# Help me with fish compatibility? LF colourful community fish.



## Bunny (Oct 13, 2013)

Hi everyone, so I recently gained about 10 gal worth of "fish-space" in my tank. I'm looking to fill it with something colourful, full of personality and that will get along with my existing fish - all of which are very placid and get along great.
I have 11 WMC minnows, 6 Corydoras Elegans, a 5" common pleco, and a 3" bnp. 

I have read that mollies, platys, dwarf gouramis are all pretty good bets for colourful and peaceful, as well as female bettas. I'd love to be able to add maybe 2 female bettas and a couple other fishies, but I'm not sure who gets along with who, and also who needs to be in groups (of how many) to be happy.
Anyone have any good ideas for me? I do know that if I go the F betta route, I should probably watch them in the store and pick "non-bossy" ones.

The main things I am looking for is really colourful, peaceful and personality...


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## nigerian prince (Mar 8, 2013)

how big is the tank?
from what i've read with female bettas its better to have 4-6+ , but im sure someone else will know better


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## Bunny (Oct 13, 2013)

Its a 33 gal tank. Planning to upgrade in the next year or so to a 100+ gal for the common pleco...

really? 4-6 of the F bettas? huh. Well technically I could do that... Not sure if I want to fill my available space with all the same kind of fish though. I guess another option is to rehome a few of the minnows to make a little more space for something else...

I've had a goldfish for a long time (its a long story how we got stuck with him) that I recently had to euthanize - having him had basically shut out most of the fun colourful fish, so I'm quite excited to change my tank up with some colourful fishies...


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

How about adding a Dwarf Gourami?


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## Bunny (Oct 13, 2013)

TomC said:


> How about adding a Dwarf Gourami?


Whats their personality like? Are they territorial or aggressive at all? How many would you suggest for my tank?

I'm also starting to consider trading my minnows out for guppies/platys/mollies....

Also, would they harass adult cherry shrimp (not very visible as they are extremely low grade). I'm okay if they eat shrimp babies... population control is not the worst.

Was also half thinking about getting an apisto pair - have heard good things about their personalities...


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## Rockman (May 19, 2013)

Bunny said:


> Whats their personality like? Are they territorial or aggressive at all? How many would you suggest for my tank?


The males are a bit fighty with conspecifics (and you really can't find females anywhere); so you'd be limited to one per tank most likely. It's also very important to get healthy stock; a significant number of DG's in the trade have Dwarf Gourami iridovirus; which is usually fatal.



Bunny said:


> I'm also starting to consider trading my minnows out for guppies/platys/mollies....


It might not be a bad idea to trade out the minnows (they're more of a cold water species anyway; they really should be kept in the 14-22 degrees C range); however guppies/mollies/platies are hardwater fish and won't do very well in typical west coast tapwater. You can add mineral salts if you want to; but the rest of your fish are all softwater anyway; so you might as well stick with that. Tetras or rasboras would be a better alternative in that case.



Bunny said:


> Was also half thinking about getting an apisto pair - have heard good things about their personalities...


That might be fun; cichlids are always amusing.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

what is the one fish you must have? Then I can suggest something around it.


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## ivanstrashenko (Nov 27, 2013)

Fantasy Aquatics definitely has female dwarf gouramis, I specifically asked them.


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## Bunny (Oct 13, 2013)

Can someone give me a rundown on dwarf gourami, female bettas, and a pair of apistos?
Kinda, pros and cons of them?

@Charles, I'd love to let you know, but I'm really just not sure. I've never paid any attention before to people talking about any of these kinds of fish because they were not worth even thinking about when a goldfish was in the mix. I feel so out of my league looking for colourful fish  Maybe some betta females?

Could I put a few female bettas and dwarf gouramis/apistos in the same tank? Ive heard that there could be aggression between the gouramis and bettas if they are together...

Also, a big thank you to everyone for helping me out 

Oh! does anyone have some good pictures/source for female betta pics? I'm about 80% sure that searching google for "female betta" results in mostly unsexed/male betta pics...


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## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

apistos are really fun to watch.. the breeding color and behaviour are something that you will enjoy. 33 gals is very good size for a pair.. you can put a group of pencilfish with apisto pair.. pencilfish is the perfect dither fish for the apisto tank. our tap water is perfect for beginner's apistos... 

Pencilfishes are also really fun to watch.. I have beckford's pencilfish in my apisto tanks and their color is really beautiful..


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

I second jhj0112's suggestion! Apistos have both colour and personality and they stay small enough that they can do well in a 33g tank. The minnows could be dither fish or you could also invest in pencilfish if you like the look of them too! The apistos will also get along with everything in that tank (unless they start breeding, in which case they will chase away the minnows)


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## Bunny (Oct 13, 2013)

So what species of apistos would you guys suggest...? There seem to be a large number of sub-species that are often talked about. Ideally something not too expensive...

Also, I'm assuming that it would be best to have no more than one female and male in the tank (don't they get aggressive with others of their kind?) So what else could I put with them? Ideally something with a little more personality and colour than minnows/tetras... I have a funny feeling that the others that I like the idea of (female bettas, etc) wouldnt get along with the apistos...

Does anyone have any experience with a couple of female bettas together?


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