A good deal= sorrority tank!!!!!!!

[naturegirl243]

So I went to petco today with my mom for once for stuff for the dog not fish lol. We always look at the bettas and I see who gets homes and who is still there(yeah I keep tabs on them lol) so we were looking at the tanks. I was telling her how there is the dollar a gallon sale and we can get a ten gal. for ten bucks we walked over to the tank kits and I was looking at the displays were I say a ten gallon diplay with a orange tag on it it had a hood,filter,heater and I trial pack of water conditioner. The set used to me 60 bucks but since it was the display model it was only 30! So we got that for "my moms" future sorrority tank we also got gravel cause all I have is a little black gravel left from diegos tank/jar. Then we decided more like I did to get live plants my first experiance with live plants we got a Jappenese moss ball(it's soooo soft) it cost more but the regular ones were all eaten up by the koi and goldfish in the tank(I was watching them eat at them lol).and we got two combo plants don't ask me what they are but you will see in the picture.The tank is not done yet(still has to cycle and we are getting more stuff for it)But I am super excited it is kind of a present for my mom cause she has been wanting one so one of her girls is going to go in and the girl we share/ half own cause I picked her out and wanted her but my mom wanted her too is going in.My mom has one other girl but she is a beast she has lived alone for a long time and is huge compared to the others lol so she is not going in(sorry Luna ).So it was 60 bucks total for everything you see in the tank but the moss ball was 10 bucks which I did not know until it rang up.Like I said we are getting more stuff to put in tonight so it's not done yet but what do you guys think?This is my first time with live plants so any tip or advice?Oh and we are NOT just putting two girls in we are going to get two more in two weeks.One for me and one for my mom.Ok I am done rambling sorry it was so long I am just super excited!

[naturegirl243]

No one is likeing my tank? I bought a giant bell with some silk plants on it I put in there and I have two smaller silk plants that are in the one girl's tank I want to put in there too.My mom wanted red gravel but I was leaning toward a natural color but she said red matchs the kitchen which is where the tank is it's actually on our table which we never eat at it's against a wall and it looks good there.

[naturegirl243]

Aww I am sad no comments but I got views, and I was so excited for everyone to see. Anyways here it is with the bell I haven't put the hood on yet cause it did not come with a bulb and silly me bought the wrong size bulb.

[Zeetrain]

It looks good. i would research and try and find those plants cause they may not be fully aquatic and eventually turn brown. Also youre gonna need more hiding spots for the girls. You need atleast 1 spot for each girl so they can have their own "territories". Another thing is that in this case the size of the female doesnt always make a difference. When I had a sorority going my smallest one was the toughest. i would try putting youre other Girl in there when you introduce all of them and if she is a problem then remove her. Im not sure if you already have read dramaqueen's sorority post but heres the link http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=29402 If you have more questions please ask =)

[naturegirl243]

Thank you when I got them they were in a huge tank but I got the little tab thingy with names so I will check it out I might have to re arrange a little for more hiding places.I have one question do you think 4 is a good number for this tank?I deffinatly don't want to overstock but I want to make sure my tank is ideal for this, since it's my first soroity tank I don't want to overwhelm myself.I guess I am more worried about the cycle at the moment but I am deffinatly adding more silk plants and a few more hiding places.

[Zeetrain]

4 is the minimum, you could do 6 if you wanted but 4 is good for youre first try. Live plants will cycle your tank very quickly. So if you have a test kit or if you can get it tested at a LFS or LPS then check the levels.

[bettalover2033]

i love it!! also get more plants for it!! and a few LITTLE caves!! also, Do you or your mom know anything about sororities because they are more complicated then just putting a bunch of females together.?

[naturegirl243]

Ok I will stick with 4 for now.

bettalover: My mom does not know much about it at all I am taking my time and researching alot and I think it is the next step in my betta keeping experiance, I know about them and thats enough trying to teach my mom is pointless since she just belives what I say if I said oh no bettas need to be kept in an inch of water she would think I was serious lol.Only me though if a petstore person told her she would be like go away lmao.

[bettalover2033]

Okay NG243 what do you know?!?

[naturegirl243]

Ok here goes. I know off course I have to cycle the tank first.Then I know that I have to get the females used to each other before "putting a bunch in there" When I get the new girls I have to QT them for at least two weeks. Then when the tank is cycled and the girls are ready to go in I put them all in IN THERE CUPS so they are not free yet let them float in there for about 30 minutes then let the LEAST aggressive female out first.So we fast forward all the girls are in there and there will be some nipping to establish a pecking order(just like with horses and most other animals) I will keep an eye on them for a couple hours and make sure things don't get crazy if there is one female who is super aggressive I take her out and keep her seprate maybe try again some other time.Being me I will keep an eye on them for days lol.So how did I do? Did I pass your test?