Brand new Betta owner here. Brought Bilbo Baggins the Betta home on Saturday. I originally put him in a large bowl shaped vase I already had (1- 1/2 gallon sized). Added decorative marbles and a life peace lily. Submerged the roots of the peace lily. Leaves are sticking up out of the top. Have a decorative dragon that my bf's 12 y.o. picked out (he named fish, too).
I'm trying to be a good fish mommy. I did a 100% water change on Monday and just did a 50% water change today. Because I currently have a live plant in there, I didn't do the full 100% change today. Didn't want to mess with whatever the balances are in there (I haven't done any testing yet).
In addition, when Bilbo did not seem to be enjoying the flakes, I picked through the food to give him the non-flaky bits for a day or two. Yesterday, I bought him pellets for primary food and bloodworms as his treat.
Bilbo seems to be a happy betta. I was greeted yesterday morning with a bubble nest. He watches me from inside the bowl and typically swims to whatever side of the bowl I am standing on (the bowl is resting on the raised countertop between the kitchen and living/dining areas.
Of course, I found this website and started reading the messages and so am now thinking about upgrading his living quarters to some kind of tank. My issue is that I ONLY want Bilbo, not other fish. 10 gal tanks seem rather large for just him, so I am thinking that I want a tank in the 2-5 gal range. Is that going to be good for him?
I haven't purchased additional items for the current bowl he is in, because if I manage to get a tank at a discount, it frequently comes with lots of accessories.
I am finding myself a little overwhelmed with the different options here- live plants vs. silk faux plants; sand vs. gravel; filtration; etc.
I'm not looking to invest several hundred dollars into this. I wanted something really simple and it's already getting more complicated than I originally expected. I'm okay with some added complications and expense, but I don't want to go crazy with it, either.
I completely understand not wanting to spend too much time or money. In this case, you kind of have the option of either or. If you spend more money, you can have a more advanced set up that requires less time (and you mentioned a 2-5 gallon, that would be perfect). The opposite of course is to keep him in the smaller bowl and do water changes much more frequently. As you can tell, a peace lilly is not one of those plants that allows for easy water changes. Better options are anubias, or Marimo moss balls. The anubias would need to be grown on a decoration, but doing so would allow you to simply take the plant out when you needed to do your 100% changes.
If you aren't going to have a large selection of plants, gravel is the better option. Sand can get stagnant unless you have root systems. There are still quite a few plants that can easily be grown with gravel, and those plants will improve water quiality.
But basically, in my experience, a heater, plants, and 2+ gallons is all you really need. A filter just complicates things in a way you don't need.
The original reason I bought the peace lily was to act as a barrier to protect Bilbo from my cat, if she showed any interest in his bowl (since it has no lid). She hasn't shown any interest. He hasn't started to jump much either and I have kept the water low enough from the top that he couldn't jump out.
The lily has been a little bit aggravating in that if your hand bumps it, it starts to float. Right now, I've somehow got it wedged just right so that Bilbo can hide out in the roots and swim around them, but the roots are not buried or floating in the water, either.
To do my water change I use a ladle to scoop out 50% of the water.
So, is your suggestion to stick with a few live plants vs. silk ones? Will that make a filtration system completely unnecessary?
I personally love live plants, so I will admit being a touch biased.
Unfortunately, unless have have a very large variety or number of plants in 2 or more gallons, you will need to still do fairly frequent water changes no matter what or how many plants you have. I still really recommend plants of course because they do help.
What I am basically saying though is that unless you get 5 gallons and want to do the whole cycle thing, don't get a filter. It won't do you any good and will just make things more complicated in a way you don't need or want.
I actually have had a 2 gallon, moderately planted with low light plants up for about a year now. It has a heater, and while it did start in a sunny window, when I moved I had to supplement with light. It only needs one water change a week, and the fish is wonderfully healthy. If you go to the last page you can see the most recent photo of it.
I would suggest moving that peace lily out if you have a cat! Peace Lilies are extremely poisonous to cats, and can kill them quickly if ingested! Another great alternative, as mentioned, would be Anubias.
Just FYI, Peace Lilies (Spathiphyllum) are not lilies, therefore are not toxic to cats. The worst to expect would be stomach upset.
<<is a veterinarian
So, today I bought Bilbo a new home. A 3 gal cube with LED light. It came with a filter but I'm going to try maintaining the tank without it. I bought a tetra heater for the tank, put it with him in his bowl to warm the water in that up first. Have the new tank water standing for the next day. I also bought the water testing supplies.
