Let me start by saying that this tank is my first foray into the wild world of 'bettas'. It's a bit of uncharted territory, but what fun is there in fishkeeping, if we don't venture out of our comfort zone every now and then?
So, to give a brief bit of background... my son is 7 years old, and he's the reason I got back into fishkeeping a few years ago. My wife is allergic to just about anything with fur, and isn't a fan of the reptilian world. So, when my son asked for a pet, he figured out that fish were his best bet (pretty smart for a 4 year old). Anyway, that was all I needed to hear and I got the go ahead. I started back with a 55 gallon tank and really got back into the obsession, I mean hobby.
A few years later, I got a 110 Gallon to have at work - you can check out that journal and all its twists and turns in my sig. But, that was for me, and not my son. Well, for this year's Christmas, I am getting him his very own tank. It will be run under my supervision, but he'll be the one to take charge of the maintenance of the tank, as he gets more comfortable with it. I made all the decisions so far, but he had a hand in choosing the fish. He saw the pic from the breeder and made some selections, but I pushed him in the direction of female bettas because of Gizaroo2's lovely tank, and because of my curiosity with bettas. I've always been fascinated by them, but couldn't justify a tank for a single fish... hence my arrival at a 'sorority'.
Now... to the pics that everyone has been so patient in waiting for!
Empty tank... With heater and filter.
Old filter I had laying around, well not really 'laying around', this was my old "QT". This was the filter on that. But, the heater was not something I could trust for the higher temps the bettas were going to require, so I got a new one. (actually I got two... one as a backup to all the others I have!)
Full shot of tank and stand
Hydor 150W heater. (Got a second in case any of my other heaters failed on me - the others are all 200W...)
New substrate as well... considered Ecocomplete, but couldn't justify the cost difference, honestly. So, I went with FloraMax. Needs rinsing, but other than that I just couldn't see the big deal in the difference.
Substrate and heater
Tried my hand at aquascaping once more... Not all the plants I wanted to have, but its enough to get the tank underway...
Aqua scape finished... Not great, but it might be my best one ever!
For the curious on looker (not that you can probably tell... the plants are: java fern (mostly) with an anubias on the large piece of mopani in the middle, off to the left there's 3 small Crypt Wendtii, and to the right there's Bacopa Caroliniana. I also bought a little packet of bulbs from Petco. Why? Don't know. If they grow, it was a great $3 spent. If not...
Anyway, there's a mixture of aponogeton ulvaceus, Crinum thaianum, and waterlilly (they weren't specific about that specie). I also added a few 'stems' of narrow leaf anacharis.
Then, I fllled the tank up...
Added water... Yup, lots of silt still even after rinsing.
Believe it or not, I did rinse it before I added the substrate to the tank... just not enough. Apparently I needed to rinse for another hour!
Not going to happen. I did fill it back up slowly, but it still looked like 'pea soup' when it was full of water.
Next, the substrate came with this:
Added "bio magnet" that came in flora max substrate.
So, I added it, per the directions on the package...
45 minutes later, with added bulb. You left one is blue, right is more red/pink.
This is what it looked like 45 minutes later. Yes, a blue bulb on the left and red on the right. We'll see how this works out. Wasn't sure which bulbs to buy, so I split the difference!
Looks a lot more distinct in the color difference in the pictures than in reality.
2+ hours later...
Nearly 2+ hours later, much less cloudy... And lights don't look so obviously different.
Much less obvious that there's two different color bulbs now.
As the tank has been clearing over the past 3 hours now... the tank has become much more clear and much less noticeable with the different bulbs, which is what I was hoping for. I don't mind subtle differences, but I didn't want it to be a freak show.
What about the fish, you say?
Well, they should be shipped out on Monday. Filter has been cycling for over a week now with mature media added and will be more than ready to handle whatever ammonia the girls can dish out!
And what will they look like? Not sure exactly, but here are the doctored pics from the breeder. The notes and circles are my son's.
image
image
Yup... he called some of them 'extra cuty', or as I would spell it 'extra cutie'. Either way, he really likes all the different colors.
