Best to check with people on here before doing anything, and it will make a difference on what plants I choose.

What do you guys reckon to the following.

The tank is 180l

So what if I get the following?

5 female Bettas
1 male Betta
6 Dwarf Catfish
6-12 Cardinal or Ember tetras.

Between 30-32 inches of fully grown fish. Obviously would take it slow with maybe a shoul a month and keep a close eye on water conditions to make sure they stay stable and I will make sure the water is soft enough to support the fish's requirements.

I reckon they should be happy as none of them are really the enthusiastic swimming types but are all either useful or pretty or both.

Bettas don't really go in community tanks imop,
By dwarf cat fish do you mean otos ?? If so you will find they will get chased off the cherry barbs.

The current fish are all going back to LFS or being donated to good homes (any good homes on here are welcome to them).

I don't want them dying in the tank switch over you see so basically starting from scratch as it were.

The above mentioned fish will be the only fish present.

So would you suggest Betta only?

Ohh yes I do mean the otos (insert long unpronounceable Latin name here) ones. The cute tiny algea eating ones

Hi Mr Hill

Male fighters (Betta) are highly territorial towards all other Betta, including the ladies, I’m afraid. The males will have a given territory and woe behold anything coming into it, even other fish that look remotely similar like guppies. This causes terrible amounts of stress for all fish concerned. A single male is far happier in own tank and I’d recommend 45-65 litres min.

Betta’s are harem spawners, not pair bonding at all, one of the forum members here has a harem tank and I’m sure she stocks 1 male to 2 (possibly 3 females) only in a big tank. If the females enter the male's territory, they are expected to breed. If unreceptive, they'll be aggressively evicted from the territory and often fish in too small tanks, are commonly seriously injured and sometimes killed.

It can be carnage in too small a tank The male will flare at females to try and lure them, but he will also flare to warn them, prior to an attack. The other absolutely crucial thing is lots of really dense planting to block off the line of sight and give respite to the females.

To keep a harem set up you need a long tank and 4 foot minimum is recommended. Length is more important than volume in this scenario.

Needing soft, acidic water your pH of 7-7.4 is a bit high TBH unless you plan to use some RO each week.

Ahh see told you it was a good thing I asked on here first.

Advise at the fish shop was yeah don't worry mate they will be fine but I had a sneaking suspicion that they were trying to make a sale.

Would I be okay with just the female variety? Betta websites are telling me more then 1 female will fight each other but 6 will spread the aggression as long as there are enough plants.

The tank is 100cm across so 3 foot 3 inch and will be heavily planted and 180l is the volume. If not then will just keep 1 male or switch to another feature fish (dwarf gourimi perhaps?)

I am of course only going to be going ahead if I can find a reliable way of lowering the PH and softness.

I have been told you can "mature" the water in peat moss to lower the PH and soften the water in my research on softening water, but if all else fails then RO will have to be the solution. I need to get an RO filter for my car detailing anyway.

A male Betta needs to be kept alone so is not suited to a mixed 180 litre community tank tank as Critch has already mentioned.

Females can co-exist without too much trouble usually but they are not social fish, spending much of their lives alone in the wild. You can get bullies though as with all fish, so personally in a 3 foot 'well' planted tank (think two thirds planted) I would only start with 2 to give them the space and cover they need and see how things go (providing the alkalinity can be brought down a tad). There are easier small shoaling fish that happily co-habit with others is you are looking for peace of mind and no potential future stress though

From what you have said then I think for this particular tank we will drop the Bettas from the line up.

What say we to these as a "feature" fish in a tank willed with otherwise very small tetras?

http://www.fishkeeper.co.uk/databank.aspx?id=14

But just all female. Maybe 2-3 instead of 6?

I'm going to go against the general oppinion that a male must be kept alone. i myself have kept 3 bettas two of which were in comunity tanks. first was a crown tail called dave he lived in a 90ltr in the end with a candy stripe plec and a small shoal of corydora hastatus (spelling?) second was a veil tail called james he lived in a 125ltr with some weird rainbow fish that we were given because a work mate couldnt look after them shrimp and snails. the third i still have and its the only tank that is still running is 4' ish long and about 200ltrs is a harem with a male and two females heavily planted one lot of fry that didnt doo well next lot i'm geared up to do a better job.

i guess i'm trying to say that a community is possible but the fish that you will have to chose must be chosen with care so as you dont endanger any fish. nothing bright or fast so as not to stress the betta into trying to fight what it will never catch. nothing with bright flowing fins as not to allow the betta to attack thinking that it is an intruder into its teratory, nothing that will outgrow the betta and try to eat the betta.

Oh dear, I'm afraid I'm sounding like the harbinger of doom tonight lol

Dwarf Gourami (that pic is a powder blue male) are not shoaling but pair bonding only. I housed two in a mixed set up some years ago, a male and female in a 3ft 180 litre mixed trop set up and it was awful . Sourced from different shops (many shops only sell males as they are more colourful). The males can be be very aggressive and my male chased the female and bullied her all the time, for food, even for space. After a week and a half I had to return them as the behavior was unsettling all the other fish.

If you can get two that are pair bonded already, that would be fine and they should be settled and they are beautiful fish In a 3 foot tank, 1 pair would be ideal.

Personally, I'm not a advocate of housing single sexes in a group set up as I feel they should be allowed to behave normally. After all as a fish in a tank, after swimming, eating and pooping, what else is there to do - wink. That decision rests with you though lol