New Tanks! Beginner To Plants

[rikkitiger]

Hi! I live in a small town in south dakota and we do not have a pet store, in fact all we have for fish supplies is a walmart but tomorrow i am going to petco in the nearest big town which is still a 3 hour drive and getting aquarium supplies as well as a new 55 gallon aquarium and a new 10 gallon aquarium and some kind of betta tank.

I already know how to cycle and test the water with a tank with no plants, as i have a 20 gallon tank in my room.

Here is what i would like to know:

1) what kind of plants should i get for a 10 gallon?
2) how should i transport the plants home in the car for 3 hours?
3) should i try to transport or should i just order online?
4) where should i order if online?
5) do i need a special lid or lamp to hold the lighting needed for plants?
6) what brands of lighting and/or kind do i need for plants?


I would like to get a betta also so these next questions are about that. I have kept bettas before but only the walmart ones which always die.

7) how big of a tank should i put my betta in?
8) is it worth it to get live plants in a small betta tank?
9) where should i order betta fish online?
10) would it benefit my betta to house it with other fish?


Thanks and please if you can answer any of these questions i would love to know, but for time saving if you wouldnt mind putting the number of the question before your answer that would be great!

I am not planning on stocking anytime soon, i am trying the ten gallon planted as a trial run for how plants might go in the 55 gallon which i wont be doing anything with for months.
I am just planning!
Thanks again

 

[Ninjouzata]

1. Small ones Things like pygmy chainsword, corkscrew vallisneria (I think these are small or there is a smaller version available?), vesuvius sword, cryptocoryne petchii, cryptocoryne lucens, dwarf sagittaria should be okay. Anubias nana or anubias nana petite might be good as well.
 
2. They will put them in a bag with water for you if they come out of a tank, if they're in a package then just leave them in the package.
 
3. Fish or plants? It's really up to you though, online you may find better prices and more variety.
 
4. For plants you may want to check bamaplants.com, for fish places like aquabid (can get plants here too) or the wet spot.
 
5. Not sure how to answer this one, sorry.
 
6. Hardy lowlight plants like the ones I listed (except for maybe vesuvius sword?) should be okay with the basic lighting you get with your tank.
Beyond that unfortunately I don't have any suggestions, hopefully someone with more plant experience can say.
 
7. Minimum 2.5g but 5g or larger would be much better.
 
8. Yes, they love resting under and on them. They also make a tank more natural looking. If you don't want live plants though then I'd go for silk plants as plastic can tear their fins.
To test decor and fake plants to see if it'll hurt them you can drag pantyhose across them. If it snags then it will tear the betta's fins.
 
9. Aquabid has lots of bettas but some coming from places like thailand have a transhipper fee or something so it could get expensive.
There are breeders you can usually find on facebook and such like rock solid bettas, water color bettas, etc.
 
10. No, bettas do not get lonely and housing them with other fish can lead to them or the other fish being stressed or you may have some feeding issues.
This doesn't always happen of course but I just think it's best to err on the side of caution.
 
If your betta is very relaxed he or she may accept tankmates and for those my suggestion would be bottom dwellers like corydoras. If you do this you'll want at least a 10g tank and in that the only ones I'd recommend are pygmy, hastatus, or habrosus. These require groups of 6+.

 

[yinyangpete]

I am just planning!

Planning is so important. It seems like you know that already. It's awesome that you are asking questions so that you can do things the right way.
 
Wait until you have answers to your questions before you buy anything. Perhaps you could wait a few weeks to make that long trip so you know for sure what you need and want. As you said, you already know what it's like to have an aquarium. There's so much to know.
 
If I remember another topic, you are taking a cleanse from boys....
You will never regret taking a moment to step back, take a deep breath, and not rush into anything....
That goes for boys and fish tanks.

 

[rikkitiger]

I am just planning!

Planning is so important. It seems like you know that already. It's awesome that you are asking questions so that you can do things the right way.
 
Wait until you have answers to your questions before you buy anything. Perhaps you could wait a few weeks to make that long trip so you know for sure what you need and want. As you said, you already know what it's like to have an aquarium. There's so much to know.
 
If I remember another topic, you are taking a cleanse from boys....
You will never regret taking a moment to step back, take a deep breath, and not rush into anything....
That goes for boys and fish tanks.

Thanks so much! I purchased an aqua farm for bettas but not a betta yet and i got some substrate suitable for live plants and the boy cleanse was a lot of fun because when i was done i decided that i really dont need to constantly talk to my long distance boyfriend to feel connected, even just texting once a day is nice because then we have more to talk about. I also purchased a peace plant from petco that says its a betta plant and to keep the roots fully submerged but the leaves above air so that will be a bit wierd but the whole thing is a nice adventure and let me tell you, i LOVE the set up of the aqua farm and i dropped 105$ at petco alone on fish things but i love it.