Upgrading Betta Aquariums

[The Goatee]

I have two bettas soon to move to their new homes. They were both very small females from Petsmart, crowntail and vailtale, getting bigger now. They were in planted 2.5 gallon tanks and will be in these 5.5 gallons.

I definitely get it, 5.5 gallons is definitely much better for building an aquascape and will hopefully be easier to maintain.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

They look really nice! I bet they will appreciate it. I have mine in a 3 gallon for now- weirdly enough as much as people say smaller tanks are harder to maintain and stabilize that tank has been running for 8 months with super stable water tests and the temperature is perfect for my Betta without at heater so I hesitate to move her to a bigger tank. 

[The Goatee]

I had a ton of trouble with green hair algae in one of the 2.5 gallon tanks. One of them did okay after an initial bloom after about 6 months. I think the light I’ve been using on the 2.5 is just too powerful. Same light I’ve had on 5.5s and worked well without spawning much algae. For me, the 2.5 really just felt too small and not enough space to create as nice a scene.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I totally get it, I would like my betta to have more space, originally my 3 gallon was for quarantine but I have other things for that now. It's a nice little cube and actually performs really well for me- but you're right a space that small gets cramped rather easy. The light it came with is actually pretty good for a kit and tiny LEDs. I've had a little hair algae but I added a nerite this last week and it's pretty much gone (was on the pagoda roof). 

[The Goatee]

Nice tank. The green hair algae I just pulled out last week was a lot. Do the nerites like it when it gets big or long? I will have to consider that in the future. At least in one tank I had, I think the lone nerite couldn’t eat fast enough. It even got some growing off its shell.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

It has been my experience that they don't really mess with it much when it's totally out of control or maybe since it was I couldn't tell if there was progress, I had to manually remove it then. I had that issue for a little bit in my 20 gallon tall- no longer thankfully I have it in balance. I have 2 nerites in that tank that help me as well. Both are males apparently because no eggs have been left behind. The one in this 3 gallon is a female but I actually don't mind the eggs, they're not that hard to remove from glass and eggs on the decor doesn't bother me. So there is that to consider since it's not like they sex them at the LFS. The hair algae I had growing in the 3 was less than a quarter of an inch, she had it mowed down in less than a couple of hours. I think if you add them soon enough they can keep it from getting out of control.

[The Goatee]

The two female bettas have moved. Little Red and Blue Bell in bigger 5.5 gallon tanks. Yey or nay on tannins?

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

They say Bettas do better with tannins. I've never tried it myself, I do have wood in my Betta tank so I'm guessing there is some just not enough to notice.