Im going to get a betta at christmas time and have deceided to get the upright tank, but my mum thinks theres no point of having just one fish in a tank so She said she will give me extra money if I deceid to get the 11 gallon!

Cories, definatly. Cories love buddies, so I think 4 would be best (more if you can find pygmy cories, they are SO cute!).

Otherwise, you could go with some of the smaller tetras, stay away from the larger ones like black skirts though. A few neons would work, or some cherry barbs, or white clouds.

Definatly stay away from gouramis, they are very closely related to bettas and will definatly fight. Basically stay away from anything with long, colorful fins (guppies, even mollies/platies) and anything nippy/aggressive (tiger barbs).

i would go with cory's as well... have fun setting up ur new tank!!

I voted for betta with 4 cories. I have a 7 gal. bow front set up like that. Everyone is very happy.

I have kept some of my betta's alone,and some with tankmates.In my own personal experience ,the majority of the bettas who shared their tank would have prefered to be alone. They did not even like snails in with them.Matter a fact,I have a betta that I'm watching on my desk right now trying to attack a little mystery snail!!!! If I had to pick,I'd probably do the betta and the 4 gal tank alone...2nd choice would be to try the cories in the 11gal...If that is your choice ,be careful of your selection. Some of them are more sensitive than others when it comes down to the temps of the tank,and so forth.

But the only problem is in my LFS the bettas are kept in 30 gall tanks with baby cardinals and harlequins so I was worried about them missing all the space they used to have in the lfs so thats why I wasnt too keen on the 4 gall at first.

Did your betta make a bubblenest while in that setup?

Yes, I answered your e-mail. Would like to add that I keep the water heated at 78 degrees. It also depends on the temperment of your betta. Some are more agressive than others. Most will get along with cories even play with them. My daughters betta of three years would swim up and down with the cories especially after a water change.

I vote for the 4 gallon, it will be alot easier on both of you
and the betta... (IMO)