My First Ever Betta Tank :)

[Froydis]

Hello there!
 
I'm not new to fish keeping but certainly new to betta-keeping

So I'd really appreciate if you have any suggestions / advice while I set up my first tank for a betta. I have taken care of zebrafish during my postgrad studies (I used to work in a research lab using zebrafish) and I also currently have a 60l tank with cardinal tetras. However, I recently decided that it would be great to get a bigger fish with more personality that's pretty to look at and decided bettas would fit the bill well

 
Anyway, I got the following 25l tank (BTW, in case you're wondering, I haven't affixed my heater yet, it's just dangling there in an awkward position!):

 
and I'm currently waiting to get a polystyrene mat to put under it before I fill it up. Which is good since I'm still getting the filter ready. I removed a big chunk of filter sponge from my 60l tank and placed it into the 25l tank filter, which is now on in my 60l tank. Hopefully it's okay to have two filters working in one tank - the cardinals (who seem to be playing hide and seek in the photo below!) don't seem to mind

The 60l tank:

 
So for now it's a bit of a wait - hopefully once I get the mat sorted out I can set up and see how the 25l tank filter is doing
 
One final thing - if anyone has ever had this 25l tank, could you let me know what you think of the filter? I'm happy with the pump but felt a bit concerned at the tiny size of the filter sponge... I know it's only going to be a betta in my tank which is unlikely to have a high bio load but feel a bit funny about how tiny it is!

 

[fluttermoth]

I don't think your tank needs polystyrene under it; it looks like its got a floating base.
 
If the plastic trim goes underneath the base and holds the glass up, it doesn't need it.

 

[Froydis]

I don't think your tank needs polystyrene under it; it looks like its got a floating base.
 
If the plastic trim goes underneath the base and holds the glass up, it doesn't need it.

You know, I really was wondering about that! When I got the tank out, I thought, great, a floating base! But then when I read the instructions that came with it says to add a matt... (!?) As you say, the plastic is what is holding the glass up and the glass doesn't come into contact with the surface! Maybe I should just ignore the instructions, perhaps it was referring to an older model.

 

[fluttermoth]

Oh, that's confusing! I'm not sure what to suggest now
 
Roughly how big is the sponge?

 

[Froydis]

Oh, that's confusing! I'm not sure what to suggest now

 
Roughly how big is the sponge?

Haha, it is quite!

The sponge is small, roughly 2cm x 10cm x 1cm
 
BTW, thank you for your input

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Looks a good little tank! What other filter media is in there?
 
Since it is a floating base, I wouldn't worry about the mat, unless you experience problems.
 
It should be fine having two filters on your 60L tank
 
Even though you're running your filter on your other tank, you will still need to cycle it. The cycle will probably be rather quick, but you still want to be sure you won't have any spikes.
 
Looking forward to seeing how your tank turns out and what your betta looks like

 

[Froydis]

Looks a good little tank! What other filter media is in there?
 
Since it is a floating base, I wouldn't worry about the mat, unless you experience problems.
 
It should be fine having two filters on your 60L tank

 
Even though you're running your filter on your other tank, you will still need to cycle it. The cycle will probably be rather quick, but you still want to be sure you won't have any spikes.
 
Looking forward to seeing how your tank turns out and what your betta looks like

 
As far as I can tell, there's just that filter sponge and nothing else! 

 Do you think it's sufficient?
 
Yeah, that sounds sensible about doing a cycle - I have my bottle of ammonia at the ready so will probably start that soon, hopefully this weekend

 

[fluttermoth]

That is a small sponge but it would be fine, if you're just having the one betta in the tank

 

[Froydis]

Thanks again for all your feedback
 
I just found this post: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/257505-aquarium-base-mat/ and also thinking about it, it makes sense that I don't need a polystyrene mat, given there is no glass in contact with the surface, only with the plastic rim.
 
So I've gone ahead and filled it up this evening with some dechlorinated water, just heating it up right now and will move the small filter from my 60l tank once it's at the right temperature. Will add about 3ppm ammonia after that and start the cycle! Exciting!!

 

[fluttermoth]

Very exciting
 
You won't need to cycle with 3ppm, if you're just having the betta; 1ppm would be plenty.

 

[Froydis]

Ah, even better then! Thanks again for all your input, I really appreciate it!

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Should be fine, if you have room for a few ceramic rings, then I would add those too.
 
Agree with only adding 1ppm.

 

[Froydis]

I'm glad I decided to do a cycle because it's definitely not ready for fish yet! My progress so far (nitrite and nitrate readings are only dots at the moment because I didn't have time to do any readings until this evening). Also, please note that the nitrates in my tap water is 30ppm:
 

 

[Froydis]

Alas, no change today...
 

 

[Froydis]

Today I visited a fish shop close to me to see what kind of bettas they have on sale. I saw some really nice ones, and the one that caught my eye in particular was a smokey black halfmoon betta with a beautiful white band in its tail.

  There was also a cornflower blue one which was so pretty. 

 Oh and a stunning white one which had very ruffled pectoral fins. I think it might have been called a dumbo betta.
 
Hopefully there will be equally amazing ones when I will be able to buy one for my tank!