Flying fix, otto or Corys ??

[Endler32]

I would like something different in my community tank but can't decide what to go for, I have few bn plecs, a handful of guppies, 10 neons and 2 female fighters. I have just offloaded some baby plecs, guppies and endlers to make some space. Tank is 200ltr, water quite hard.

I'm tempted by flying fox, was told they eat algae ( black beard )? But I don't know much about them, are they happy on their own or in a group?

Similar with otto's.

I already gave one lonely cory but he is a rare cory and I have been unable to find any the same, should I buy him some friends, maybe some albino or peppered?

Or do I buy more female Bettas as I do love these, they are bright and colourful and cheap

What should I go for? Or is there any other fish I could consider?

[EauRouge]

Different species of cory will shoal together if there are none of their own kind- what is your lone cory?

I wouldn't go for otos, they are quite delicate and the hard water won't do them any favours.

How many plecs do you have left? I wouldn't have more than 3, they might scrap otherwise as they get bigger.

Flying foxes- depends what you mean. There are a couple of species sold under this name. This is a good description. I'd be too worried about the neons and guppies tbh.

[Endler32]

I still have a few baby plecs left but hopefully offloading to Maidenhead aquatics, so I will just have my breeding trio ( though thinking about splitting them up, selling the 2 females ) and I have 2 L182 pleco's ( which hide a lot ). My lonely cory was sold to me as a bandit cory, I did order him some friends from my local fish shop but when I went to collect them they were panda Corys ( much smaller and slightly different markings ), I did buy a few but they didn't take much notice of each other and sadly I lost the pandas .

I am tempted to get rid of the left over guppies and turn it into a female betta tank ( maybe 6 or more, I have 2 jumbo Bettas already).

I need to decide before I go visiting shops so I don't end up with lots of random fish ( impulse buys ).

[Endler32]

Got rid of 5 plecs yesterday, all my endlers and a few guppies, 2 more plecs went today so my tank is starting to look a bit empty , still have around 10 baby plecs to get rid of.

[EauRouge]

Ooh, so you're having just bettas? I bet that will look awesome.

[Endler32]

If I can find some, the ones I have are jumbo/dumbo/Giants (not sure what they are called ) so are larger than regular Bettas, I have been on a betta hunt this morning and it was not successful , I have found a broader on fb but they want £15 per fish plus postage , I bought my 2 for £2.75 each a year ago, I think I was lucky, went back to the same shop today but they didn't have any females ( lovely males though ). I think I am going to go for a female betta tank, it will look amazing and colourful, I just need some.

Will check out Maidenhead and the horrid pets at home ( maybe a good idea for me to set up a quarantine tank ).

[EauRouge]

Dumbo bettas? They are just ones that are bred to have big pectoral fins (they look like elephant ears). They're just selectively bred to look that way, but they are still Betta splendens. So any old Betta splendens will do, they should be pretty easy to get hold of. Always a good idea to check the scientific name because there are always variations in common names, or just plain made up ones. It's a bit like veiltail, ryukin, ranchu goldfish etc. All just goldfish, Carassius auratus. Same as dogs.

[Endler32]

After a bit of research I don't think they are dumbo's, someone said they were 'giant Bettas' they seem quite bit compared to regular Bettas ( the ones I used to have were half the size ), I will pop a photo up later when I'm not using the app. I have contacted a local fish shop and they said they can get me some, not sure of the price yet though.

[Endler32]

Here she is.

[EauRouge]

How big is she? She looks a lot like a B. splendens. Some have been line bred to be bigger than usual. There are so many different appearances within the species that they can look very different. 'King' bettas and 'giant' bettas are two names given to extra-large B. splendens. Some people think they are hybrids which would only be a problem if you were planning to breed because a lot of times hybrids are sterile.

[Endler32]

She's probably around 3 inches ( maybe bigger, my estimates are not great ), I have another one that I bought with her but he's not she's not as active as this one. I won't be breeding, havn't got the room .

[EauRouge]

I reckon she's just a B. splendens then. There shouldn't be a problem mixing the different varieties as long as you make sure they're all fed.

[Endler32]

Ahhhhhhh, one of my guppies just gave birth to over 30 fry, none of my fish seem to be eating them, I now have lots of guppies to get rid of before I can get my Bettas .

[Endler32]

I have new fish after a long afternoon and searching 3 different shops I found some female Bettas ,I bought 3 ( one blonde and 2 blues ) and I bought 3 large Corys to keep my lonely boy company, I have no idea what they are but they are crazy ( darting around ).