Salutations!

[iiQuixote]

Hello friends, PJ here! 
 

I’m a new fish nerd from Southern California and just today I finished my very first tank setup. So far I’ve got one female betta (Cielo), four black neon tetras (The Beatles, because I can’t tell them apart 😂), and today I’ve introduced 4 shrimp to the tank: 2 yellow cherry shrimp and 2 ghost shrimp. They’re set up in a 5 gallon tank with an appropriate pump and filter, live plants, a hide made from granite I believe, and some moss tied down to the inside of the hide with transparent fishing line. I also have some aquarium-safe crystals in my tank, including rose quartz, smokey quartz, regular quartz, and amethyst.
 

I made sure to do my research thoroughly and I kept coming back to Aquarium Co-op, so I decided to join and share my experiences here as a newbie. I’m so eager to learn, and any criticism or insight is very welcome! I’m very nervous about giving my new pets the best quality of life they could have, and maybe I overthink things too much, so hopefully posting here and getting some feedback will give me some peace of mind. 

Thanks for reading! ❤️

 

(pictured below: my tank setup (please give me pointers if this isn’t a good tank setup!), my betta cielo, and 2 of the 4 Beatles. Also, the tank lights aren’t as blue as my camera makes them out to be!)

[Littlefish]

Hi there, that must be one of those Aqueon tanks with the led strips on the seams?  This should grow in nicely if there is enough light.  

My sister is ceo of a supply company and was interviewing a long list of job applicants.  When she called one, their answering machine said "greetings and salutations!".  They got scratched off the list 😉  This thread title just reminded me of that.

[Whitecloud09]

Welcome to the forum! The tank, betta and black neons look sweet! The rocks look really cool, and your really on a good start, cause this your first tank you said correct? If so, well done. Most newbies that set up their first aquarium learn the hard way by buying the fish and tank the same day. And set up the tank with no live plants and brightly colored gravel LOL. Me from experience with that lol. Again, glad to have you!

[JE47]

Glad to have you join the Forum! 😀 Your tank looks beautiful and I do love seeing a striking betta fish.

[iiQuixote]

On 10/2/2024 at 9:53 AM, Littlefish said:

Hi there, that must be one of those Aqueon tanks with the led strips on the seams?  This should grow in nicely if there is enough light.  

Hello! Thanks for replying 😄 I guess I shouldn’t use “salutations” if I want to apply anywhere, LOL

 

I’m actually not entirely sure if it’s an Aqueon tank, I actually got it second hand! My boyfriend had found a ~50gal tank at a yard sale for free, and a few days later he found this one with all of its’ components (filter, pump, heater, net and thermometer). I took the smaller one because of just how little my room is right now. I’m assuming the tank was originally for neon fish, because the top has a blue light as well as the white+blue, and the sealant glows very bright with the blue light! 
 

Should I be leaving the white light on while I’m away, or at night? It’s getting indirect sunlight where it’s sitting, but I’m worried it won’t be enough, because I see some browning in the plants in the way back.

[iiQuixote]

On 10/2/2024 at 11:03 AM, Whitecloud09 said:

Welcome to the forum! The tank, betta and black neons look sweet! The rocks look really cool, and your really on a good start, cause this your first tank you said correct? If so, well done. Most newbies that set up their first aquarium learn the hard way by buying the fish and tank the same day. And set up the tank with no live plants and brightly colored gravel LOL. Me from experience with that lol. Again, glad to have you!

Hi! Thank you very much for the kind words!

 

Before I set my tank up with fish and plants, I went to my local aquarium shop (It’s a small, independently owned shop, so not a pet store like petco or petsmart) and talked with the man there extensively about my tank. I let it cycle for about a month with the substrate, and the plants came second when the water quality was good enough! I’m a little paranoid about giving the fish a good home, so I did so much research that I’ve actually dedicated a little memo booklet to hold all of it and to reference if I can’t get online. 
 

Cielo and the Beatles actually didn’t have that big rock hide when I first put them in; it was bare in the middle. I decided I’d add shrimp to automate the cleaning a little better and to make the tank more lively. The Beatles took a bit longer to get used to the hide than Cielo did, because she was checking out my tongs and everything as soon as I put them in! 😊 I love how curious she is, it’s such a treat to see her come up and examine my finger when I poke it in the water. 
 

(cielo getting acclimated, and a better view of the tank pre-rock)

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Hi @iiQuixote! What a cute little set up you have going there. Welcome to the hobby! 

(I like salutations, it reminds me of Charlotte's Web)

Edited Wednesday at 11:56 PM by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Littlefish]

On 10/2/2024 at 5:28 PM, iiQuixote said:

 😄

 

Should I be leaving the white light on while I’m away, or at night? It’s getting indirect sunlight where it’s sitting, but I’m worried it won’t be enough, because I see some browning in the plants in the way back.

Can't get rid of that emoji.

Consistency in lighting, fertilizer, temp, and water change is the key to success with plants.   Most buy timers if the light didn't come with one.  See if you can find how many watts the lights put out. 

Cory has a vid on low-tech planted tanks.  Is the brown on the leaves algae on the surface from window light, or dying leaves from emergent grown leaves being replaced by new immersed leaves?  Or a deficiency?  Others here know much more than I do about planted tanks.  My only tank at the moment is a nano reef tank.