I've ordered 9 of them, per discussions with my personal betta specialist WildBetta. I can't wait to see them in the tank exploring, etc.
Updates coming in the future!
So, to give a brief bit of background... my son is 7 years old, and he's the reason I got back into fishkeeping a few years ago. My wife is allergic to just about anything with fur, and isn't a fan of the reptilian world. So, when my son asked for a pet, he figured out that fish were his best bet (pretty smart for a 4 year old). Anyway, that was all I needed to hear and I got the go ahead. I started back with a 55 gallon tank and really got back into the obsession, I mean hobby.
A few years later, I got a 110 Gallon to have at work - you can check out that journal and all its twists and turns in my sig. But, that was for me, and not my son. Well, for this year's Christmas, I am getting him his very own tank. It will be run under my supervision, but he'll be the one to take charge of the maintenance of the tank, as he gets more comfortable with it. I made all the decisions so far, but he had a hand in choosing the fish. He saw the pic from the breeder and made some selections, but I pushed him in the direction of female bettas because of Gizaroo2's lovely tank, and because of my curiosity with bettas. I've always been fascinated by them, but couldn't justify a tank for a single fish... hence my arrival at a 'sorority'.
Now... to the pics that everyone has been so patient in waiting for!
Empty tank... With heater and filter.
Old filter I had laying around, well not really 'laying around', this was my old "QT". This was the filter on that. But, the heater was not something I could trust for the higher temps the bettas were going to require, so I got a new one. (actually I got two... one as a backup to all the others I have!)
Full shot of tank and stand
Hydor 150W heater. (Got a second in case any of my other heaters failed on me - the others are all 200W...)
New substrate as well... considered Ecocomplete, but couldn't justify the cost difference, honestly. So, I went with FloraMax. Needs rinsing, but other than that I just couldn't see the big deal in the difference.
Substrate and heater
Tried my hand at aquascaping once more... Not all the plants I wanted to have, but its enough to get the tank underway...
Aqua scape finished... Not great, but it might be my best one ever!
For the curious on looker (not that you can probably tell... the plants are: java fern (mostly) with an anubias on the large piece of mopani in the middle, off to the left there's 3 small Crypt Wendtii, and to the right there's Bacopa Caroliniana. I also bought a little packet of bulbs from Petco. Why? Don't know. If they grow, it was a great $3 spent. If not...
Then, I fllled the tank up...
Added water... Yup, lots of silt still even after rinsing.
Believe it or not, I did rinse it before I added the substrate to the tank... just not enough. Apparently I needed to rinse for another hour!
Next, the substrate came with this:
Added "bio magnet" that came in flora max substrate.
So, I added it, per the directions on the package...
45 minutes later, with added bulb. You left one is blue, right is more red/pink.
This is what it looked like 45 minutes later. Yes, a blue bulb on the left and red on the right. We'll see how this works out. Wasn't sure which bulbs to buy, so I split the difference!
2+ hours later...
Nearly 2+ hours later, much less cloudy... And lights don't look so obviously different.
Much less obvious that there's two different color bulbs now.
As the tank has been clearing over the past 3 hours now... the tank has become much more clear and much less noticeable with the different bulbs, which is what I was hoping for. I don't mind subtle differences, but I didn't want it to be a freak show.
What about the fish, you say?
Well, they should be shipped out on Monday. Filter has been cycling for over a week now with mature media added and will be more than ready to handle whatever ammonia the girls can dish out!
And what will they look like? Not sure exactly, but here are the doctored pics from the breeder. The notes and circles are my son's.
image
image
Yup... he called some of them 'extra cuty', or as I would spell it 'extra cutie'. Either way, he really likes all the different colors.
I've ordered 9 of them, per discussions with my personal betta specialist WildBetta. I can't wait to see them in the tank exploring, etc.
Updates coming in the future!
SO, the question was, what to get? The choice was, some cherries and some flames. Smaller shoals than I usually do but I was split between them, and one group goes in the home tank and one in the betta tank for now.
