[Harrison and Owen]

Keep in mind I'm a fish newb. This question may seem a bit silly.

Owen's tank is all set up and he transferred happily and seems to have adjusted well. But my son wanted him to have a beta hammock so we bought one. He wants to know when we can put it in Owen's tank but I admit I don't know how exactly. Can I just stick it in with my hand? Is it bad for my hand to touch the water even to stick in the hammock (after proper rinsing of course). I feel the same about the live plant that is in there….I would like to add a java fern but can I do stuff like that with the fish in the tank? Or do I have to wait till a water change?

 

[Tabbie82]

If you've properly washed and dried your hands, it shouldn't hurt anything for you to reach in there and do what you need to do. All my bettas have a hammock. They love those suckers. I feed them over them and they like to hang out on the leaf. I would suggest that you snip off the plastic on the end that goes into the suction cup and pull out the metal inside with pliers. That's what I did with mine- the metal inside will rust and could potentially poison your fish. Also- no question is silly! :-D Welcome to the fishy world, BTW!

 

[Harrison and Owen]

Wow, good tip about the metal! I will do that.

 

[Tabbie82]

No problem- a lot of people don't realize there's metal in there and it's been an issue for some. I didn't know about it with my first few hammocks and when I cut the metal out it had definitely rusted inside.

 

[ZZD]

I pop in live plants whenever I feel inclined to buy one. Or 8. I rinse my plants before putting them in, but other than that they tend to go straight in. I sometimes will do a water change when I am putting in plants, but mostly because I am there messing with the tank so I get the stress all out of the way for them all at once.

My betta had little interest in the betta hammock so I haven't got much advice with those. He ended up with a floating log instead that he seems to hate to leave.

 

[givemethatfish]

Welcome to the "wet arm club."

 

[Harrison and Owen]

I'm so glad to hear that I can just stick my arm in….nobody puts on gloves or anything. I just don't want to make a huge mistake. I really want a java fern for my tank. I knew there were certain kinds of plants that were pretty good for bettas but the name slipped my mind until I came here.

We're trying our hardest to do the best stuff for Owen. I have Seachem Prime coming in the mail because the first water conditioner I used was Top Fin and I want the best one. We got him Omega One pellets.He has a place to hide in his tank and he really did seem to adjust there pretty well. He is swimming around and flaring and seems interactive. I swear he swims to the surface when you call his name. My son is feeding him and he does such a great job, dropping one pellet in at a time to make sure it is eaten. Owen gets 3 in the morning and 2 at night but I'm currently wondering if it should be three at night as well.

 

[StrangeDejavu]

Yup, like others have said, just wash your hands thoroughly before and after (as with any pet). Just be sure your hands are good and dry the first time so you don't add any chlorine into the water.

 

[aselvarial]

I recommend the java fern highly. I got one when I first started my tanks almost 4 months ago as everyone said they were super easy. And yes, they are. If you can keep a betta alive, you can keep a java plant! And they tend to put off LOTS of baby fernlets, so you'll have a million of them soon.

 

[Harrison and Owen]

I called the local aquarium store and they are getting a big plant shipment Monday.

It took me a little bit but I finally wrestled the metal wire out of the hammock and put the hammock in the tank. Well, I made my husband do it because I put nail polish on today and was being extra cautious. Owen immediately came over to inspect it so that's good.

 

[LadySoren]

Yeah, rinse really well after you use soap. Some soaps have moisturizers in them that are made to stick around for a while.

 

[Plakattyphoon1234]

Mines worked until the suckers came off.

 

[Kone Killer]

Another good plant is the water wisteria!! I some of those when I got my Java Fern. I think those are doing better, and they are considered a higher light plant.... I am just using the stock LED that came with my Fluval Spec V.