New Betta, New Tank, Many Questions

[Bellpepper]

Hi guys! I adopted a a male betta fish a few days ago from a local pet store. I took him out of his dirty little cup, and I put him in a 1/2 gallon temporary bowl until I get could him a bigger tank. I finally got his new big tank up and ready to go today, and I plan to put him in it tomorrow. This is his new tank, which is a 21 gallon bowfront:

First, my question is, I have a biowheel filter and an airwand installed on the tank. My plan is to only use both of those things, set on low, for about an hour or two a day, so that the water can circulate and filter a little bit. Then I will turn it right back off. Is this okay?

Secondly, I plan to get one or two small cory cats to go into his tank, how long should I wait before getting the cory cats? I am going to wait about a month, let some algae grow, plan to get a small pleco as well.

Lastly, I have a full spectrum natural daylight bulb installed in the hood. Do betta's like a steady light cycle during the day? Like 12 on/12 off? How particular are they in that area?

I plan, in the near future, to stock the tank with some lives plants, such as java moss and amazon swords. Is this a good idea? I thought, if anything, he'd like the natural plants as a good hiding spot.

 

[electric yellow]

Beautiful fish in your signature picture

Great tank He will love it!

First, my question is, I have a biowheel filter and an airwand installed on the tank. My plan is to only use both of those things, set on low, for about an hour or two a day, so that the water can circulate and filter a little bit. Then I will turn it right back off. Is this okay?

Why would you only use these things for an hour or so a day? My filter and air stone runs 24/7 in my bettas tanks.

Secondly, I plan to get one or two small cory cats to go into his tank, how long should I wait before getting the cory cats? I am going to wait about a month, let some algae grow, plan to get a small pleco as well.
Is your tank cycled??? If you only got it a day or so ago then it is not cycled unless the filter and tank have been used before?! I wouldnt personally add any fish untill it had fishless cycled. You could have ammonia spikes or worse...

Lastly, I have a full spectrum natural daylight bulb installed in the hood. Do betta's like a steady light cycle during the day? Like 12 on/12 off? How particular are they in that area?

Lighting is important for all fish so it shouldnt bother him at all having it on, i would go for 8hrs though...not 12.

I plan, in the near future, to stock the tank with some lives plants, such as java moss and amazon swords. Is this a good idea? I thought, if anything, he'd like the natural plants as a good hiding spot


Real plants are great and he should love them. But make sure you get all the nutrients plants need. Some need food. I went for silk plants after failing over and over again with real plants

Have you got the lil fella a heater?

 

[Bellpepper]

Thanks for the reply electric!

The tank had been used before, and the bio-wheel was in use for probably 6 months, with fish. So it should have quite a bit of beneficial bacteria on it.

Thanks for the tip about the live plants, I think I am going to research it and see which are the easiest to keep alive, LOL.

I only mentioned keeping his filter and airwand on for an hour or two, because it's what I was told at the store. They said any more, and it'd stress him out because they like still, motionless water. Is this incorrect? If I can keep his filter/airflow on 24/7, that'd be fine by me.

I haven't gotten him a heater yet (I'm in Louisiana, we rarely get cold, so it wasn't at the top of my list the other day) but I plan to get him one this week, just to keep the tank at a steady temperature.

Beautiful fish in your signature picture

Great tank He will love it!

First, my question is, I have a biowheel filter and an airwand installed on the tank. My plan is to only use both of those things, set on low, for about an hour or two a day, so that the water can circulate and filter a little bit. Then I will turn it right back off. Is this okay?

Why would you only use these things for an hour or so a day? My filter and air stone runs 24/7 in my bettas tanks.

Secondly, I plan to get one or two small cory cats to go into his tank, how long should I wait before getting the cory cats? I am going to wait about a month, let some algae grow, plan to get a small pleco as well.
Is your tank cycled??? If you only got it a day or so ago then it is not cycled unless the filter and tank have been used before?! I wouldnt personally add any fish untill it had fishless cycled. You could have ammonia spikes or worse...

Lastly, I have a full spectrum natural daylight bulb installed in the hood. Do betta's like a steady light cycle during the day? Like 12 on/12 off? How particular are they in that area?

Lighting is important for all fish so it shouldnt bother him at all having it on, i would go for 8hrs though...not 12.

I plan, in the near future, to stock the tank with some lives plants, such as java moss and amazon swords. Is this a good idea? I thought, if anything, he'd like the natural plants as a good hiding spot


Real plants are great and he should love them. But make sure you get all the nutrients plants need. Some need food. I went for silk plants after failing over and over again with real plants

Have you got the lil fella a heater?

 

[electric yellow]

You can direct the water flow to lower the current and get a clamp or cable tie to tie the air stone pipe off to lower the air flow to your wand or just have to flow down low. You mat find he lvoes the bubbles. Mine do.

 

[Joller]

someone correct me if im wrong (please) but i think the only reason you would want still water is so that they can build bubble nests?
I also heard that a current can tear their long fins(male fighters)?

my female betta doesnt mind the current or airflow, loves it

 

[liz2]

That is one really good set up, dont tell my fish or they will be swimming your way!

