Betta Safe Tank Decor

[CherryDanio]

Hi all, I have been looking at the pictures on another thread of people bettas and their homes. I've begun shopping around for the bits and bobs for my future tank. Given that we have most of the things that normally come with tanks such as heater, filter etc lying around we have decided it is cheapest to get a 30L hexagonal tank made (just the tank and lid). A local shop is doing it for us and it is barginous I digress.... I have some silk plants on order having been told here the plastic ones are too sharp (I like the idea of real ones but managed to kill my fiance's cacti.... animals i'm great with, plants not so much).

I really like the idea of using glass pebbles or marbles instead of gravel on the bottom. Would this be a good idea? I can't think of anyway in which this might not be safe but maybe i'm not seeing something obvious. Anyone else tried it? Is it easy to clean?

In my other tanks I have mopani and bog wood which I absolutly love. If I can find a bit small enough for the tank is this likely to be safe or are bettas prone to snagging their tails on this as well?

And final question, we have a gravel vac for the other tanks but I have a sneaky suspicion it would have emptied the little betta tank before anything actually got clean. Those of you with smaller tanks, how do you safely clean the bottom of your tanks?

Any hints/tips/comments greatly appreciated

 

[bronzecat]

Hi

Just check that anything you put in your tank hasn't got any snaggy bits A simple rule is, If you can run a pair of tights over the item without snagging, then it should be ok for your betta

If you're going to use glass pebbles, use a length of airline tubing to syphon the debris from the bottom. That way you dont empty the tank so quick.

 

[GuppyGoddess]

You should get a different gravel vac than the one you use for your other tank because of cross-contamination issues. I use seperate equipment for all of my fish. For vacuuming, I have smooth gravel and use the smallest size yphen to vacuum all the gunk up. That I do every three days. (My two main tanks are 3-gallons)

 

[aly_starh]

As for bog wood, it should be fine, you could always sand sharp strands of wood.
You will need lots of hiding places, i made a coconut cave last week for my new tank! caves are brilliant also tall plants!