Got Tank

[danb_1985]

got my tank yesterday. wont be setting it up straight away but the stocking i want for it is
- a male betta
- 4 pygmy cories
- 4/5 cherry shrimp
- 2 ADF's (not sure yet due to problems with shrimp)
- 3 Assassin snails
- (maybe 1 apple snail?)

is this ok?
if the ADF's aren't ok is there anything interesting i can add to the tank? (crab etc.)

going to go for a sand substrate and a few live plants and a moss ball. can anyone suggest 2or3 types of live plants perfect for this set-up?

i will also have a half of a plant pot as a shrimp/cory/ADF hide-out and maybe a small piece of bog wood.

i was thinking of maybe adding pygmys, cherries and assassins to the tank first whilst looking for the perfect centre piece for the tank(the betta). then one everything ok the frogs and maybe the apple snail if possible.

i've posted this in the betta foum as the idea was primarily for a betta tank and will still consider it a betta tank as if anything went wrong with stocking the betta will always stay!!! also the other tank mates seem to be quite commonly kept with bettas so i assume most people here will have some experience with them.

please comment and answer my questions. thanks

 

[llamalord305]

Be sure to include tons of hiding places.

Some Bettas can live in a community tank, while others attack ANYTHING in their tank. So its dependant or your betta.

 

[Curiosity101]

Your stocking looks good (presuming when the betta is eventually added that it's tolerant) and there is room for an apple snail in there. Just checking, but are you aware you'd have to supplement the Assasin snails diet if there aren't any pest snails to munch on?

As for plants,
1 x Amazon Sword
5 x Stems of Cabomba
1 x Moss Ball
Java Moss or Java Fern attached to a piece of wood or rock.

The above are all easy enough to look after and should give you a good start. You might find you wanted to add a few more short foreground plants...but there we go. It's just an idea.

 

[danb_1985]

Be sure to include tons of hiding places.

Some Bettas can live in a community tank, while others attack ANYTHING in their tank. So its dependant or your betta.

thats why i wanted to add it nearly last so he would be the new addition instead of him being settled and others coming into his tank

 

[danb_1985]

Your stocking looks good (presuming when the betta is eventually added that it's tolerant) and there is room for an apple snail in there. Just checking, but are you aware you'd have to supplement the Assasin snails diet if there aren't any pest snails to munch on?

As for plants,
1 x Amazon Sword
5 x Stems of Cabomba
1 x Moss Ball
Java Moss or Java Fern attached to a piece of wood or rock.

The above are all easy enough to look after and should give you a good start. You might find you wanted to add a few more short foreground plants...but there we go. It's just an idea.

what would you substitute the assassin snails diet as i assumed they also eat pellets i would feed the corries? also the reason i didnt think i could add an apple snail was because of the assassin snails? will i need to add plant food or is lighting enough?

i would like some foreground plants too so i will look into that. thanks for the info

 

[Curiosity101]

Catfish pellets and such are fine. I was just making sure you were actually going to feed them...and not just presume they would find food.

For your tank I don't think you'd need ferts, but...
I would use some clay cat litter under the sand. I know it might sound a bit odd, but I've seen it several times on the forum over the past month.
PetsAtHome do a super clumping clay cat litter...not sure of it's exact name. But anyways, it'd be really beneficial to the amazon sword.
If not you might want to invest in some root tabs.

Both are relatively cheap, and if you went down the tab root then you'd only need 1 every couple of month to keep the sword healthy.

What colour background are you thinking of going for?

 

[danb_1985]

Catfish pellets and such are fine. I was just making sure you were actually going to feed them...and not just presume they would find food.

For your tank I don't think you'd need ferts, but...
I would use some clay cat litter under the sand. I know it might sound a bit odd, but I've seen it several times on the forum over the past month.
PetsAtHome do a super clumping clay cat litter...not sure of it's exact name. But anyways, it'd be really beneficial to the amazon sword.
If not you might want to invest in some root tabs.

Both are relatively cheap, and if you went down the tab root then you'd only need 1 every couple of month to keep the sword healthy.

What colour background are you thinking of going for?

was just going to leave a blank and try and cover the back with plants as much as possible?

is there any other creature i can add to the tank eith with or instead of ADF's that maybe interesting such as crabs?...i used to keep SW and im used to having a number of different creatures in the tank thats all

 

[Honeythorn]

You will need far more than 2-3 plants. Bettas come from a heavily vegetated area and like to hide. Even if you only plant one side of the tank, plant it heavily with plenty of tall plants for him to rest on and hide in.

 

[Truck]

the clay cat litter base substrate will only be beneficial to the plants if fertilisers are dosed.
the clay has a high CEC content meaning it can take on lots of nutrients and release them over a period of time...iron is the key with ferns and swords IME

 

[danb_1985]

You will need far more than 2-3 plants. Bettas come from a heavily vegetated area and like to hide. Even if you only plant one side of the tank, plant it heavily with plenty of tall plants for him to rest on and hide in.

sorry i meant i was lookin for 2-3 types of plant but was gonna buy multiple of that plant species. thanks 4 feedback tho

the clay cat litter base substrate will only be beneficial to the plants if fertilisers are dosed.
the clay has a high CEC content meaning it can take on lots of nutrients and release them over a period of time...iron is the key with ferns and swords IME

so i do neec to supplement them with plant food? can you use iron with inverts?

 

[Truck]

yes, buy an all in one fertiliser such as TPN+ from fluid sensor online


it is harmless to shrimp

 

[danb_1985]

yes, buy an all in one fertiliser such as TPN+ from fluid sensor online


it is harmless to shrimp

i wanna keep shrimp so what else can i do?

 

[Truck]

its fine to use with shrimp

 

[danb_1985]

its fine to use with shrimp

sorry read your last post wrong ignore the last comment

 

[danb_1985]

are there any more comments on the tank set up itself?