Hello!

[betta_luvr]

Well ... I'm brand new to the forum, just joined today, I'm getting my first tropical tank tomorrow (15L/3.97 gallon) - I'm so excited! can't wait. I'm going to get a good handful of gravel tomorrow from the LFS tank to help as a bacterial starter, and get my water tested too, soon. I'm thinking of getting a male Betta and I've been reading up for the past 5 days - I've got fish on the brain!

Look forward to making lots of friends here, eventhough I'm a bit shy.

 

[snoopyfrench87]

Well ... I'm brand new to the forum, just joined today, I'm getting my first tropical tank tomorrow (15L/3.97 gallon) - I'm so excited! can't wait. I'm going to get a good handful of gravel tomorrow from the LFS tank to help as a bacterial starter, and get my water tested too, soon. I'm thinking of getting a male Betta and I've been reading up for the past 5 days - I've got fish on the brain!

Look forward to making lots of friends here, eventhough I'm a bit shy.

welcome betta_luvr !

glad you are doing your reading. make sure you leave your tank to cycle before you jump in with the livestock or you could be dissapointed.

are u planning on keeping betta's only?

good luck and have fun!!

laura

 

[Colin_T]

Howdee

 

[betta_luvr]

welcome betta_luvr !

glad you are doing your reading. make sure you leave your tank to cycle before you jump in with the livestock or you could be dissapointed.

are u planning on keeping betta's only?

good luck and have fun!!

laura

Well, as my tank is rather small, a single betta or a small shoal of neon tetra was all I could really get - but apparently neon tetra aren't great first fish. I thought I'd go with a male betta as there weren't many other creative options, and they're a good hardy starter fish or so I've heard.

Not planning on adding my betta for a few weeks yet.
We have quite good pH and stuff in my area, so we'll see how it goes.
Bacterial starter should help though.

I'm planning on getting a bigger aquarium in time, but for now I'm sticking to the betta. I'd like to get some Clown loaches or perhaps angel fish in time (in a seperate tank) or pick some good tank mates for the betta and transfer him - maybe use my smaller tank as a fry tank.

Howdee

Hello there.

 

[littlest]

a betta is a good choice for that tank. A tank that size doesn't give you many options you're right, even neon would be better off in a larger tank because they like their swimming space and are a bit sensitive.

Have you read up on fishless cycling? If not check here it will tell you exactly what to do.

There's a betta section of this forum by the way, with lots of helpful betta people hanging around... probably worth checking out.

 

[betta_luvr]

I've read up on fishless cycling - I don't really want to use pure ammonia as there's always children in the house, and I'm just wary of things like that being in my bedroom. I heard ghost feeding is a good option to start the ammonia off.
Is this true?

 

[littlest]

you can use fish food to cycle a tank yes. It makes it harder to control the amount of ammonia so will probably be a bit of trial and error with the amount.

ammonia comes with a child-proof lid (you know where you have to push the sides in as you unscrew) - at least the bottle I have does. and you could keep it out of reach. It's pretty much like other cleaning products such as bleach. The warning on the label has an orange cross and says Irritant - irritant to eyes and skin (in case you're interested).

also "pure ammonia" is a bit inaccuarate. pure ammonia is actually a gas I believe. when people here refer to pure ammonia they just mean ammonia and water solution without detergents or perfumes. Just letting you know because if you ask for pure ammonia in a shop they will say they won't have it.

 

[waterdrop]

yes, as littlest says, the "pure ammonia" we talk about is actually just a percentage in water itself. In the tank for the fishless process it should only go as high as 5 to 6 parts per million(!) which is a tiny amount and can hardly be smelled. The supply bottle can be stored in a safe place as said.

For beginners or anyone, the fishless cycling process is so much easier to measure and understand if you use controlled ammonia. With fish food or other things the measurements jump around more and the time delays in what to look for are more confusing. This process can take up to six weeks, so you will living with it a lot and the easier it is, the better. Sometimes is goes much more quickly than that though, there's a lot of chance in what bacteria is present in the water to begin with.

What sort of filter will you be growing the bacteria in?

 

[betta_luvr]

What sort of filter will you be growing the bacteria in?

Well, I'm getting a small starter kit - on the website it just says "filtration system"

 

[betta_luvr]

What sort of filter will you be growing the bacteria in?

Well, I'm getting a small starter kit - on the website it just says "filtration system"

Can anyone recommend a good brand of heater? (25W)

 

[waterdrop]

What sort of filter will you be growing the bacteria in?

Well, I'm getting a small starter kit - on the website it just says "filtration system"

Members will be along to recommend heaters probably. Filters are a much more extensive topic than heaters and there is a lot of great reading to be had on it all over this site. Given your interest in not only your current tank but a future bigger one, I'd say get started - the more you know the better!

 

[snoopyfrench87]

http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/237068/Heaters-/

check out that page for info on heaters for a betta tank! xx