Introducing myself and picture of my Betta's tank.

[AmandanFlynn]

Hello, my name is Amanda and I am 23. I just got my first Betta fish and his name is Flynn. Here is a picture of his tank (hope this picture works..):



It is a 5 gallon tank with a filter and a heater, live plants and some natural decoration. (I will be adding some dwarf water lettuce and maybe some duckweed/frogbit/salvinia (which ever i find first), and a "floating log" that is made by "zoo med")

His tank mates are a female fiddler crab names Sven (if you look close in the picture she is on top of the purple feeding ring on the left, she climbs up the plant to get up there Ü ), 3 ghost shrimp Hewey, Dewey, and Louie. I also have a mystery snail (who has yet to come out of his shell and thus has not earned a name) and I plan to add a Panda Cory Cat Fish who will be named Wadsworth.

I feed Flynn Omega One Betta pellets and flakes (i read that is one of the better brands) and freeze dried bloodworms. Is this a good diet, should I add anything else?

Please give any ideas on how i can/should improve Flynn's tank!


I also have an Australian Shepherd Named "Niko":
http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/a...ndniko/023.jpg
http://i854.photobucket.com/albums/a...o/IMG_9569.jpg

Thanks!

[Roxy]

Hello Amanda and welcome to the forum.

Your tank setup is nice.

However!
I do have something to point out...
Fiddler crab shouldn't be in the same tank as your betta. :(

[AmandanFlynn]

:O why cant fiddler crabs be in with betta?

[Olympia]

Yes, your fiddler crab needs more land.. and probably some company.
They are in reality brackish water animals, meaning halfway between salt and fresh water, and while pet stores sell them as fresh water >:[ your crab probably will not survive long.

If you can, return her to the store. Or if you have money, I'd recommend researching the crabs more and setting up a separate home for her- they are very interesting to watch!

For a more suitable companion, check out some shrimp species :]

[Olympia]

In addition, a cory cat will not work either. A panda cory needs to be kept in a group of at least 4, and that would require a 10 gallon set up.. sorry :(

The food you chose is good, go easy on the freeze dried bloodworms- maybe a little once a week, as they are not good for the fish, but they do enjoy it (kinda like chips, haha). If your guy takes freeze dried that's fine- but most would recommend the frozen variety as they are more nutritional.

I am glad that you did get him a good size tank and heater though! Good job :D

[AmandanFlynn]

Dang! They had her in fresh water at the petstore and said she would help keep the betta tank clean. The tag said they needed the same temp so I though I was good to go...

I will google about the "brackish" water needs, never heard of that before just salt/freshwater. :(

This is my first fish tank and I though I was doing good so far.. >_<

Crab was an impulse buy when they didnt have the panda cory cats in stock.

THANKS!

edit:
Ok thanks i wont get the panda cory cat then. Man shouldnt petstore workers know this stuff??
Now the ghost shrimp and mystery snail ARE ok, right? *crosses fingers*

Someone on here named "Roxy" already told me about the bloodworms, I will only give them once or twice a week from now on. thanks Ü

[Olympia]

Brackish isn't too difficult, if you keep your crab, keep me updated, it'd be neat to have a colony of them :p She should be fine in there for a few days.
http://media.photobucket.com/image/f...k/DSCN2652.jpg
That's a good example of what a fiddler crab tank should look like.

http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/rares...ddlercrabs.htm
and here is a decent starting caresheet.

[Roxy]

Originally Posted by AmandanFlynn

Dang! They had her in fresh water at the petstore and said she would help keep the betta tank clean. The tag said they needed the same temp so I though I was good to go...

I will google about the "brackish" water needs, never heard of that before just salt/freshwater. :(

This is my first fish tank and I though I was doing good so far.. >_<

Crab was an impulse buy when they didnt have the panda cory cats in stock.

THANKS!

edit:
Ok thanks i wont get the panda cory cat then. Man shouldnt petstore workers know this stuff??
Now the ghost shrimp and mystery snail ARE ok, right? *crosses fingers*

Someone on here named "Roxy" already told me about the bloodworms, I will only give them once or twice a week from now on. thanks Ü

* Raises hand * lol. XD

Most pet store workers don't know what they're talking about... so we should do the research ourselves. haha. ^^;

[Olympia]

Your shrimp and snail are fine, yes. :] Watch the snail though, you may end up with hundreds! THEY CAN HAVE BABIES WITH THEMSELVES o-o your shrimp will probably eat the young snails though.
You actually ended up a lot better than most people who listen to pet store people do, however :p

[Laki]

Welcome Amanda (I'm Amanda too) :)
Your fish has a wonderful home and life with you!! Keep your water paramters in check for the shrimp. I had 3 flash die on me because their fourth friend died and I didn't know causing a critical spike in ammonia. :( I ended up with my Bowser with my shrimp refund though!! ^.^