10g divided male betta biotope

[Tikibirds]

Your lighting will determine what kinds of plants you can have.

Not sure what plants are native to SE Asia but Anubias are good low light plants. They come in several varities. They don't get planted in gravel but attached to wood or rocks. The same for Java Fern and java moss.
Indian Almond Leaf - you most likely would need to get that from an ebay seller located in Asia. It does release tannins but it also turns the water amber colored - like in their natural habitat. I would do both floating and planted plants - dwarf lilly would be nice but it gets tall. I have to keep trimming the bigger leaf's off cause it blocks out too much light.

check out some of these - supposedly they are all low light
http://www.shop.plantedaquariumscent...Plants_c17.htm

[PhilipPhish]

Water onions?

Tikibirds- I'll definitely look at some of those.

Anyone else have some advice?

[kfryman]

If you are going to do a biotope you would need to adjust your pH to be around that of the area you are trying to create. Best way would be peat in the filter and IAL. You could also get some stratum like Azoo Plant Grower Bed or Fluval's Stratum. Azoo's will be better as it has nutrients in it, you can get it for like $31 on MarineDepot, both will drop the pH with Azoo's lasting longer and being better overall.

I would do some searching on your own and find plants that grow in SouthEast Asia, which will be a bit harder as the most common biotope would be amazon since those plants are widely available.

[repru04]

Tree branches will darken your water if that's what you're wanting. I soak branches for a few weeks till they're water-logged then add them to my tank. The water is still dark and I'll have a few more wc ahead of me before it lightens up. But this only works if you have room for a container of water that'll fit the wood.

[ChoclateBetta]

IAL, Spagnum Moss, and Driftwood decrease PH. They also add Tannins.

[Tikibirds]

Petco has mopani wood for pretty cheap. It's in the reptile section with the zoomed stuff. That will make the water amber colored and release tannins if you dont want to order indian almond leaves from Asia.




Southeastern Asian Lowland Still Water.

1. A tank for slow moving members of the subfamily Anabantoidea, other Labyrinth-fish, along with small barbs and danios and of course catfish.

Allepey backwater, India
Photo by: Raj Sivarajan

Betta splendens

Hygrophila difformis

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Size

1. A standard fifty-five gallon or the forty gallon would be fine.

Setup


Typical setup.

1. On the bottom use a dark substrate with no sharp edges to a depth of at least two inches and mix in some Laterite to promote plant growth. Place driftwood and roots in the back area creating many hiding places. This tank should be heavily planted, here are some native species available:

• Giant Hygrophila
• Nitelia
• Hydrilla
• Water lilies
• Cryptocoryne ciliata
• Java moss
• Limnocharis
• Water lettuce

1. You want to have very little water movement, with a slight circulation from one end to the other. With the large amount of live plants the lighting should be bright, at least two fluorescent full spectrum bulbs.

Water requirements

1. pH of 6.5 with a Carbonate hardness of around 4dCH and a total hardness of 10dH. Water temperature in the low eighties.

Fish

1. A school of Danios, two or three pairs of any of the varieties of the Dwarf Gouramies., a group of Koolie Loaches and some catfish from the family Pangasius.

Dwarf Gourami.

[Crowntail777]

Nice :D