Just started this tank almost 2 weeks ago. I apologize for the pictures, they're not the best quality. It's still a work in progress and I currently have my excess plants inside til I trade them in.
I swapped out the filter that came with that tank with the tetra whisper 10 I had in my 20 gallon tank. It's still in the middle of cycling. The rocks are Dragon stone aka Ohko stones. A member of the forums gave me a great deal on them. Ended up buying like 12 lbs of it with the driftwood.
10 - 15 gallons is the perfect size for a Betta home and gives enough room to grow some nice plants for him.
I just did a quick set up of a 15 gallon I had laying around and purchased a fluval c2 to filter it. I keep it at the lowest setting and it is great for my Betta, half the tank has still water so the filter does not overpower with flow.
I've hit a bit of a wall on the cycling. Nitrites have been stuck at 0.25-0.50 PPM. It only lowers when I do partial water changes. It will raise when I dose some ammonia, so I know ammonia is being used up. I haven't tested for Nitrates yet. The tank has miracle grow potting soil capped with menards brand blasting sand. Any suggestions? According to the Walstad method, I can add fish since the soil already has the beneficial bacteria and as long as I dose Prime with partial water changes til the water parameters are ideal.
Thank you! I'm getting a bit antsy with the cycling. I didn't have to wait this long on my 20 gallon tank. But then again I used eco complete for that one and not miracle grow potting soil. I really want to get a betta asap. It's a waiting game right now.
I've started doing larger water changes lately. After dosing ammonia to about 4PPM, I wait til the ammonia is zero then change out the water to bring the nitrites down. This is taking a lot longer than I had anticipated. I think I was not proactive enough earlier on. I'm changing that and will be doing daily water changes til i get the parameters right. I will keep dosing ammonia to at least 2PPM, wait 24 hours til it zeros out, test for nitrites and change the water out to keep nitrite levels under 5PPM. Hopefully being more diligent will pay off sooner.
I actually had a bottle of aquavitro seed that I started dosing about a week ago. But I'll keep that product you mentioned in mind. Have you had good experience with that product?
Don't forget that if you plan on adding other fish, add those before the betta. That should help him transition into viewing them as "part of the decor" rather than invaders into his territory.
I personally don't have any experience with sparkling gouramis, though I'd still be concerned about the brighter coloration. You could try asking on bettafish if anyone there has had luck with them.
I had fabulous luck with my otos. They have a pretty high mortality rate, but I added them into a fully cycled, two-month old tank in the middle of an algae bloom, and all three survived and are flourishing. I think adding them after the algae bloom hit was what really helped them--they eat constantly, and that gave them a chance to eat all they wanted as they became acclimated to the tank. I just got my otos from Petsmart--nowhere fancy. I read somewhere to try to get them after they'd been at the store for at least 2 weeks, to help weed out the weaklings.
I no longer have an algae problem (they nipped it in the bud basically overnight), and they're still doing well almost two months later.
Well I will go check some otos out tomorrow. I will have to change like 99% of my water first though. Would it be bad to buy both otos and the betta at the same time? Just put the Otis first?
Why are you changing 99% of your water, if I might ask?
I'd suggest buying the otos first to give your cycle a chance to catch up to them. Bettas have a pretty low bioload, though, so either should be fine. Give the otos an hour or two to find some hiding spots before adding the betta to the tank, and leave the lights low the first few hours they're in together to provide the otos more opportunities to hide.
My tank is already cycled, I have to change the water to get rid of all the excess nitrates before I add any fish. Just finished the cycle not too long ago, I've been dosing the tank with ammonia still to keep the bb fed.
Well my son and I are headed to our LFS. Going to go check out some bettas and otos. Hoping they have something similar to what my gf saw last last time
So after I acclimated my otos for about 45 minutes, I dump them in my net and slowly add them into my 10 falling before the betta. One of the otos gets stuck in the net on its front barbs? I cut a price of the net off.
One thing I noticed, my assassin snail tried to climb onto one of the otos. Should I be concerned? I separated the two as fast as I could.
I was able to get a replacement oto for my betta tank. Ended up getting 3 otos for my 20 calling tank. I'm also testing the waters with some ghost shrimp.
Finally got some decent photos of my betta and other tank mates. Still low quality pics though.
Thanks, its been a long time coming. I'm just glad that he's pretty docile. I have 3 otos 6 ghost shrimp and that betta in there. My daughter wants to name him dragonite.
Full tank shot. I know there's algae, but I don't mind it. Food for the snails and my otos. I still have some plants that I left floating. My betta seems to like it so its staying for now.
Everything is filling in. I've noticed some growth on my Nana petites. Staurogyne repens are starting to spread. Java moss has grown quite a bit on the driftwood I glued it to. I wish it would wrap around it some, but maybe I'll have tie it around with fishing line. Overall I'm satisfied with the new growth.
So I noticed that while I was gazing at my tank, I can feel the warmth of the lights. Or so I thought were the lights. I checked my thermometer and noticed that it was 90 degrees! Jesus! I quickly unplugged the heater, took the SOB out. Took some water out and replaced it with cooler water. Didn't want to lower the temperature drastically. Its currently sitting at about 86 and slowly going down. I will continue to replace some of the water with cooler water to bring the temps down some more. I'm hoping none of my fish are hurt by this.
Man I was contemplating on whether or not I should get one. The. I was looking all over for another aqueon pro heater. Since I've had such great luck with my 100 watt in my 20 gallon. Its hard to come by now at a decent price that is. But yea. I will be looking into getting a couple of heater controllers in the near future.
So far so good with the inhabitants. Even the shrimp seem to be fine. Well I'll check back on them in the morning.
Good to hear, it is sounding like you caught it in time. I was told the heater controller was good insurance. Of course I'll never have a problem now that I have one.
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