Question re: Bettas & What fish for 10 gal. aquarium

Question
Hello Jaymie.  I have 3 main questions if that's ok.  

One is re: my 2 Bettas.  Each one is in his own 10 gal. tank.  I have good heaters kept at 80F and a small power filter in each tank.  The current doesn't seem to move them around.  

I feed them a small amt. AM & PM, switching 3-4 foods for variety.  When I syphon the tanks every 2 wks. I add water conditioner, some bacteria (for fish) and a little aquarium salt.  I syphon out about 25% of the tank.  

Am I doing ok with this regimen?  The fish seem happy.  One only made 1 bubblenest since we've had him 2 mo. now whereas the other one has made about 4 in total.  They eat fine and swim all over.  What concerns me is I was doing all of these things before with our other 2 male Bettas and both ended up with dropsy at different times after only having them for about 4 months each.

My other question is some people say Corydoras Catfish can live with Bettas but I read that Bettas actually would prefer to live alone.  I don't want to stress them out.

If it is ok tho', how many could I safely keep with a Betta in a 10 gal. tank?  I don't want any overcrowding for stress & cleanup reasons.  Are Corys schooling fish?

My 3rd question is, if I want to put any tropical fish in another 10 gal. tank, is that too small for schooling fish?  I always figured 10 gal. was too small for any number of tropical fish except a Betta.  We have a 29 gal. tank but I don't feel like setting that up right now as I have to look after our 75 gal. tank with fancy goldfish.

Thank you for any help and sorry for all the questions!

Paula

Answer
Paula,

 I am happy that they are in a 10 gallon tank. Most people think they can be in small bowls. Most of what you are doing is awesome. I would however clean the tank every week not every 2 weeks. Even though there is a filter, they still need to be siphoned weekly. Do not clean the bottom inch of gravel because that is where the beneficial bacteria is. The way you are feeding the perfect. There is no need to add bacteria to their water so I would suggest not doing that along with no aquarium salt. Salt helps the Betta when sick, but if they already have it in their water, it wouldn't help them and you will be forced to always treat with medication. I have 11 adult Betta's and no one has salt in their water and they are very healthy. In regards to the other Betta's that had Dropsy, it might have been because the water was not changed weekly. Dropsy happens because of bad water quality.

Betta's prefer to live alone. Only females that have grown up together can not only be placed in the same tank, but do better in community tanks. Male Betta's do not like to have tank mates so keeping them alone will be the best for them. What I do, with my males is, place a mirror up to their tank for 15 minutes a day. It keeps them from getting bored and they get to exercise there flaring abilities. A Cory alone will need about 20 gallons all to himself.

In a 10 gallon tank you can put 6 neon tetra's, male (or) 4-5 guppies, all male, that way you dont get babies. (or) 2-3 male platties (or) If you don't want fish you can add up to 15 ghost shrimp (or) up to 15 cherry red shrimp. Or even crystal red shrimp. Don't put big fish with the shrimp or they will become dinner. Do not put all of these guys together but you can have a great tank with nice looking fish.

I hope this all helps.