I am Bolero! :)

[MikeZ06]

Hi, this is Bolero. The store labeled him as a Half Moon, and he looks pretty young. He lives with 30 Cherry Shrimp, so far they get along. He likes to swim right up to one, fan out in full display, do a little dance, then swim off, lol.

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Pics were taken with my iphone....it was all i could do to get these. He's a spunky little fella!

[sparkyjoe]

He's a cutie!

[damo2904]

Lol, I love the first picture, look how tiny he is in that huge tank!!! Bless!

[MikeZ06]

I'm new so i guess i must be doing something wrong. I put images in the body of the thread and they were there last night, but this morning they seem to have disappeared. Can someone tell me what i did wrong?

[Laki]

They're still there!
He's a handsome fella!

[betta lover1507]

i seen the images he is very pretty

[inareverie85]

He is lovely :) And what a lucky boy to have such a huge house! :D

I must warn you though that some of the plants you have in there are not true aquatics. They'll eventually die and start to rot - fouling up your water. Chain pet stores often sell these as aquatic plants, but they are not.

[MikeZ06]

Thank you to everyone for the nice compliments! :)

I dont know what is going on, but the computer that i uploaded the images is the only one i can see the images on....lol. Oh well. New pics to be uploaded in a few min!

[MikeZ06]

Originally Posted by inareverie85

He is lovely :) And what a lucky boy to have such a huge house! :D

I must warn you though that some of the plants you have in there are not true aquatics. They'll eventually die and start to rot - fouling up your water. Chain pet stores often sell these as aquatic plants, but they are not.

That i did not know. I have always had fake plants in all my tanks. This time around (my tanks have been down for years) i decided to go with real plants. I live in a smaller town so all we have are the big chains. Can you tell me which are no good? I had success ordering plants online, maybe I"ll just stick with that...

[inareverie85]

Most of them, really. The only plant I see in there that's true aquatic is the java fern in the middle.

The ones with the white borders are not true aquatics. Nor are the green grassy ones.

There are many plants you can buy that give a similar look as the grassy ones you have, but the ones you have in particular are not aquatic.

From personal experience, Petco and Petsmart generally have poor knowledge and stock of live plants. Many are mislabeled, the care instructions are wrong, and they sell many that are not true aquatics. If I were you, I'd order online.

Some plants though that most petsmart/petco do have that work with most setups are:
Java Ferns
Anubias nana/bateri on rock/driftwood
Cryptocorynes
Anacharis

Depending on your lighting, you can also get these plants, though they do require stronger lighting than the ones I mentioned previously:
Rotala (Indica or Rotundifolia)
Wysteria
Camboba (most common species)
Bacopa (most common species)
Swords (most common species)

Make sure to research the plants you like and keep a list with you :)

For example, a common mistake with Java Fern and Anubias is burying the rhyzome (a stem-like area near the root system). Burying this will cause the plant to die. If you want it to stick into your substrate, the best technique is to tie it to a small rock and bury the rock up to the rhysome. :) These plants also do well being died to driftwood.