Stocking

[honmol]

I have a ten gallon tank and it currently has 1 betta, 2 serpae tetras, and 1 harlequin rasbora in it. (The tetras and rasboras were "cycling fish" in a friends tank. He was just going to get rid of them but I got them instead)

I know that the tetras and rasbora are schooling fish and was thinking of getting more of their kind for them to school with but don't want to overstock the tank.

Another possibility is to buy more tetras and rasboras and put them in their own ten gallon and get other fish to live with the betta.

What do you think would be best?

[Ringo]

In a 10G tank you could have
1 Betta
4 serpae tetras
& 3 rasboras

but you would have to keep up on your water changes.

do you plan on buying a bigger tank in the future sometime?

[Damon]

I would get rid of one species of schooler. Then add enough of the other to make 6.

[craftyflalady]

I agree Damon

[honmol]

Originally Posted by SpoiledFishies

In a 10G tank you could have
1 Betta
4 serpae tetras
& 3 rasboras

but you would have to keep up on your water changes.

do you plan on buying a bigger tank in the future sometime?

I have a 55 gallon that isn't currently set up but will be in a few months.

I could also put the betta into a different tank and have the ten gallon just for the schooling fish.

Would that work?

[Damon]

With schooling fish, bigger is better. They may look nice having 6 in a 10 gallon tank but you should see 50 in a 55/75 gallon setup. Absolutely amazing.

[JustOneMore20]

A 10g isn't big enough for 2 schools. Schooling fish like to have bigger groups, atleast 6. There isn't room for 12 fish in a 10g.

I'd either keep one school (preferably the rasboras) in the 10g by themselves and up the group to 8 or keep the betta and rasboras in the 10g and up the rasboras to 6.

Serpae tetras are really nippy, especially if they are in smaller groups so I would never keep them with a betta.

I would put the Serpaes in the 55g with other semi-aggressive fish or fish that don't have long fins.

I agree with Damon, big schools look awesome in larger tanks.

[honmol]

Ok. Would it be Ok until I get the 55 gallon up and cycled (probably a couple months) to keep 6 serpaes in a 10 gallon by themselves?

Would it also be ok to keep 5 or 6 rasboras with the betta in the 10 gallon? Or would I need a larger tank?

[JustOneMore20]

Both would be fine IMO.

I have a 10g with a male betta and 6 harlequin rasboras and it works great. The 6 Serpaes will be fine in the 10g until you upgrade. I just wouldn't keep them with the betta.

[honmol]

ok. I actually haven't had any aggression problems with the serpaes. They've been around bettas since they were juveniles and I've never seen any even attempted nipping.

[girth vader]

my serpaes are in a larger tank 90g mind you, but they only ever play tag with each other. fun to watch. but they have never gone after a different species in the tank. I have a school of serps and neons. but I know others have had issues with serpaes, but as Damon said seeing a huge school (30) of serp in a tank looks amazing. I had 30 in my 55 gallon at one point with 3 angles and it looked amazing. it was planted as well. but I had a ich breakout, and used malachite green to get rid, which id a tetra killer, so I lost a few then a few to old age. but man were they fun to watch, seeing 30 of them going side to side in a group playing tag. hmmm, maybe I'll do another 55g serpae tank with my extra 55g