Bee's First Tank Adventure

[BeeGryphon]

Hi everyone! I wanted to start a journal for documentation, potential advice/input, and just to try to make me more active in the forum. I'm a lurker by nature but I do want to be more active here and not just pop up if I have a problem, so this is part of that.

As the title says, this is my first tank. I did a lot of reading before deciding to go for it, including a lot on ACO blog. Then did a google search for fish stores nearby and found out I live close the ACO retail store! The store is just great, I'm so glad I live nearby. Anyway, I got a 10 gallon tank and planted it two weeks ago:

I got Brazilian Pennywort, Windelov Java Fern, Anubias nana petite, Dwarf Lily bulb, and a sad little Crypto I accidentally ripped most of the leaves off of 😱 Two weeks later:

The Dwarf Lily is looking pretty good. The Pennyworts died back pretty aggressively, but there are some new buds so that's good. I'm letting them float until the new buds come in and grow some roots. Everything else is about middle of the road. new growth but also some die back. I put in some various pods today, and some are still floating lol. And I have an empty Easy Planter so there's an excuse to go back and get a new plant lol. Not sure exactly what I'll get, and the planter probably won't stay there. I also definitely need to figure out how to take better tank pics lol.

Currently it seems like my Ammonia is good, but Nitrite bacteria haven't cultivated yet, so that's the hold out I have before getting my fish. My plan for tank inhabitants is:

• 1 Betta
• 6 Ember tetra
• 6 Pygmy corycats
• 1 Nerite snail

[Isaac M]

Hi @BeeGryphon, looks like a good start for your first tank! My first tank definitely did not look anywhere near as good as yours! Haha That is so cool that you live close to the ACO retail store! It is a goal of mine to visit it one day. I love your choice of pygmy corydoras! I have them in my 40 gallon and also have a school of cory habrosus in my 10 gallon. If you are going to keep the new plant in this tank, I would definitely suggest an anubias as that dwarf aquarium lilly will grow big and shade the plants below. An anubias would be ok being in the shade. Anyways, I cannot wait to see your tank progress. Thank you for sharing! 

[Levi_Aquatics]

Looking good! I am definitely jealous of your proximity to the coop. I live across the country and can only dream of having such a shop in my area.

[BeeGryphon]

On 3/10/2023 at 8:26 PM, Isaac M said:

Hi @BeeGryphon, looks like a good start for your first tank! My first tank definitely did not look anywhere near as good as yours! Haha That is so cool that you live close to the ACO retail store! It is a goal of mine to visit it one day. I love your choice of pygmy corydoras! I have them in my 40 gallon and also have a school of cory habrosus in my 10 gallon. If you are going to keep the new plant in this tank, I would definitely suggest an anubias as that dwarf aquarium lilly will grow big and shade the plants below. An anubias would be ok being in the shade. Anyways, I cannot wait to see your tank progress. Thank you for sharing! 

 

On 3/10/2023 at 9:18 PM, Levi_Aquatics said:

Looking good! I am definitely jealous of your proximity to the coop. I live across the country and can only dream of having such a shop in my area.

Thank you both! And yes I'm so lucky, the ACO store is amazing, I just love it in there! Won't lie, the new plant is at least partially an excuse to pop in there lol. I love just browsing around tbh, even though it's usually super busy cause I usually go on Saturday. I do buy stuff, but always look at all the fish even though my tank isn't ready for them yet.

Thanks @Isaac M for the Anubias rec! Definitely will be getting something that's okay with shade and Anubias look very nice. And yes I just love teeny tiny corydoras, they're so cute!! And of course will fit nicely in my smaller tank.

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/10/2023 at 6:22 PM, BeeGryphon said:

Then did a google search for fish stores nearby and found out I live close the ACO retail store!

That's amazing.  I would offer any advice you need and make some suggestions, but I'd just as quickly send you into the shop and encourage you to ask the staff available there. 🙂

Best of luck, welcome, glad you decided to give the tank a go. Looks great!  I enjoy the branch coming down into the water from the top of the tank.

