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Planning a new tank; suggestions?

563 views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  Taboo 
#1 ·
Firstly, hi all! I'm one of those poor passer-bys who saw bettas in a LFS and was hooked before I even owned one :p So here I am.

I'm Australian, so sorry in advance if I confuse anyone with litres and centimetres (or by calling my fish 'fighters', which is what I have always known them as). And also sorry if I ask two million questions - research is great, but sometimes people with know-how are better ;)

Anyways, at the moment I have three lovely bettas (lol, already had to correct my terminology), but of course I want a few more! I've decided that I can fit a 3' x 1' x 1' tank in the space I currently have two 20L (5g) tanks. I'm planning on dividing this future tank up, and these are my two current plans:

1) two 5g sections on each end, with a small community + betta in the middle (so just less than 11g in that middle section)
2) five 16L (I think that's ~4.2gal per fish) barracks set-up

I was just wondering if anyone could give me some ideas/pointers/alternatives to these ideas? I don't want any less than 3gal/fish, especially after seeing how my boys love their space. Also, if this is for whatever reason a bad idea, definitely let me know!

Of course, I'll do my best to get photos of my three lovely VT boys up asap ;)
 
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#2 ·
G'day and welcome to the forum :)

Since I'm doing something like it, I like Option 1 with a 20L acrylic tank. I will have a Betta on each end in about 4 gallons (15L) each with two Amano shrimp. The middle 12 gallons (45L) will be home to my peaceful Betta, Si, Red Cherry Shrimp (RCS), Blue Velvet Shrimp (BVS), Dwarf Orange Crayfish (CPO), Thai Micro Crabs and maybe a shoal of pygmy corydoras. I also have MTS and Assassin snails.

I think the set up will be interesting to watch and aquascape. The tank will be heavily planted with a Tahitian Moon sand (black) substrate.

What sort of commnity would you be having with Option 1? I like inverts because they're so peaceful.

Depending on how many Bettas you want, you could do six sections with about 3 gallons each.

Make sure you let us see the finished aquarium. No matter what you do, I'm sure it will be lovely.
 
#3 ·
The first option sounds lovely. Orrrrrrrr... you could do a wonderful sorority in there!! Instead of being limited to only a few males, you could have a larger number of girls and some other peaceful tankmates for them if you wanted!

In any case, I agree with Russell, we wanna see pics!!! :-D
 
#4 ·
RussellTheShihTzu, that sounds awesome! I was planning on using plain silica sand, also planted with low maintenance plants. Because of my location and the delicate local eco system, shrimp are illegal to import or sell, so unless I scoop a net around the local river, they're out :p I'm also not the biggest fan of snails, but I adore corydoras pygmaeus, so I was considering them with some rasboras (probably hengeli)....and of course a chilled-out betta ;) (p.s. thanks for explaining the acronyms!!)

Definitely getting pictures pronto ;)

Seki, sororities are amazing, and I'd love to have so many personality-packed little girls together. That's why I love bettas so much! However, I think I'd always be quite nervous about it so I've been trying to convince myself to stray away from that route...the risks I've heard about are quite off-putting! If I got girls that had grown up together, would they be likely fine over their entire lifetimes in what is essential a 10gal surrounded by boys?
 
#5 · (Edited)
How do Australians get dwarf shrimp? Do they sneak them in? And you're welcome on the acronyms. I hate it when people use ones I don't know and have no idea how to look up. :)

Have you looked at Rosy loaches? They're little like the pygmy corydoras. Really cute.

MTS will aerate the substrate and Assassin snails will keep the population under control; plus the Assassins are very pretty (IMO).

Have you seen FishChick's Bettas? They are gorgeous! A little pricy but gorgeous. I've watched almost all of her videos...including the "sold" ones.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Fishchick65
 
#6 ·
not sure...maybe on the east coast it's possible? Not here, anyways! There's a species of shrimp ($20 a pair) at a LFS near my house, but I passed them by... :p

Hmm..maybe I'll have a closer look into the snails then! And holy moly, those bettas...drool! I think I'm leaning towards a barracks system after seeing those gorgeous fish, with six 6x12" sections or five 7.2x12" sections, depending on how my conscience leads me... :p

thanks so much for the help guys! I'll keep you posted, pictures-inclusive :D
 
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