nerdgirl

Just wanted to do a shout out to their awesome customer service! UPS messed up one of my deliveries, and it took a single day for Aquarium Co-Op to have UPS get the box back and deliver it safely. I really need to stop into the store the next time I drive up to Seattle. Anybody else have positive experiences with them?

He is currently named Shadowfax, but there is more red coming out now. I might need to change it. I am going to start a journal shortly.

So far so good. 🤞 I have always kept my bettas in community tanks. It seems to work if you plan it correctly, and the bettas seem happier so it is worth it. I stick with peaceful schooling fish and let all the tankmates get established for at least a month. That way everybody has an established territory. I then use a breeder box for a couple of days to make sure the betta doesn't seem aggressive. When I release the betta into the community tank, I sit and watch for several hours to judge his reactions. I still have a cycled 10-gallon with just snails in it standing by just in case anything goes wrong, but he has settled right in. I am using sponge filters and lots of plants for filtration in this tank. That way I can keep the water quality high and have water movement without overwhelming his fins. The tank is doing really well without any spikes. I have to keep adding Easy Green for the plants because the nitrates are consistently 0. I had an issue with cloudiness a while ago, but that was my fault. I made some snello, and it mucked up the water. It took several water changes to fix it. At least the critters enjoyed it.

He really is a beautiful fish. I picked him out based on his personality, rather than his colors, but I did win the betta lottery. I'll post more pictures once he settles in a bit more. I did notice that the tetras are less timid with him around.

I have been putting together a 37-gallon community tank, and my last resident has been added. This is my first tank in 20 years, and it has been a blast putting it together. Currently it holds ember tetras, green neon tetras, bronze corys, a mystery snail, a couple of nerite snails, red cherry shrimp, some pest snails, and now a betta. I may need more algae control in the future, but right now the tank is balanced and just needs food and occasional water top offs. I bought the betta from my lfs which keeps their bettas in community tanks, so he was already used to other fish. My corys also get the occasional zoomies, and I was worried about his reaction, but he just ignores it. The betta adventures so far: He is the calmest, most docile betta I have ever seen. He pretty much hangs out at the top or in the tiger lotus and minds his own business. He can see his reflection on part of the tank, and he is trying to figure it out. It has become less and less, so I think it will eventually stop. He did look at some of the shrimp with evil intentions, but once he saw how fast they are he gave up. I have seen them swim right in front of him, and he ignores them. I even saw a shrimp land on him while he was at the bottom of the tank. I'm sure the shrimp fry won't be as lucky. My corys keep trying to school with him. So far he hasn't been that interested, but he doesn't become aggressive either. It will be interesting to see if he hangs out with the cory gang in the future. I apologize for the picture quality. I have the lights down while he settles in.

Thanks. It was supposed to be a video of happy Cory wiggles, but I’m still learning this platform. They are hilarious to watch. One of them took a nap on a snail today.

Hi All! I'm just getting back in the hobby after two decades. I am currently stocking a 40-gallon tank. Right now, it just has long fin corys, green neon tetras, mystery snails, and a single cardinal tetra that snuck in with the green neons. To be fair, they are juveniles and the coloring was the same for the first couple of weeks. I still haven't decided what to do about the cardinal, but he is schooling with the green neons and seems happy right now. I am thinking of starting a nano tank with school of cardinals for him to join, but I am more concerned about making sure this tank is stable first. The plan for this tank is to add a betta and maybe a school of ember tetras (or similar) depending on how the tank is doing. For now, the corys rule the tank and are having a great time. I am getting ready to set up a smaller tank as a bachelor pad for the betta so I can quarantine him and observe his behavior before putting him in the big tank. If I decide he is too aggressive, then he has a home. If he works out, then I will have a nano tank ready for a school of cardinals or something else. See below for the cory tax. --Jenn