What tank is better for my betta fish?

What are some good betta fish tank-mates?

• I know that you shouldn't keep them with each other, and that you shouldn't keep them with other long-fin fish and fin-nippers as well. So cory catfish like the panda cories would probably be a good choice i know they only get around 2 inches in adult size and are peaceful and will get along fine with the betta probably (as long as he's not to aggressive), so how many of those should i put in a ten gallon tank? I was thinking like 4-5 and then the male betta, but i also was wondering if I could put a pair of cherry barbs? I know barbs aren't usually a good tankmate because they need to be in large schools and are likely to nip fins of fish especially fish like bettas, but since cherry barbs can be in pairs and they are small and peaceful i think (because the ones i have are pretty nice but i do have them with other barbs like golden barbs, and then zebra danios, a pleco, and a dwarf gourami in my 14 gallon. So Would.... 4 panda corydoras catfish 2 cherry barbs 1 male betta ...work in a 10 gallon tank? I' going to be using sand as the substrate but am having trouble deciding whether to get a big 50 pound bag of sand from like lowes or home depot and then just wash it very good and maybe even bake it in the oven to kill bacteria, like the quickerete stuff or just play sand, maybe walmart has some. Or if i should just stick with the more expensive sand from petco? Also I'm probably going to buy some driftwood off of amazon and also after running the tank for like 2 days i want to get some low maintenance plants. I asked a question about that so i know of some that would require little light and nothing special to keep thriving! I want to go for a nice natural and peaceful look in this aquarium so tell me your suggestions please! And also lots of people may reccomend platys but i don't think that they're that great tankmates and also guppies are not good either even though lots of people reccomend them though the males have very fancy tales that can get the betta riled and he may attack. Also females bore me hahahaha. Thanks for the help! its appreciated

• Answer:

  you could do the betta and the corys but the cherry barbs probably won't work male bettas get aggressive if other fish go into their spot in the tank and the cherry barbs would probably fin nip him. So just stick with the betta and corys or you could do some ghost shrimp and maybe a african dwarf frog or two with the betta?