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Jag's Betta Spec! Update 9/16

9K views 53 replies 19 participants last post by  Jaguar 
#1 ·
Bought a Spec on impulse today. It was there and I wanted it. It was expensive but I wanted it. I'm broke but I still wanted it. So I got it. Paid too much and it was out of the box but whatever.

I bought it mostly because I'm trying to downsize. I have a 33g community tank, an empty 60-P, and a derimmed 10g.

The 10g has 4 guppies in it. I intend to put 3 of them (the males) in the Spec tonight. Then I'm taking the fish out of the 33 (9 harlequin rasboras and 1 GBR) and putting them in the cycled 10 with the female guppy and then getting rid of the 33. My next paycheck is going towards a stand for the 60-P. Once the 60-P is ready and cycled, the ram and rasboras are going in that. And then I'm buying some new stock, and will use the 10g for quarantine, and when that's done, the 10g will be taken down and put into storage for use at a later time. That's the plan, anyway... sounds solid but it could change.

So my plans for the Spec.

I'm leaving the original sponge thing in it. But I took out the carbon and squashed some very dirty cycled sponge from the 10g in it. If that's a bad idea someone let me know lol.

I am going to take some sand out of my 33, boil it to kill the nasties living on it (cyano) and put it in the bottom, for now. I am going to soak some leftover New Aqua Soil in a container and put it in when the ammonia is done leeching.

I am going to heavily plant the tank with a small piece of driftwood or stone. Since I'm just putting guppies in it I want to make it sort of bottom heavy, densely planted on the bottom but open up top so they have a bit more swimming area.

And, if this tank really sets off and I'm liking it, I may move it to work. Or buy another Spec for work if I can get another for cheap. And stick a betta in it. Yay.

Fauna will be 3 male fancy guppies and maybe some cherry shrimp or something in the future. Might change to something like endlers or chili rasboras.

Let's go!
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Initial planting :)



Guppies are in!! I'm gonna have to figure out how to turn the filter down because they are getting blasted around... lol. Plants so far are vals, crispus, narrow leaf amazon sword, crypt wendtii red/green, crypt parva. Going to scour the beach for rocks for a hardscape today :)



My first impressions are wow, this tank is pretty good for an all in one! Can't go wrong with a 40gph pump with a lot of media space in a less than 2 gallon tank, lol, but with the pump turned down all the way and some sponge crammed behind the overflow it's nothing guppies can't handle. The light is decent for a kit light, should definitely be bright enough for the low light plants I've got in there. It looks sleek too. I'd LOVE it if it was about a gallon bigger... but it's perfect for a betta, small fish like guppies, micro fish, or shrimp :) We'll see how it holds out over time.
 
#3 ·
A simple way to turn the filter pressure down is to cut some slits in the rubber hosing running to the outflow. This also creates more water movement in that chamber, which is often used for heaters.

Another option is to use a valve. I dont remember the one I got but just measure the inside diameter and google search it.
 
#4 ·
Ah, I should've thought about cutting slits in the hose.... I did cram one of those preset Tetra heaters back there. I will do that if the flow bugs the guppies too much. Right now they seem okay.

Unfortunately my rams are not doing very well. One of them is extremely dominant over the other and the submissive guy is looking very skinny and listless. I am going to have to separate them VERY soon. Today maybe. Stupid pet store gave me 2 males and they still fight in a heavily planted 33 gallon.

Water all cleared up, guppies stopped freaking out... it is SO hard to get a picture of 3 moving objects at once with an iPhone...

 
#9 ·
I don't plan on breeding them, but one day I'd like to have a ton of them in a long and shallow tank... they are small, very colorful, active and friendly... I think guppies are underrated :)

and iRun, I hope you enjoy yours as much as I'm enjoying mine! I'm a little worried the light isn't strong enough for some plants, but the 13w Fluval PC light for the Flora/Ebi is one I commonly see used as a replacement.
 
#12 ·
Here's the new scape



Rock in the back left is kind of meh, I picked up a few at the beach and only had those to work with. I'm liking the Aqua Soil, this is the first time I've actually had it underwater. The cyperus helferi is too long for the tank IMO, I hope to replace it with hairgrass or something eventually. There is e. tenellus in between the rocks, but it was almost all wrecked in my last tank so it will take a while to grow in. The c. parva is only temporary in there until then.
 
#16 ·
Beautiful setup! I am thinking of getting some guppies for my spec. I had a beta but he didn't like it in there. To ebb the flow I scootched the top bit of the hose off the exit spout and pointed the spout up into the tank away from the fish. I really like the long cyperus helferi, I think it gives the scape a beautiful movement that can be lost in a tank this small. Keep the updates coming!
 
#17 ·
Thanks! The cyperus is starting to grow on me (heheh) too, I just hope it can survive in here as I had a lot of problems keeping it alive in a low tech tank... but I think it will be fine with the Aquasoil.

I quite liked the guppies in there, but, I'm opting for a betta instead. I bought a pearl & gold halfmoon plakat with blue grizzle spots. I'm excited!
 
#18 ·
Betta is here! :) he's quite the character already. He needs a name though, any suggestions? lol



I can't wait until I have a real camera and can photograph him properly :)

Tank looks pretty good, ammonia is still sky high with daily water changes but the cyperus seems to be adjusting well with little issues.
 
#20 ·
I always seem to name mine by personality, I've got a nice red HM male- who was named Frank- sometimes I think people in the dorm think I'm married- I'm always talking to Frank!

I'll throw some names into the ring- Flur, Flurry, you could name him something to do with white, snow, in another language?

Anyway I love your setup and he is a pretty little looker!
 
#21 ·
I personally prefer names that don't pertain to how they look. I would name it something like Timmy(if it's male) or some sort of name with a smooth pronunciation Like anything with like an Sh- Ce- etc.
 
#22 ·
Thanks everyone! I'm the same way, don't really like naming things based on appearance... like people who name dalmations "Spot" hahaha.

Here he is in the Spec -



It still has some very slight ammonia readings but I'm doing twice daily water changes and that has been keeping them at 0.
 
#24 ·
Here he is, lounging in one of the craters he dug in the Aquasoil... he's a very strange fish, loves digging, wedging himself in between the plants nose down, and resting against the overflow ::)

In this picture his head looks very weird and deformed. It's just from the angle of the picture/the glass. He's definitely not a frankenfish. If any one can help me properly ID his color/pattern I'd appreciate it!

 
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