[BeeGryphon]

On 3/10/2023 at 10:13 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

That's amazing.  I would offer any advice you need and make some suggestions, but I'd just as quickly send you into the shop and encourage you to ask the staff available there. 🙂

Best of luck, welcome, glad you decided to give the tank a go. Looks great!  I enjoy the branch coming down into the water from the top of the tank.

Oh for sure, I definitely already have talked to them and gotten their advice a lot! But also good to have a sounding board in my hand, if nothing else.

Thanks so much! I think branch driftwood looks super cool so I definitely had to get one!

[BeeGryphon]

Check out the biofilm on this guy! What a shame there's currently nothing in the tank to eat it smh.

[BeeGryphon]

Got my new plant yesterday. Ended up going with a Crypt. tropica, which I think looks awfully nice in the planter! And as luck would have it, I managed to find one lone Marimo hidden behind a filter and snagged it!

Pretty sad my tank is ready for fish yet because I saw the most beautiful Betta when I was in the shop yesterday. It was like a light turquoise with almost pink coloring on the fins. Just gorgeous. I saw it when I popped in to poke around for a few minutes while we waited for the kebab restaurant to open up, and wasn't surprised at all when we came back after dinner to actually buy my plant and it wasn't there anymore. If my nitrite was good I would have nabbed it up in an instant!

[BeeGryphon]

Welp. Unfortunately I had to cut the Anubias nana petite from its little branch and throw most of it away.The rhizome was all rotted and the leaves were dying. I think I might have used too much super glue and smothered it? There was a little part that was still healthy and that part wasn't glued on, so that's my guess. I cut off the healthy piece and came away with a few leaves and a little root. Here's hoping it survives 🥺

[BeeGryphon]

Alright! I got my first fish on Saturday! 5 ember tetra and 2 nerite snails. Snails have been happily munching away at all my algae and seem to like sleeping under the driftwood. Embers have also been very happily hunting down all the copepods (I assume that's what they are) and paid zero attention to the food I gave them yesterday lol.

Got some pics. Tried to get some better ones of the embers by sitting by their favorite spot with my phone but they just hide behind the dwarf lily until I put the phone away. Don't even have to move, just no pictures allowed lol. Excuse the glare in the snails pic, didn't realize I had my flash on.

[BeeGryphon]

We have achieved lily pad :D

[Sora]

On 3/22/2023 at 11:45 AM, BeeGryphon said:

We have achieved lily pad 😄

 

Oooh nice! dwarf aquarium Lillys will put up a whole lot more and fill up your tank! they are a great floating plant alternative to algae control 🙂

[BeeGryphon]

On 3/22/2023 at 9:08 AM, Sora said:

Oooh nice! dwarf aquarium Lillys will put up a whole lot more and fill up your tank! they are a great floating plant alternative to algae control 🙂

It is definitely soaking up all the extra nutrients! Once it really exploded in growth my nitrite and nitrate both dropped to zero/almost zero (respectively) and have stayed that way even after fertilizer dosing and introducing fish (admittedly tiny but slow to eat their dry food). And I didn't expect the leaves to get so big! I hope my betta will enjoy it ☺️ The ember tetras already like hiding behind the big leaf when they've decided I've shown them too much attention.

[BeeGryphon]

The embers are getting more comfortable. The first few days they stayed mostly in the back of the tank behind the plants and driftwood and would only really explore after the tank light went off. Now they are exploring more and coming in front of the plants when the light is on! They still don't like me watching them so if I get too close they go back behind the plants, but I can watch them from across the room (not a very big room). It makes it hard to know if I'm feeding them the right amount because they won't eat until I leave or am further away where it's harder to tell, but it's not causing problems that I can tell. Water parameters have stayed steady and I noticed a large flake that didn't get crushed landed on a IAL and the next day it was gone along with the algae that was on that part of the leaf. None of the rest of the algae was eaten though so I'm not sure if that was a snail or the little guys came and pecked at it later. I'm glad they are feeling bolder, though, and hopefully after a while they will be more comfortable with me too. I plan on getting my pygmy corycats tomorrow!

