Fairly New To Fishkeeping But Absolutely Love It

[ShamefulCrayon]

Hi all

I'm still fairly new to fish keeping - I've had a 25L tank with a beautiful Betta fish called Finn for about four months now. My water parameters are now very good and I've got a couple of live plants in there for him as well as some colourful glass marbles to keep him interested in swimming around to check out the tank. I feed him mostly with flaked food with a few pellets a week and some frozen bloodworm on a Sunday.

I've recently bought a new 64L tank and stand with a view to having a fully planted aquarium and some more fish. Not sure if this is the right section to ask about that sort of thing though, so I'll leave this post here.

Hope the day finds you all well.
Charley

 

[Ch4rlie]

 
Welcome to the Forum!
 
Sounds like a nice little set up for the betta
 
A 64L upgrade is a nice choice for a new fishkeeper starting out in this hobby
 
But do research what fish would be suitable in that tank as not all fish are suitable for small tanks, if you're ever unsure, do ask and we'll be happy to help out when we can

 

[LyraGuppi]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[ShamefulCrayon]

Hi Charlie and Lyra

Thanks for the welcomes.

I was thinking of a community tank with ember tetras (as they stay nice and small) and a couple of catfish (not sure which type yet) or black mollies as well as my betta and an assassin snail to keep the physics at bay. Not rushing things though and I want to make sure I get the right balance of plants any catfish wouldn't eat. Not read up a huge amount about black mollies yet but that will be a task for later tonight. Off to purchase gravel for the new tank tomorrow (decided against sand) and hopefully I can find some lovely driftwood too.
Meant to say Physids there, not physics!

 

[Ch4rlie]

Thats nice you're thinking of a community tank with embers, theyre a good choice for that tank size I think, though not sure if mollies are actually suitable as they do grow to about 12cm for females and 8cm for males so they do need a longer tank, at least 3 feet long
 
http/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/poecilia-sphenops/
 
And of course get the tank cycled first before adding these lovely tetras
 
Catfish for a 64 litre tank / 16 US gals will need to be researched first for suitability of course as well.
 
So having some water parameters first before researching may help you a lot to determine if these choices are good for your water, soft water fish will not do well in hard water and vice versa. So it may be useful for you to test your tank or tap water for pH level and perhaps going online to search for your local water authority to see what general hardness level is for you area, these WILL help in your choices to ensure these fish will be happier

 

[ShamefulCrayon]

Absolutely. I'm planning on planting up the tank and cycling the water at least three times before putting any fish in there. We have hard water here - not sure exactly of the parameters of the tap water but my current (small) tank is as follows:
Tested yesterday,
PH - 7
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 10ppm

The nitrates are usually a stable 5ppm, but I had a plant fail and die which I took out yesterday so I think that's why it's slightly elevated.

I would love to have a community where my betta, 6-8 ember tetras and some kind of bottom feeder as well as snails could live with plenty of plants to hide in. I hadn't read much about mollies yet but as they grow so large they wouldn't be suitable. I did originally think of a couple of Otocinclus to fit the bill of algae eaters, but they apparently love to eat aquarium grasses (which I want to be a permanent feature in the new tank). I was also thinking of zebra catfish but again not read up too much on those as yet either. It's early days with the 64L. It's not even out of the box yet! I have picked out the gravel and have a good idea of the decor I want. I also know I want some anubias and a low growing grass for some of the tank's bottom. Going shopping tomorrow! Very much looking forward to it.
Apparently our tap water is very hard. At 3.32mmol\l.

My betta seems very happy in it, even though I know they prefer soft water. Hmm, I'll have to read up more about water hardness I think. I feel I don't know enough and I imagine that's one of the first important things to get right.

 

[Chad]

Welcome! Nice to have you here. 

 

[ShamefulCrayon]

Thanks Tcamos

 

[Baccus]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on getting a bigger tank. Word of warning

 the idea of "one more tank" doesn't stop

. Before you know it you have a colony of expanding tanks and lots of

.
 
I know you have chosen a gravel for your tank but if you are getting catfish or even loaches please consider a sand substrate. I usually do a sand gravel mix which the catfish and loaches all thrive on. The gravel also helps the rooted plants spread their roots throughout the substrate reducing the risk of anaerobic bacteria setting up shop in your substrate.
Two species of small corydoras catfish spring to mind as being a good size for your tank and able to be kept in a suitable sized group, Coryoras Hastatus and Corydoras pygmaues. Another small species of catfish that you might be able to track down would be moth catfish Hara hara. If I could have moth catfish I would have them in a heartbeat.
Otocinclus might still be a good option for you or you could even look into Whiptail catfish, they are along fish but not bulky.
 
There are ways that hard water can be softened if you decide to go with soft water fish. Or you could go with the water you have available and select hard water fish.

 

[ShamefulCrayon]

I'm going to do my best and stick to the two tanks... For now! I've managed to swing it so that I have room for both my nano cube and the new 64l next to each other so I can get another crowntail betta for the cube. If need be, I can place a sheet between the two so Finn and the new betta can't see each other and get distressed.

Thanks very much for the advice Baccus. I've looked at all the corydoras types you mentioned and have decided to go for the C. Hastatus as they're adorable, small and can be kept with the Embers I want. Also, I've settled on a sand and smooth gravel mix for substrate. What ratio of sand:gravel would you recommend? That seems to be the one thing I can't find information on.

I'm thinking of getting the substrate in first, planting the tank and starting off a fishless cycle while the plants settle in. I read that adding bogwood will likely stain the water for the first few weeks but as the Hastatus like the tannins, once the tank's been cycled a minimum of twice I could add the bogwood and a small school of Hastatus (was thinking of 6 at first, perhaps in two halves over a fortnight to avoid new aquarium syndrome) then adding Finn (my betta) and finally the Embers once everyone else is settled in the new tank.

With regards to the water hardness - I've seen a few products at my local pet store which claim to soften the water, but I'm a little reticent to add lots of chemicals to the tank unless necessary. Is there a natural way to soften water hardness? Such as the bogwood its self or certain types of plants? I've tried to Google that question but having a direction to go in in the first place would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again

 

[Baccus]

I guess my tanks might be a sort of 60/40 mix 60 the sand and 40 the gravel. Mostly I originally only had the gravel to help hold the rooted plants in place, otherwise the constantly nosey and digging catfish kept dislodging them. But over time and with shifting around of plants the gravel as ended up more mixed throughout the sand. The main thing is the catfish have more sand than gravel to deal with and the catfish love diving into the sand up to their eyes looking for food.
 
These links might help you http/www.chelonia.org/Articles/waterchemistry.htm
https/users.cs.duke.edu/~narten/faq/chemistry.html

 

[ShamefulCrayon]

That's really helpful, thank you Baccus.

I went substrate shopping yesterday and picked up 4kg of soft sand and 2kg of 1-2mm gravel. Not sure if this will make a thick enough layer for planting yet, but I can always go back for another bag of each.

As for GH and kH, I have both an airstone and a CO2 diffuser, so I could happliy experiment with those and how many plants I have in the tank to create a softer water hopefully without messing up the PH too much. It's something I definitely want to get right before I introduce any fish in there.