DebSills Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 So, I am probably one of the few people that didn't have a Betta growing up (not that I remember anyway)...I think we may have had a goldfish at one point, but never had a Betta... Well, now that I have two tanks (my "supposed to be my only tank" 29G community and my "you're not going to throw those in the yard, give them to me" rescue tank) I figured I'll just add a third...hubs didn't mind and is totally on board with me getting a Betta, and isn't even balking at buying one from a breeder vs. the big box store, so we'll see what happens 🙂 I started setting up the tank a few weeks ago to get the plants going and make sure I liked how the tank looked and everything - this way if I wanted to re-scape, I wasn't disturbing anyone's actual home... Here's what I have so far I also have small rock caves that will be going in on the left where the river rock is now - I wanted to add a hiding place other than under the driftwood in case he/she wanted something a little more private. I'm going to move the rotala from the back left over to the right with the bacopa. I am apparently not meant to grow bacopa, no matter what I do it just melts away...what's left there is more than two pots worth of bacopa...I've got maybe three viable stems and the rest just completely disintegrated...I am going through a diatom stage at the moment (the S. Repens isn't actually dying), and I forgot that I had thrown that chain sword from my 29 in the top of the tank...please ignore, that's not staying...I really like how the frogbit is going, but I am not a fan of the long roots...I may see if my brother-in-law will part with some of his salvinia which should have much shorter roots (can't get red root floaters to work either) I'm looking to put one or two thorned nerites and one nerite in the tank this weekend to help with the diatoms and be my algae crew going forward. My thought is that they will be the only ones in the tank with the Betta and since they are pretty small and the Betta will have so much room that there shouldn't be much of an issue. (fingers crossed...but, they can always move to the rescue tank if needed) I am keeping my eyes out for a Betta that I can't live without, but I'm not in a rush, I'm leaning towards blue because I don't have anything blue yet, but I've seen some really pretty red koi that are pretty tempting...definitely looking for a plakat or a female...I'm not trying to figure out those long flowy fins right now 🙂 That's all for now, I wanted to start this journal as a record of my first Betta experience and I hope to have more in the future 🙂 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameCzar Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 That betta is going to love this home! AquaHuna sells awesome betta, and the best part is you can pick out the one you want via their live stream on Twitch.https://www.twitch.tv/aqua_hunahttps://www.twitch.tv/aqua_huna1 I check them out all the time just to see the pretty variants they get. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 Your tank looks like a great gift to a betta, he or she will love it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 Nice tank! I've been thinking about setting up one of my spare 10's for a Samurai Plakat. Such beautiful fish! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 Your tank is lovely. I am so jealous of your flowing frogbit roots. Your new friend will find you and love their new home 😊 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindabee53 Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 Your tank is absolutely beautiful! @Guppysnail You have a gift for saying what I want to say right before I say it. 😉 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardedbillygoat1975 Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 I think you’ve got a great start and lovely home for a betta. I think I’d stop for now with scaping until you get the betta and see what he/she/they do behaviorally and then put in more scape or plants to respond to them. I just did some work on my betta tank and it was the hours of watching him that led to the choices I made while working in his tank. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebSills Posted November 5, 2021 Author Share Posted November 5, 2021 I made a couple of changes - nothing major...moved the rotala over to the right with the remaining bacopa...it doesn't seem to work for me, but I do see a little new growth, so maybe it will be ok...then on the left, I moved a large anubias coffefolia from my 29 that was getting swallowed by the pogo, so hoping it will do a bit better in this tank now that it has some room and some light. so...other than those changes, I left everything else alone last week I picked up three nerites (two little horned and one small tiger)...they are doing an awesome job getting the diatoms off of the plants and the plants are perking up and the anubias on the top of the driftwood shot up a new leaf this week 🙂 And - I finally found my new betta!!! I ordered him on Wednesday and he just showed up about an hour ago and is now currently exploring his new tank - once he settles in, I will update with pics (the light is currently off, so I wouldn't be able to do him justice) so far, he looks AMAZING and I am super excited!! he's a blue-green alien, so I am excited to see him once he really colors up and the lights are on 🤩 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebSills Posted November 6, 2021 Author Share Posted November 6, 2021 Introducing my new boy! (I haven't named him yet) and his updated tank... I need to put a background on it, but other than that, I'm going to leave it as is for a while and see how things develop...the nerites are doing really well so far helping with the diatoms, so really happy with the setup and enjoying watching my boy exploring the whole tank 😍 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebSills Posted November 29, 2021 Author Share Posted November 29, 2021 So...no drastic updates on my boy, but I have named him 🙂 His name is Hiu (pronounced like Hugh) which means "hungry" in Thai 😄 I'm glad the Xtreme comes with a cute little spoon...I like to feed him one pellet at a time cause he's so cute and just snatches it off the surface...if he doesn't see it right away, he will follow my finger to find them...love how he interacts...seems pretty chill too - I've tried the floating mirror a couple of times, but he just kind of flares at it for a second and then swims away...he does like to follow your hand/finger around the top and/or front of the tank...super cute My next tank is also going to be another Betta tank, but its for my niece, so she gets to design it however she wants (she'll probably leave him/her with us when she goes to college next year, so I have a vested interest 😉 )...went on a little Black Friday shopping spree for her...got the tank for 50% off and grabbed her an upgraded light...an AquaSky 2.0 for 50% off! Not really necessary, but couldn't pass up getting the light for that price! I'll post pics when its finally set up 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebSills Posted March 14, 2022 Author Share Posted March 14, 2022 So, its been a minute since I have posted an update on Hiu's tank...well let's just say that my love of Fluval Stratum is basically over...I think it is just too much nutrients for my ability with plants - so I have completely re-scaped his tank...I was able to take my time because sadly my rescue guppies passed away a few weeks ago and I was able to tear down, clean and re-set up their tank as Hiu's new tank...so, as an avid MD Fish Tanks fan, I tried his method of aquasoil/gravel in zip bags under my substrate...I guess I will see if it helps, I figured it was worth a shot at least...I have some new wood and tried a new gravel as my substrate (Aqua Naturals Black Pearl...really love the color!) So, here's the stock of plants: Rotala, Wisteria, Micro Sword, Hydrocotyle Japan, Anubias Nana, Anubias Nana petite, Java Fern, and Java Fern Windelov, I also have a small Buce, but not sure if its going to remain where it is or not... Residents are still the same, Hiu and his three nerite friends 🙂 Let me know what you think of the re-scape...Hiu seems to like it a lot more than his other setup (he seems more active so far)...it also has a slight tinge of tannins, which I kind of enjoy, so I'm definitely going to leave it as is...not going to go full blackwater, but Hiu likes it, so he can keep it 😉 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaW Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 Love the new scape, and I'm glad Hiu and his friends like it too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebSills Posted August 16, 2022 Author Share Posted August 16, 2022 starting the rebuild of this tank, sadly Hiu passed away, so I am doing a full rebuild of this tank, going with just a few river stones and plants...I'll be using the same gravel as above, but really banking it towards the back and doing the base layer a little different...Here's a pic of the base layer - about 3/4 stratum and 1/4 flourite red...I really have no idea, but figured I would give it a try and see how it works, just kind of experimenting at this point 🙂 I'll post more pics after I plant it, then I'm going to let it run for a few weeks to make sure everything is growing and thriving and then move the livestock in, will probably start with the nerites and then move the fish from the 29 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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