[BeeGryphon]

(This is only kind of tangentially related to my tank, in that I saw a cool betta)

A couple of days ago I was waiting for my roommate to get done shopping in the next-door shop so I popped into Petco to poke around and waste time, and also to kind of eye my options in case the betta I get for my community tank ends up being ornery. I use ACO for everything I can, but the Petco is just down the road and I actually walk past it to and from the bus stop every day, so if I needed anything quick it would be my first stop. I actually went in there 2-3 months ago for dried insects and ended up falling in love with the idea of getting fish, did a lot of online research, found the Co-op's blog and then retail store, and here I am!

Anyway, I was very impressed when I went in this last time. From a couple of months ago to now they must have gotten a new manager or something. The tanks all looked so much nicer and cleaner, the water in the tanks and betta cups was clear and clean, there weren't a hundred dead mystery snails in that tank. Forgot to look at the live plants tank but I bet they looked better too. Stocking levels looked much better imo. I won't be getting any fish there since I live near ACO but it's nice to see.

One of the bettas I saw on their betta wall was pale yellow and whenever it flared at my finger the fin around its head was black. It looked so cool! It also had a prominent looking mouth that looked very pouty, so the flaring looked more petulant than angry lol. I should have gotten a picture of it. If I were doing an individual tank and didn't have ACO I probably would have gotten it.

(Just an extra little fun thing to report because I am bored at work lol)

[BeeGryphon]

Got my pygmy corys! They're so teeny tiny!!

[Miska]

What a beautiful tank! I am loving following this adventure so much!

[Sora]

On 3/25/2023 at 7:58 PM, BeeGryphon said:

Got my pygmy corys! They're so teeny tiny!!

Awwww 🥰 I’ve always wanted some of those!

[BeeGryphon]

The pygmy corys have settled in quite well! They're brave and adventurous little guys, swimming all around by themselves or in groups and munching on everything. Sometimes they freeze when I get too close but will just carry on after a minute or two. It makes the ember tetras a lot more lively and they swim around in their group way more now too! The corys are very good at their cleaning job and nibble away at everything. Either they cleaned up the algae on the glass by the filter or the snails came out and got it the night the corys were introduced.

Speaking of, haven't seen the snails in a few days, but the last time I saw one was after lights out, so I figure they just decided they're nocturnal. Sad, because I like watching them, but I'm not too worried about them.

I still can't really tell if the ember tetras are eating their flakes. They were lively enough that yesterday I could tell they got more energetic after feeding and could even see them go after some, but they didn't seem eaten. I crush the flakes so I don't know if they're still too big, if tetras just nibble? Or if they decided they don't like the taste maybe? As I've said, I have lots of little life in the tank, too, and the tetras seem to happily and energetically hunt them, so I'm not worried about them not getting food. I just don't know how much I should be feeding them I guess because they only seem kind of interested in the flakes. For now I guess I'll just keep crushing up a couple for them.

I plan on getting my betta this weekend. I think bioload wise I could have added the betta and the corys at the same time, but I thought it would be nicer to the corys to give them a week to establish themselves. Although with how active and brave they seem to be, maybe they wouldn't have minded! 

Oh, an updated tank pic! Not much has changed but look at the growth on the dwarf lily!

[BeeGryphon]

I still haven't seen my snails but the bael pod (round guy between the driftwood and moss ball) was facing a different direction yesterday. It's really lightweight so when the snails travel along the outside of it it rolls around. I watched them do it the first couple days before they decided to stay out of sight.

I fed a bottom wafer last night which was definitely way too much! Next time I'll have to break it up. I dropped it in at normal feeding time but it took the corys a while to find it. They were enthusiastically eating it when I went to sleep but this morning half was still there. Think I will not be feeding today as everyone really pigged out 🤣 The tetras were also very interested in it, maybe even more than their flakes. They actually discovered it first and a few of them hovered around and snatched up any little bit that floated up, especially once the corys found it and were stirring stuff up. One tetra even kept swimming down and just eating with the corys.

