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Noob advice

1K views 19 replies 6 participants last post by  kelly528 
#1 ·
ok so im currently cylcing my tank (fishless...) and i was thinking about possibly starting with a betta as this is my first attempt at keeping anything heated. i was looking at neons but have been advised that these are better in mature tanks...

its a 20 litre tank, with a heater, interpet pf1 filter and a plant in the corner... would the filter cause a problem for a betta? and also whats an ideal temp for them? and if i did get one also whats a good all round food for them? and as the tank will be possibly still cycling when i get him, what do i do about water changes?

hope this isnt to many questions!

regards
martin
 
#2 ·
Ok.. let me see if I can answer everything.

Bettas will do good in a new tank.

The filter may or may not aggravate your betta. It depends on their personality... but there are ways to buffer the flow of any filter.

A good food is Hikari Bio-Gold Betta pellets. But make sure you supplement occasionally with frozen blood worms or brine shrimp and freeze dried blood worms for a treat.

You probably shouldn't get him until your tank is done cycling.. because you'll need at least a 1 gallon tank to keep him in until its cycled. But if you choose to get him before get a 1 gallon tank or kritter keeper or even a plastic storage tub (that will be the cheapest option). Do water changes every other day of at least 50% and make sure you fully clean the gravel in the little tank (if you put gravel in there) at least once a week.

Make sure you put lots of plants and a cave or two in your tank as bettas like to hide and sleep in their plants and caves.

Also make sure you have a good dechlorinator.. Prime is probably the best for bigger tanks bc you only need a tiny bit so it lasts long.
 
#3 ·
thanks for the info

well im currently using tetra aquasafe which im guessing should be ok, i currently have just one plant in the tank but will get an ornament for it to hide in aswell... i just dont want to fill the tank up with to much stuff with it only being small

once the tank is cycled and everything is in order, would adding a couple of neon tetra's cause any issue's?
 
#5 ·
I wouldn't add the tetras because its a pretty small tank. Good tank mates would be snails or shrimp.. possibly an african dwarf frog.

I understand not wanting to overstock the tank with plants but maybe add one or two more plants... unless yours is a big plant (silk ones are best) bettas love nothing more than to hide in leafy plants
 
#9 ·
I see no problem with plastic but I just prefer the look of silk or live... when I had no money thought the plastic was all I could get and I made due.

Anyways.. I don't recognize your plant. Where did you get it?
 
#10 ·
Yeah I would not recommend neons for betta tankmates, let alone a 20 litre. They are energetic fish and under the wrong conditions (tank too small, not enough other neons with them).

The plant appears to be a terrestrial plant. These turn up sometimes in LFS like pets at home, petco etc. They are cheap for the pet store to buy because they are not grown underwater. The pet store then turns around and sells them as aquatic plants. They will survive for a few months but since they aren't truly aquatic they can't handle being submerged in the long term.

In the future, search out low-light aquatic plants. Some good ones are:

-Java ferns
-Any moss species
-Anubias species
-Cryptocoryne species.

All of these plants will thrive in low mantenance setups, where as medium-high light plants will likely require a new fixture and lots of different fertilisers.
 
#11 ·
Ditto Kelly528

The best plant for your money is Java Moss.. its cheap, grows like a weed, and needs hardly any care (aside from cutting to keep it from over taking your tank LOL)... its great tied to a piece of drift wood or a rock... same for java fern.
 
#13 ·
I think a rule of thumb is leave 2/3 of the space open for swimming.. usually at the front of the tank. But some like their tanks heavily planted and others like it really sparce.. its a matter of preference.
 
#14 ·
ok so ive decided to go with a betta for now to help mature my tank, dont want to get neons if they arent gonna be able to handle the conditions. still going to leave it another ten days though to let the tank mature, currently got 2 plants in the tank now, the temperatures at 26, is this suitable for a betta? and also my filter is flowing which i hope wont aggravate the betta i get too much , the ones i saw in a shop were individually in tanks with other neon tetra's with a bit of current in them so maybe they are used to it...
anything else i need to think about?
 
#15 ·
Sorry but I would scratch the neons. Heres why:

a) A 5 USG tank is a bit small for neons and they could rediredt their energry towards bugging your betta.

b) Neons, and all tetras for that matter are shoaling fish. They prefer to swim in large groups (hundreds in the wild) for security. They socialise with each other by nipping and chasing one another around. It has been observed that when kept in groups smaller than 6, shoaling fish attempt to school with other species in a ditch-effort to blend in. Not only is this stressful for them but they will treat 'target fish' just like another neon, nipping and chasing them relentlessly.

c) You will overstock a 5 USG even if you go with the bare minimum of neons.
 
#16 ·
I think your good. 26 is like 78f I believe so that is a perfect temp. Make sure you test your water before adding your fish to make sure your ammonia is 0 your nitrites are 0 and your nitrates are 5-20ppm

Make sure you acclimate your betta slowly to the tank. If you don't have the fish food yet make sure you get a varied diet of pellets, blood worms and brine shrimp (preferably frozen)
 
#17 ·
yeah im taking daily tests checking for ammonia, have test strips for other things but im waiting on an api master kit to turn up for better results, there is ammonia present at the moment still but hopefully this will go down if it is cycling correctly...

im also waiting on some seachems prime for conditioning, i was using tetra aqua safe, but i think there is ammonia present in my tap water so prime seemed like a better option.

also once i feel the tank is ready and go and buy the fish , do i need to do a water change and anything else before hand? and once the fish is in how frequent and how much water should i change? or will this be dependant on results from ammonia tests etc?

really looking forward to getting one now, saw some in the shop yesterday which looked awesome, some purple males i think with long fins.
 
#19 ·
You shouldn't have to do a water change before adding the fish if you prams are good (no ammonia or nitrites and 5-20ppm nitrates).

For a 5 gallon cycled (which I believe your tank is about that much) I would do 1 30-50% change a week plus some vacuuming during the change.

Some ghost shrimp would be good but make sure you get a cave for them to hid in away from the betta in case he bothers them. Just make sure what ever shrimp you get are freshwater and not saltwater shrimp.
 
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