Is it truly that bad of a combo as some forums suggest?
I’m getting back into the hobby and wanted to recreate a tank i kept in college. I’m looking to do a planted 20-30 gallon and I kept a combo of white clouds, zebra danios, and a betta very successfully back then. The fish seemed to be very active, in good health, and had great color. I remember I kept the tank around the 74-76 degree mark. Everyone seemed happy.
I really wanted to replicate that tank at a bigger scale, but my now I’m seeing advice that says it’s a bad idea.
Anybody have any thoughts/suggestions?
I’d consider another centerpiece fish instead of the betta if anyone has any suggestions
WCMM’s like lower temps, mine chill around 60f in winter and might hit 75f on the hottest days of summer. Ideally they would never get over 72f but I live in a hot region. Bettas really should be over 75f, ideally 78-82f to be active and healthy.
It’s not impossible as you’ve experienced but your not setup for success when the majority of your tank is outside recommended temperatures and you’ll probably end up losing a lot of fish to preventable diseases as a result.
I don’t have an alternative centerpiece fish but I’d recommend looking for an alternative to the white clouds, they are more of an oddball in requirements compared to most other tropical fish you see for sale. There are a lot of shoaling/schooling fish around that size that would be perfectly happy at betta temps.
I will say first time around no deaths or disease outbreaks. I do wonder if my geographic location actually helped. I’m in the deep southeast US so it gets pretty hot. Maybe the local population of WCM have been breeding in warmer conditions at the breeders. Tap water is already hotter, and depending on the breeder the facility it may not be well cooled leading to higher ambient temperatures. Wouldn’t be the first time the aquarium hobby creates fish adapted to different conditions than their natural habitat.
I really do enjoy the white cloud minnows.