newbie - is this a good set up? 5 gal. Fluval Spec

[daylily]

I bought a Fluval Spec V - 5 gallon - a few weeks ago. Lucky that I found a local fish club person who offered some plants to me to try. I am new at having an aquarium. I think the cycle is about over - the plant guy also gave me "seeding" material.

I am wondering if there is anything I am overlooking here for a Betta. At first, I didn't think about sharp stones, so yesterday during the water change, I took out all the sharp or rough stones.

I hope this link works - been a while since I used Photobucket.


I have terribly hard water - so am using 75% RO and 25% well water. PH has still been a bit high at 7.6 so it was recommended to me that I get something to lower the PH - I think it was PH Down and treat the water before putting it in. I've been searching for the PH that bettas would prefer, but there is quite a range on different sources online.

Does anyone see anything I should do different in the tank before getting a betta?

Because I have so many plants, should I look for a Plakat or a female so fins will be smaller--- or will a longer fin one do ok in with all these plants?

Thanks!

[inuudo]

Looks beautiful! Any betta you put in there will be super happy. And don't worry about a 7.6 pH -- it's fine.

[paloverde]

Looks really nice, careful with the 75/25 mix you could have an sudden and tragic ph crash. So the tank was seeded, how have you been feeding the bb ?

[Friendlyfishies]

my ph runs 8.0-8.2 and I was told its better the let the betta get used to the Ph rather than adjust the Ph for the betta because Ph changing suppliments can bounce around and cause further problems for the fish. Driftwood can lower it ive been told and IAL but your Ph seems fine :)

[daylily]

Thanks, those are good things to know! There is so much to learn!

I've been putting in enough ammonia to get it up to 1ppm twice a day.

I read where you are not supposed to increase PH faster than .2 in 24 hours. I am wondering, if I don't try to lower the PH, if I do get a betta in a cup from the local fish store, how will I acclimate it and not exceed .2 in 24 hours?

I did put in the driftwood because I read about it lowering PH.

[daylily]

Would I need to worry about a long fin betta in this tank? Wondering if I should go with female or Plakat. (if I can find one!) I saw a very active red/burgundy male at the local pet store the other day. I think he was a veil tail. I thought of getting him, putting in a big jar till tank finishes -- but worry about the long fins with all the plants. I don't want one to get stuck or ripped up.

[BettaQi]

Hi!

I have a Spec V with shrimp and snails.

I also have 2 Spec 2s with bettas in -- one female crowntail, one male over half moon with huge fins.

I put filter floss insid the output tube from the pump to slow down the current, and I shoved a small piece from the filter material into the lower filter intake hole and I put a Fluval Pre filter sponge on the filter outtake tube.

The female was struggling with the filter flow at first, thus all the modifications.

I got the male later, so I did all the modifications befor I put him in and he's very happy with the gentle flow.

[BettaQi]

The Spec V light is a bit weak for plants IMO so I saved up and bought a 16 inch FugeRay. My plant growth has tripled bc of this upgrade.

It's a beautiful tank, congrats! You did a great job on it!

[daylily]

Thanks for the info on the filter flow. My pump has a high and low setting. Right now I have it on high during the cycle.

I have read that the betta needs low flow - so thanks for letting me know how to do this.

I'll try to get hold of some filter floss tomorrow.

It was great getting plant starts!!! I can see where this could become quite the hobby with me!

I'll also consider upgrading lighting!

[paloverde]

Messing with the ph is a slippery slope and is truly only needed for some fresh water fish usually amazon black water types that are super sensitive to hard water (discus,cardinals,rummy nose) & some killies. The mixing of the ro water at 75% greatly reduces the buffering capacity and with the ongoing biological processes that your tank goes through day in and day out can lead to sudden and deadly ph crash. I know all of this from past really bad carnage, that was totally all my fault! IF you still feel that you must use a ro mix, I would urge you to switch it to 75%tap to 25% ro. Acclimate your fish slowly very slowly over a course of several hours. PH is logarithmic and a difference of 7.2 to 7.0 is huge.