I'm going to ditch the peace lily now that I know it's toxic to cats.
If I'm starting out getting plants for first time how many should I get and what are good first time options?
Do I want snails in the plants? Will Bilbo eat some of them, such that overpopulation and growth of algae won't be a problem?
Congrats on the fish and new set up!
If you're getting in pest snails with the live plants, they're harmless and shouldn't really overpopulate the tank too much unless you're overfeeding the betta. However, if you find that they are populating out of control and your betta seems to enjoy eating them (my VT loves snails) then fine, if your betta don't eat them and you want to get assassin snails (they eat pond snails[and they hunt in groups so more than one is ideal for larger snail populations]), keep in mind once the ponds are evacuated that the assassins will still need to eat. They like bloodworms and old fish food but I had a problem keeping my assassins fed in the same tank as my piggy bettas and now they're on their own in their own tank.
If you want a vegetarian, algae eating snail that does not reproduce in fresh water and has a low bioload (for the 3g) then pick up a nerite or two.
Congrats on your new upgrade and decision toward plants! Some that I have in my tanks that have done well are Anubias, Java moss, Java fern, Wisteria, Water sprite, and Green Cabomba. And I personally like my snails, especially the Malasian Trumpet Snails I introduced to help keep the sand in my tanks aerated.
keep the Peace lilies in the filter dont worry I keep pothos, lucky bamboo, and peace lilies and a dog.
Dogs are not large cats. What may be toxic to a dog might not be toxic to a cat, or vice versa. In this case, the Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum sp.) happens to be extrememly toxic to both. However, while a dog may not be able to reach where you keep your plant, a cat is likely much more able and likely to jump onto a table and nibble on the leaves of a toxic plant. Whether you want to keep a plant that could potentially kill your pet is up to you - personally, as a person who works in a vet clinic and has seen the effects of toxicity and poisoning first hand, I wouldn't take the chance.
Since Bilbo was a replacement for my 13 y.o. dog who died a few days before I got Bilbo, and I would rather not lose my 13 y.o. Healthy cat anytime soon, I'm taking the peace lily back to Petco and will exchange it for live plants for Bilbo's new tank. I'm a little ticked that petco suggested the peace lily to me- as a way to keep my cat away from Bilbo. Seems like negligence to me.
My boyfriend laughs at me because he's seeing me act like a little girl with her first fishtank. I get all into this and excited.
A question: my new tank came with an LED light. Am I still going to need Florescent lighting?
Ah, Petco. 'Tis a sea of bad information there. I think the idea is that most of the people there like animals, but most of them don't exactly know how to take care of the animals properly.
lol There's no shame in being excited! Some people get excited about a new videogame or TV show, others about new fish :-D
Do you happen to know the Kelvin rating of the LED light? Or it's wavelegnth in nanometers (nm)?
Ok so I have just purchased: Mondo grass, java moss ball, java fern, cryptocoryne, and a peacock fern. I want to get some Anubias down the line I think.
Can you combine silk and real plants? I'd love to add some bright color to my tank. Bilbo is a scarlet and purple VT. Gravel is black. With all the green plants, not much color. Thinking of getting a silk plant just to brighten up the joint. Lol.
Ok so I have just purchased: Mondo grass, java moss ball, java fern, cryptocoryne, and a peacock fern. I want to get some Anubias down the line I think.
Mondo grass is a non-aquatic plant. I know that it's sold as an aquatic plant in some pet stores, and I , too, purchased it believing it would be fine. About a month after I planted it, someone told me that it was non-aquatic, and sure enough, the googler confirmed that information!
About two weeks after that, I had found a replacement plant and removed the mondo grass. About half of the plants had issues with the roots (separating from the stems, stunted growth, etc) and even though I replanted them in potting soil, they have not done well. :-(
There should be no reason that you can't use both live and silk plants, given that the silk plants you use are aquarium grade (eg. Have no metal stems that could rust and release toxins)
And the age of the employee often has little correlation with how much they know about a topic. A teenager who has done his/her research, has good, reliable information backed up by facts, and is able to convey such information in a helpful and friendly manner could be far more reliable than, say, a person of middle age who is ill-informed, has not done the proper research, and/or is condesending and rude.
I lucked out today in getting my local petco a biologist and fish expert. We were able to talk through several things. He doesn't know as much about plants, but our discussion has motivated him to go learn more.
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