Can a community tank work well for preventing betta boredom?

[Mutsu]

So I've got my long 7gal tank here, Triton is in it and enjoying the space... It looks so nice and it's making me reluctant to divide it up!
Has anyone tried adding community fish to a tailbiter's tank? Will it stop him being bored as well as a divided tank with a female would?
If so, what did you put in there?

[kizno1]

I havent heard of anyone doing it to stop tail biting but i dont see a reason why it wouldnt work. In a 7 G you could have Pygmy corys, galaxy rasbora or ember tetra. Or if you dont want to risk fish maybe even cherry shrimp or a snail would take its mind of tailbiting.

[Mutsu]

I'd quite like to put some fish in with him, think it'd look really nice My LFS tend to be happy to take back fish so if I get some this afternoon and have an issue I can take them back tomorrow.
I'd really like to put some ghost shrimp in, they look great - are they suitable? How many would you recommend?
Same goes for the others, they're all nice looking, how many would I put in?
I'll be getting some plants as well to go along the back wall to cover the filter. Fingers crossed it works If it doesn't I'll just take them back, divide and get a female betta.

[kizno1]

Ghost shrimp would be fine you could easily have 6 but they might not last long because of the hotter temps it will increase there metabolisms shorting there life span. I would go for cherry shrimp though, there smaller and look alot better IMO and there likely to breed.

You could have 6 of the Pygmy corys, galaxy rasbora or ember tetra. If you went for the Tetra or Rasbora you could have 6 of them plus 6 shrimp or if you go for the pygmy corys alone i would go for 8.

[Mutsu]

Will a tropical flake be ok for the tetras or rasboras? I have a full pot of sinking goldfish pellets from when I had triops, would they be ok for the cories or shrimp?
Will toddle off to the fish shop soon and see what they have

[kizno1]

Yeah flakes fine for the tetra and rasbora and the corys will eat it if it falls to the bottom but its not enough for the corys to live off.

The goldfish pellets wont do the corys any good they would probably eat them but food for goldfish is very high in protein much much more than what a cory needs.

The corys and shrimp will take algae wafers and most tropical sinking pellets. I use bloodworm pellets for mine which i got 2KG for about £15 of ebay

[Mutsu]

I'll see what the shop have thanks for your advice! will hopefully return in an hour or so with some fish

[Mutsu]

Got 6 pygmy cories as it was all they had! Unfortunately forgot to get food :/ So they will have to live of sunken tropical flakes for a couple of days, I'll order some off ebay.

Triton is having a good old flare at them!

[Mutsu]

Well, he's enjoying chasing them, that's for sure! He's trying to nip them... hope he stops soon :/

[kizno1]

Mine was like that at first so i took the betta out rearranged the tank added him again and he was fins with them.

[Mutsu]

He seems a bit more relaxed now, he only moved into this tank yesterday evening so he can't be very used to it xD
I've moved the light so there's a dark end and a bright end for them
Do bloodworm pellets have to be crushed? If so, do they still sink? Also which size is better - 3mm or 6mm?

[kizno1]

These are the ones i got but a smaller amount you wont need as many as i got or you will be using them for years.
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For pygmys i would snap them a few times and then when there in the water the brake into little bits so they will be able to eat them.

Pygmy corys are that nocturnal so arnt to bothered about light or dark but they wont mind either way.

[SiennaBay]

Definitely a mystery snail too! My bettas LOVE following their snail pals around. Plus the snail helps clean algae.

[Mutsu]

Ahh ok thanks! I've found some that'll arrive in 2-3 days so hopefully they'll be here by monday at the latest
I meant to get a snail too but the only ones they had were huge apple snails! And my tank isn't escape-proof xD

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