 

[electric yellow]

someone correct me if im wrong (please) but i think the only reason you would want still water is so that they can build bubble nests?
I also heard that a current can tear their long fins(male fighters)?

my female betta doesnt mind the current or airflow, loves it

My boys still build bubble nests with an air stone running. I have pointed the outflow pipes to the back of the tank to slow the current down. My VTs dont seem to mind it too much.

 

[Honeythorn]

Do NOT turn off your filter. The store told you wrongly. If you only have it on for an hour or so a day, the rest of the time the bacteria will have no water flow over them, and no fish waste coming in to feed them. They will start to die off and this will cause an ammonia spike which can cause a nasty array of diseases . The only time your filter should be off is for maintenence when you rinse a little of the media in tankwater.

Bettas do not come from still waters, but the flow is very slow. As mentioned previously, you can do various things to slow or adjust the flow from your filter. Plakats do better with current due to their shorter fins as they can swim better, a veiltail or other very fancy variety will prefer a much slower or deflected current.

You need more than a couple of cories. They are social little fish and love to be in groups. The more the merrier. In a 21 gallon you can easily have a group of 6 normal sized cories. If you go with Pygmy cories, then you could have around 10-15 or so as they are very small active little fish, and will spend some time swimming in the mid level of the tank.

If you do get cories, then I would sugggest you change that gravel to small size gravel or better yet, sand. Large or rough gravel can wear down or damage the little barbels round their mouths.

Live plants are best . Those plastic ones are a really bad idea as they often have sharp bits which can tear a bettas fins as they squeeze past ( and they love to do that for some reason ) You will also need a lot more plants than what you have now. Plenty of tall soft plants, Cabomba, Elodia, Hygrophillia, the Amazon swords you mentioned are great, Moss balls and Java moss is also good, . That would look really nice tied to the bogwood you have there.

 

[bronzecat]

Hi

Where Betta splendens come from is of little consequence where water flow is concerned, that is unless you are keeping short-finned varieties.

The Betta splendens that we see and buy in the shops, VT's, HM's, CT's etc, dont inhabit the Paddy fields, canals and slow moving streams of Asia. Its the short-finned Plakats, and other wild types that come from that habitat who do not have long fins. The long fins are basically man-made from selective breeding, so when advising about water flow in the tank its to do with the extra finnage, which are more easily affected by current.

So, water flow in the aquarium cannot be compared to the natural environment, when keeping long-finned Betta splendens.

 

[Bellpepper]

Thanks for all the great advice guys, this is really helpful! I turned his filter and airwand back on, and I will leave it on 24/7, I'll just adjust the flow as you guys suggested.

Also, I'll definitely add a larger group of cory's once I get them and introduce them to the tank.

The photo of the tank was as I was still in the process of setting it up. Below is a photo as of last night, with Bellpepper in it. More plants, and a ceramic pot have been added, as a hiding spot.

I will do live plants, and actually now plan to just do a fully planted tank, but it'll be a couple weeks. I want to research what plants I want, what food they need, ect.

Here's the pics of Bellpepper's tank now, since I finished decorating it.

 

[Bellpepper]

A couple more pics of the tank from last night...

 

[emeleeliggett]

I love the tank! Is that a real piece of driftwood because it's a really pretty shape?

I would suggest live plants, I always had trouble with them until my newest tank where all I did was add a little CO2 from a do-it-yourself site and my plants have more than flourished. If I can do it anyone can! Good luck!

 

[Honeythorn]

Hi

Where Betta splendens come from is of little consequence where water flow is concerned, that is unless you are keeping short-finned varieties.

The Betta splendens that we see and buy in the shops, VT's, HM's, CT's etc, dont inhabit the Paddy fields, canals and slow moving streams of Asia. Its the short-finned Plakats, and other wild types that come from that habitat who do not have long fins. The long fins are basically man-made from selective breeding, so when advising about water flow in the tank its to do with the extra finnage, which are more easily affected by current.

So, water flow in the aquarium cannot be compared to the natural environment, when keeping long-finned Betta splendens.

I DID mention finnage actually.

As mentioned previously, you can do various things to slow or adjust the flow from your filter. Plakats do better with current due to their shorter fins as they can swim better, a veiltail or other very fancy variety will prefer a much slower or deflected current.

 

[ct_hulhu]

Your tank looks great and your fishy looks like he's having a ball

I would just keep an eye on his fins until you take the plastic plants out.

Louisiana eh? I'm your not-too-far-away neighbor then! East Texas

 

[Bellpepper]

Emelee, that is real driftwood, and I *love* the look of it! I always think driftwood in a tank is gorgeous.

ct -- howdy neighbor!

So far I've only ran into one minor problem -- the airwand, when turned on, freaks him out. He darts inbetween the plants, or in the ceremic pot, and hides. Once I turn the airwand off, but leave the filter on (which has a very mild, quiet flow to it) he is happy and back to blissfully exploring the tank. So I do believe I will keep the airwand off, and just keep the filter on 24/7 for filtration, and airation.

Sound alright?