WTB: Pygmy cories
 

I am planning a betta sorority for my 20g tank and wanted to have cories as well. My LFS gets them once in a great while so I am fishing here to see if I get a bite lol. Im planning pool filter sand as substrate. Thanks in advance for any help. Im also looking for dwarf pencilfish. As far as quantities, 6 of each I think.

I would think the cories and pencilfish would be compatible, but my concern is the size of the tank. Double the tank size (IMO a 40 gallon breeder would be perfect). I would use smooth sand as a substrate (especially if you want cories of any kind) and include leaf litter and lots of plants, both floating and planted.

I think a betta sorority will more often succeed if you can accomodate 7-8 females rather than 3-4. A larger pecking order is better at dispersing aggression.

I know there are abundant examples of smaller sorority tanks on YouTube, but I would press the owners of these tanks to see if they are still working six months down the line. An awful lot of people post videos of brand spankin' new aquariums. Substantially fewer post videos that say: here's my mess of a sorority tank where "Buffy" killed all her gal pals.

Also, bettas get bigger than we often visualize upon purchase.

Ooookkkk I never mentioned anything about a 3-4 girl sorority. I don't think tank size is an issue.

I disagree. These are territorial fish. Admittedly they can be well-maintained in small amounts of water as individual specimens, but when combined in a single tank, other issues need to be considered. More space is necessary.

Another possibility would be to have a community aquarium with a single female and about 8 each of the other species mentioned.

That would be a very attractive tank.

I've looked into starting another female betta sorority and all the info I've read recommends uneven numbers (i.e., 3, 5, etc) and a minimum of 5 gallons for each to form territories. That said, a 20 gallon tank would be fine for 3 betta.

terriff! Hope the girls read the same books you do.

As someone who has had a betta sorority, I would most definitely recommend having as many girls as you can safely stuff in there.

I had 8 girls in my 29 gallon tank and they still fought every now and then, and I've had to pull out a girl every now and then, even when everything had been peaceful for weeks. Sororities tend to be time bombs.