New Giant Betta

[Batmantha]

I recently bought a giant purple/pink betta, I saw him at the pet shop and couldn't help myself, he was absolutely gorgeous. I have him in a little transition tank at the moment and he will be moved to my aqua one 126 tank that I bought for him once its cycled.

The aqua one 126 is
22 litres = 5.81178515 US gallons

and seems to be a decent little set up. At the moment I only have gravel in it but I'm hoping to find some decent plants and/or ornaments for it this week. I have a floating moss ball from my bigger tropical tank that I'm thinking of moving over into this tank and I haven't decided on anything else yet.


Since I'm new at having a Betta I thought I would ask some experts if there would be any plants the Betta would prefer that would be fairly easy to grow and if anyone had any experience with this type of tank as I have heard some filters need to be baffled for the Bettas to be comfortable but I am not sure if this filter would need it


Also any help on a tank mate for him - I was hoping for a dwarf algae eater or 2



Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

[Sheldon31]

Hmm a 5 gal isn't big enough for anymore fish but you could have a nerite snail or some shrimp. Shrimp sometimes get eaten but if they have enough to hide in they will be fine.

Bettas like leafy plants and My ky loves swishing through his water wisteria but CLoud likes weaving in and out of my cabomba but plants with larger leaves are good for resting on.

Most filters do need baffling, I used some new stockings and over lapped them over my out take. There's a home made baffle tutorial here that you might find helpful. I can't link you cause I'm on my iPad but I think it's in the betta tanks forum. There's also a plant guide in there which will probably be helpful to you too :)

[finnfinnfriend]

Could you post a picture of your new boy? :)

[Bombalurina]

I have the AquaOne 620, which has the same filter but on a larger scale. It does have a pretty fast outflow, so you may need to tie some filter wool around it to slow it down. :)

Normally I recommend anacharis as a great plant, but it's not legal in NSW. Cabomba isn't legal here either, but look into ambulia, which is similar. :) JAva fern, java moss, anubias and lacefern are also good. :)

Unfortunately, your tank is too small for any other fishy tankmates, but I would look into shrimp. Don't bother with snails - the only ones readily available in Australia are mystery snails, and they are not great for much except pooping. Cherry shrimp would be my choice, but you will need lots of hiding spots for them. :)

Try looking for a local aquarium society - I think there is a Sydney District Aquarium Society, though I'm not sure - because they have a bigger, better range of shrimp and plants than petshops, for much better prices. :)

[Sheldon31]

Out of curiosity, why are they illegal Bomba? They are probably the most common here in Wales.

[Hallyx]

My giant put out nearly 0.25ppm ammonia every day in a 5gal tank.

He was also a voracious eater. I'm sure he would have loved shrimp had I provided them.

<-----That's him

Oh! Welcome to the forum

[Batmantha]

Thanks, the Water Wisteria looks really nice, I'm hoping to plant the tank up a lot so he has a few different heights in there to make him happy so this weekend is going to cost me a fortune but it will totally be worth it.

I love the look of the cherry and ghost shrimp, from a few other posts they are a little hit and miss though but I suppose that's the case with most tank mates.

[Hallyx]

That's Phanta in your avatar? What a great looking animal. Yeah, he'll love all the ghosties you can get him.....hehhehe.

[Batmantha]

Originally Posted by Hallyx

That's Phanta in your avatar? What a great looking animal. Yeah, he'll love all the ghosties you can get him.....hehhehe.

They will have alot of plant coverage when Im done this weekend hopefully and a mini cave
I'm hoping to find Phanta a floating log I've heard they really like them, he already has a hammock at the moment

[FishyFishy89]

I too have been converted to live plants (not completely, moneys not helping). They are great for naturally removing ammonia.
I plan on getting wisterias and java ferns and MAYBE some anubias((sp?))

I got Spike ghost shrimp once. They didn't even last 30 mins o.O