


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## Mud Pie Mama (Jul 30, 2006)

eklikewhoa said:


> He would probably get picked on or pick on the others, I had a plakat with a ram before and they fought like they were both bettas.


YAH! I tried a betta in a heavily planted (tons of hiding spaces) 75 gallon tank. My ram instantly knew the betta was never to be trusted! I tried moving the ram to the 46g. It still did'nt work, the betta then chased everyone else around. When this betta started sizing up the full grown congo tetras (at least 3x his size) I knew I had to give in and set up another tank just for this betta boy. I've heard that some bettas will co-exist with certain other fish, but I think it's always a crap-shot.

Also, I agree with two of the other posters who are recommending that your tank is already past it's limits for stocking. While you maybe able to keep the water parameters within safe limits by strong filtration and increased water changes, etc.; still overcrowding can cause the fish to be greatly stressed. This continual stress affects their immune systems and disrubt any chance of seeing natural behaviors, ie., smooth swimming, schooling, or spawning, displayed.


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

Yeah forgot to add that too....the stocking is beyond LFS levels.


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## raven89 (Mar 16, 2007)

oo i didnt know abt it being overstock sry guys. howerver the fishes seem to have no problem living in such a sense popluation they still eat alot and are pretty energetic. I was wondering if i plant more plants will it help the overcrowding problem by giving them more place to hide? What would be the recommended amount of fish for my tank? O the measurement are 3.5x1.5.1.2 to be exact.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Your overstocking isn't as bad as it could be since most of your fish have small body masses, but as stated above, you should try to reduce the number to around 30 of the Neon's, or whichever you like the best.

Crowding isn't really the issue with your tank, but just the amount of waste that many fish will put out, so I don't believe adding more plants will will help in your situation until you thin the stock down a little.
That's not saying that the plants don't help suck up the excess nutrients, etc., but they can only do so much in an overstocked tank.


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## vic46 (Oct 20, 2006)

Well, 5.4 cubic feet is about 40 USFG.
Your tank is WAY overstocked.The rule of thumb and only a rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish, excluding tail, per gallon. Now obviously this doesn't mean that you could put a 10 pound fish in a 10 gallon tank but as a rule of thumb it is a reasonable evaluation of capacity of a tank subject to the application of common sense. Betta don't do well in a community tank. They are slow moving and tend to be snacks for faster swimming and somewhat aggressive fish. Put you Betta in a nice 5USFG tank with some plants and a heater and a filter and he will be much happier. It really is all about HAPPY fish.
Cheers;
Vic


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

It's all about surface area plus water volume. Use 10 to 12 square inches of surface area for each linear inch of fish (tetras or equivalent). Wide body fish like Angels and Discus should have at least 30 to 36 square inches for each linear inch.

A tall 50 gal hex cannot safely support as much fish as a 50 gal rectangular.


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## raven89 (Mar 16, 2007)

i have the prob abt the water become cloudy at some time or the other. What exactly is the problem? i have change water but sometimes its just turn cloudy again, the fishes dont seem to have any problem about it, it's unsightly, is it due to the amount of co2? ( i am using a electrolysis co2 maker)( o btw does anyone know how to make the rummy nose's nose redder?)


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

Overfeeding, or the tank is not properly cycled. The cloudiness is probably cause by suspended particles.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

What kind of cloudy are you talking about?
If it's white and sort of milky colored, you could be getting bacterial bloom.
If it's a darker more murky looking cloudy, it's probably the suspended particles that furballi mentioned.
If it's greenish, it may be an algae bloom.

At any rate, it means something is amiss and needs to be corrected.
Once you get things back in balance in your tank (which will probably mean reducing the # of fish), your Rummies noses will probably turn much redder. With them that's a sure sign of being stressed when they aren't as vibrantly colored as they should be.


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