Hello everyone! Alright lets get going! so, i bought a small 1.5 to 2 gallon tank from walmart about 4 months ago to give my room some life and i think its time i take it to the next level. The pictures below will provide what i have and what it looks like. Tomorrow im doing my monthly clean and i wanna add some new plants and maybe sand for the bottom. What do you guys think? what plants? what bottoming should i get? let me know!
lt me know! also the lights are LED and i am buying a heater for it tomorrow as well.
Monthly as in the tank itself right, not the water? I'm just confused. Have you had the fish for 4 months w/o the heater? He's most likely slowly suffering (it's great you're getting one tomorrow) Also grab a top fin thermometer too.
As for the plants.. Amazon swords, java fern.. (There are plenty more in the planted tanks section.)
I personally think the gravel you have now is okay.
Monthly as in the tank itself right, not the water? I'm just confused. Have you had the fish for 4 months w/o the heater? He's most likely slowly suffering (it's great you're getting one tomorrow)
As for the plants.. Amazon swords, java fern.. (There are plenty more in the planted tanks section.)
I personally think the gravel you have now is okay.
Yes the tank its self is getting cleaned out, i change water weekly by half. As for the heater, its been warm here and around 70's so i didn't need the heater ( so i thought) untill the colder temps kicked in like now there getting to 60s 50s. As far as plants ill look at them!
Amazon sword will get too big for that small of a tank. Anubias Nana would look great in there, stays small and is a low light easy plant. Floating plants would be nice too. Just make sure your betta can still get to the surface. Posted via Mobile Device
Are they all spiky plastic plants in there? Watch out for him shredding his fins on those. I'd personally throw the lot in the bin and get some nice soft java fern or a few leafy silk plants.
Also, 1.8 is not a lot of water - cramming it up with too much sand/fake plants/ornaments etc gives your fish even less room to swim freely. Stuff displaces water, so the more stuff you have, the less water you actually are giving your fish.
He looks like a nice little fellow!
Oh - and water changes, you need to do more in a tank that size and at least one change a week ought to be 100% as you don't have a ton of real plants to help with waste and such (plants don't take the place of water changes, but they do mean less are necessary, depending on what plants you have and how many). Otherwise, you'll slowly get mineral and ammonia buildups and crud in the water, making it toxic.
I would invest in a couple bunches of stem plants, anarchis and money wort are common and have a good contrast, and one root plant like a small sword (not amazon, gets huge) you could go with anubias nana, regular anubias, or java fern but you would either have to plant on hard scape or make sure the rhizome wasn't covered if you planted
thank you got the inputs! Now, i have a couple more questions before i do all this and get it set up the way i want it. Is it possible to add bamboo to it? Like the small ones you get from the store? Also, how long should i keep the plants before putting the fish back in?
As long as the leaves of the bamboo are out of water you can do that. And you could put the fish back in right after the plants there's no issue there. I do suggest QT'ing the plants for atleast a week before adding them just in case they have snails or something else
I used to have 2 of those. Anubias and java ferns worked well. I have recently found out that floating plants are amazing and your fish would love it if you got some, too. I have since moved to bigger aquariums. Hope this helps a little.
Let me know you like it so far. I plan on getting a Buddha like statue for the middle piece and adding some fake bamboo stocks around it like 4 of them, and maybe get some grass like plants for the front. Anyone have a idea of the front grass? Iv seen the small plant ones in petsmart that you can plant but im not sure if its what i want and if so how much it will grow.
I would take that plant weight off that bunch of anacharis and cut about 4" off the bottom, it's not looking so good. You can leave it floating or rip the leaves off the bottom few nodes and plant the stem.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Betta Fish Forum
1.8M posts
105.7K members
Since 2006
A forum community dedicated to Betta fish owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about breeds, health, behavior, tanks, care, classifieds, and more!