Speaking of the tetras, I think they are doing a little hierarchy scuffling. They weren't swimming much in their shoal last night and I kept watching to zipping at and chasing each other. I don't know if it was always the same two though. I'd also see two line up so they were swimming one on top of the other and swim quick zigzags, kind of opposite of each other I think? I figured this is probably either dominance or mating related 🤷‍♂️

Finally, thinking about my plants. I'd like to try replanting the little Brazilian Pennywort remnant I have floating, it's grown a few leaves and seems to be doing well. The problem is it hasn't really grown roots? Maybe by Saturday when I do my maintenance and stuff I'll see some. I can keep it floating but it keeps getting caught up in the lily and being hidden under the lily pads where it can't get light. I think I'll trim away the lily pad that's reached across the tank. I though it had settled into the corner but now it's back whipping around. And I think I'll take the little branch out. I like it but there's just too much going on now with the lily so big, it just keeps getting tangled up. I'll dry it and hold onto it in case I want to add it back at some point.

[BeeGryphon]

ACO had some absolutely GORGEOUS betta this week. It was a hard choice but this guy was acting pretty chill and curious and some of the others were swimming aggressively and flaring a lot, so I thought I'd have better luck with this guy. He's also very beautiful!!!

[BeeGryphon]

Update time: Betta is doing well in the community tank! So far I've only seen him really chase the other fish twice, once when the tetras got too close to him at dinner time, and the other time chasing some corys out of "his" cave. He claimed the little cave at the bottom of the tank and seems to like swimming more around the bottom than at the top, although yesterday he was swimming more at the top after I got home. I don't know if that's because he likes it now or if he was just hoping for more food, lol. He definitely seemed to be hunting detritus worms when swimming around the bottom which had gotten really stirred up after the cleaning on Saturday before I got him (I was having trouble with my siphon so it definitely ended up more of a stir up than vacuum, oops) so it may just be that he's gobbled up most of the stragglers and is more interested in the high leaves and stuff now. I got him a coconut hide that's suction cupped to the side of the tank at the top, and I've seen him go in twice but seemed more interested in if there was any food in there than chilling in it. Usually if I can't find him he eventually swims out of the bottom cave or from under an IAL against the driftwood.

I was honestly surprised by how much he loves attention and was expecting to have to win him over at least a little, but he loves coming up to the glass and swimming around when he sees me or my roommate. The corys are pretty neutral on me and the tetras still don't love attention although they're more chill now with lots of others in the tank and being used to me, but they really weren't fans of me opening the lid, although they're starting to realize that means food. It even took the tetras a few days to figure out I was giving them food at all. But the very first time I opened the lid the betta swam right up to the top. He follows the strip around when I'm trying to ammonia test and will follow my finger to a pellet if he misses one. After he eats his pellets he'll go after the crushed flakes that are still floating. I'm not sure if I should adjust his feeding schedule around that extra he's eating? I might make a separate post to ask some advice on that.

Overall things are going great and I'm so happy with my betta choice! He's such a wonderful and fun addition to the tank and well worth the wait. Also I found where the snails have been sleeping but moved things around and they're not there anymore. I assume they went to the pod I stuck in the same place. I also saw one out and about the night I added the betta, as I had all lights off early. When I briefly turned on the room light as I was getting ready for bed I saw it, so can confirm they just wanna be nocturnal I guess.

[BeeGryphon]

A few pics, including sleepy corys :)

[Guppysnail]

He is so colorful. Like a painters palette. You have done a lovely job making his home look so cozy. 

[BeeGryphon]

On 4/4/2023 at 9:08 AM, Guppysnail said:

He is so colorful. Like a painters palette. You have done a lovely job making his home look so cozy. 

Thank you! He seems to be enjoying it so I'm happy 😊