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Hello all,
Starting new tank, cycling fishless, using a whisper filter. Need advice on this planned scenario: 5 lemon tetras, 6 cardinal tetras, 3 dwarf cory cats. (3 live plants, hopefully more.) Will this work or is it absolutely essential to have 6 lemons instead of 5? Don't want to overstock the tank. Also have one male betta in a 2.5 gallon tank. He seems to be more on the peaceful side. Would the large tank get overstocked if he's added to this mix? I am thinking if the tank had more frequent water changes it would work. Thanks in advance for your advice and tips!

Hi,
Most of the reading I've done on Lemon Tetras suggest
at least 5 and some at least 6 to form a group. My
concern with the male betta would the Lemons. The
large flowing fins generally represent a target for many
fish making the male betta an animal with a target printed
on it. Perhaps others might be more reassuring. I know
my Black Skirt tetras devoured my cherry shrimp and used
my male betta as a target.

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thanks Frank for your reply!
I'm thinking I could give it a short while to see how the other fish treat the Betta. If the Betta gets picked on (or he tries lunching on the Lemons), he goes back to his single life. Could I add more fish to the tank or what I mentioned (the 5/6 lemons, 6 cardinals, 3 cory's, possibly Betta) be the max? I forgot to mention that the tank is stocked with gravel as well so actually it holds about 25 gallons of water with all this displacement!

I doubt you will have a problem with the tetras nipping the betta, especially if betta has been all by himself prior... I have some really agressive male feeder guppies (they are jerks I tell you!) that I moved away from one tank because they were tearing my fancy guppies apart, they live with my male betta now and and he actually keeps them in check! Sometimes with bettas i feel like "peaceful" can mean "brooding"

You could try a group of 5 lemons and see if they school tight or they seem lost... if they seem lost, add one at a time until they group together the way you want them. I think with 5 or 6 lemons, 6 cardinals, and 3 dwarf cories you still have some wiggle room, I would suggest more corys... the more corys the bigger the party!

Yay! Sounds like I can get away with 6 lemons, 6 cardinals, 3 cories and a Betta and still have some wiggle room! (Assuming of course peace largely reigns.)

I'd probably up the lemons and the cards by one or two. I've never had them school less than seven or eight.

I bet they will school because they will feel intimidated by betta