Betta

Hi folks, thinking about setting up a tank for a betta, couple of questions really. Would a 60 litre tank be to big for him and could I run the new filter in my community tank for a while to help speed up the cycling of my 60L tank. 

The only 'problem' I can foresee is that with 60 litres, you would be tempted to get other fish as well. Bettas do not make good community fish. But if you would be prepared to keep him on his own, yes it would make a great tank for a betta. Having said that, if the tank had a lot of hiding places, you would be OK with shrimps as the shrimps would breed faster than he could eat them. Unless they were amano shrimps of course 

Running the filter in the other tank would certainly seed it, and you would not need very many bacteria for 1 betta in a 60 litre tank - you would need nowhere near the number needed to eat the 3 ppm usually suggested for a tankful of fish. In fact, if you were to set the tank up, add live plants, wait till you were sure they were growing and not dying, it would be safe to get a betta without cycling the filter. A few live plants would easily use all the ammonia made by a betta. And bettas like floating plants which are ammonia 'sinks'.

I would research shrimps before getting any - Planet Inverts is a good starting place. You need shrimps compatible with your water and the slightly higher than usual temperature that bettas need. And of course the tank and your wallet would be better off with shrimps that can breed in fresh water (ie not amanos) so that you will have a self sustaining colony as bettas do eat shrimps

I have successfully kept my betta, boris [RIP little man  ] in a community but it depends on the temperament of the betta, they differ from fish to fish but good luck!