Getting into Betta's-Tank Ideas

[EAI]

Ah man, after going to a few pet stores to pick up bird supplies I had to stop at the fish sections and fell in love with at least 3 from each store.

Now I'm starting to think about getting another one after a 3 year hiatus. He'll be in a 5 gallon tank, no exceptions. It'll also allow me to make it a Hardscape, or somewhere along the lines of that. The main feature will be the rocks with natural plants.

I'd have to find a lid with lighting and a filter if I go with the more simple looking tank (which is cheaper). Other than that I just need ideas on how to stock the tank...so hopefully some help over here?

I'm pretty excited at the thought, but I have all these plans to do (getting back to art and building the playstand--waiting for Gizmo to be settled in my room to build it).

 

[strudel]

With my bettas, I just went with silk plants. I did try real plants at some stage and gave up. Can't remember the specifica now as to why, unfortunately.

 

[EAI]

With my bettas, I just went with silk plants. I did try real plants at some stage and gave up. Can't remember the specifica now as to why, unfortunately.

My plant's were always silk or plastic but I started finding all this gross slimy coat on them that I had to constantly wash since it started becoming visible.

After my light burnt out and I couldn't find a replacement my plants quickly deteriorated, it was also quite hard having to pick up the dead plants from the bottom of the tank.

 

[EAI]

So....after almost 5 months my tank is almost ready to add fish!
I got driftwood in November but I never soaked it until December, so it set me back a month but here it is!

The beginning stages, I'm not even sure if ill be using the almond leaves now LOL


I actually didn't set this up, my good friend aquascapes so I had him do everything except choosing where the pieces went to.

and...tada!



but you know, it's not a parrot forum without a parrot somewhere

 

[strudel]

Looking good. And Gizmo obviously approves

 

[4dugnlee]

Very nice! Love the one with Gizmo! What a little cutie!!

 

[RavensGryf]

Wow, your friend really did a professional type of job there on the aquascape! Very aesthetically pleasing .

So are the plants real? I never got into live plants when I had tanks... it's a whole separate hobby to keep the plants alive! Special lighting, nutrients, water chemistry, etc. It's pretry though.

I realize it's a very small tank, but are you only going to keep a Betta, or maybe another compatible species like a bottom feeder clean up guy?

 

[EAI]

Wow, your friend really did a professional type of job there on the aquascape! Very aesthetically pleasing .

So are the plants real? I never got into live plants when I had tanks... it's a whole separate hobby to keep the plants alive! Special lighting, nutrients, water chemistry, etc. It's pretry though.

I realize it's a very small tank, but are you only going to keep a Betta, or maybe another compatible species like a bottom feeder clean up guy?

All plants are real! I suck at keeping plants alive, so I decided to choose the easiest to care for aka anubias, ferns, and moss in hopes that they live longer than a month haha

I plan to get two oto catfishes by Monday or Tuesday so they can help with the fungi on the wood and the algae, and with possible help from some shrimp

 

[weco]

Just remember to bird-proof your tank & be sure to thoroughly wash your hands before interacting with your birds; fish & tanks can be deadly toxic to our feathered friends ! ! !

 

[Ann333]

I love betta! I was looking around at petco and saw that they sell mirrors marketed to betta as "exercise" ... I'd think k that would just seriously stress the poor thing out...

Sorry random comment and not helpful at all to the OP.

 

[Dinosrawr]

Beautiful tank! It has such clean lines and it's got a great focus, I love it! I definitely miss caring for fish. I always dreamed of making a fish highway throughout my house, though thinking about that now as a young adult makes me shudder because of the cleaning that would be involved. Do you use sand for your tanks? How do you find it manages for keeping the tank clean or accumulating fish droppings etc.?

 

[MikeyTN]

Nice looking betta tank!!! I decided to keep my Bettas in bowls instead of tanks. My last one got sick from the other fish that was within and died right away.

Here's Bart the Betta!!!

Here's Kathrine Betta-Jones!!!

 

[Allee]

So....after almost 5 months my tank is almost ready to add fish!
I got driftwood in November but I never soaked it until December, so it set me back a month but here it is!

The beginning stages, I'm not even sure if ill be using the almond leaves now LOL


I actually didn't set this up, my good friend aquascapes so I had him do everything except choosing where the pieces went to.

and...tada!



but you know, it's not a parrot forum without a parrot somewhere

Your new tank looks great, Reid! Very pretty, Gizmo looks curious, I hope he isn't planning a fishing trip.

Looking forward to seeing the new occupants.

 

[JerseyWendy]

:32: WOW, Reid, your setup is breathtakingly beautiful!!!! Thank you so much for updating and sharing AND inspiring!! ....and Gizmo is a stunner as well!!

 

[Anansi]

Sweet setup, Reid! Looking forward to seeing the future occupant!

 

[EAI]

Beautiful tank! It has such clean lines and it's got a great focus, I love it! I definitely miss caring for fish. I always dreamed of making a fish highway throughout my house, though thinking about that now as a young adult makes me shudder because of the cleaning that would be involved. Do you use sand for your tanks? How do you find it manages for keeping the tank clean or accumulating fish droppings etc.?

I used the PetCo sand because it was cheap, which was a great choice! It already came clean and sand IMO is much easier to clean with a syphon cause it's less invasive to the substrate and you hold it up a few inches and everything is gone! The only downer is you see EVERY dropping

 

[EAI]

Nice looking betta tank!!! I decided to keep my Bettas in bowls instead of tanks. My last one got sick from the other fish that was within and died right away.

Here's Bart the Betta!!!

Here's Kathrine Betta-Jones!!!

Those are stunning bettas! I'm taken away by how vibrant Kathrine is !

 

[EAI]

Here are the new occupants! My clean up crew:


The two oto catfish, Oregon and Oregano. But lets be real, they're contributing to more of the mess with their poop


And ghost shrimps (I had to buy 10, no exceptions) called the tempura clan !

 

[RavensGryf]

You HAD TO buy 10 of the "tempura shrimp" lol, in a 5 gallon tank :18: funny. I'm sure it they will keep the place nice and clean

 

[Anansi]

Hahahahahaha! Loving your cleanup crew! One word of caution, though... I'd once bought maybe four shrimp for my 125 gallon tank. Within maybe a week, they'd all mysteriously vanished! (Can't be certain whether it actually took a week. It is a big tank with a number of places to hide, and sometimes after searching I'd find some hiding underneath some driftwood.)

Anyhow, after a week I finally figured they'd been eaten... WHOLE... by either my black ghostknife (coolest fish EVER! Swims as well forward as it does backward and "sees" via electromagnetic fields that give it 360 degree coverage! Sweet! But I digress...) or one of my clown loaches. It wasn't until months later that I'd discovered the horrifying truth! (Though being eaten whole is rather horrifying in and of itself.) They had climbed up the air tube right OUT OF THE WATER and down the back of the tank... where they'd dried and died in complete privacy! [emoji33]

So watch for that. I'd never imagined they might prove capable of climbing out of the tank! Shudder!