Setting Up A Betta Tank- List Of Supplies Needed

[nikkifro8994]

I'm helping my friend set up a betta tank next weekend. I'm giving her my extra 5 gallon tank. It has:
an HOB filter (with a sponge over the intake so the betta doesn't get injured)
a 50 watt heater
fake plants
a cave
betta food

We need to buy:
gravel
water conditioner (I use prime)
a thermometer

I'll put the filter on one of my established 10 gallons for a week so that she doesn't have to deal with cycling. She has her eye on a gorgeous crowntail. He's blue with black on the tips of the "crown".

Can you think of anything else we will need? We are both poor college kids on tight budgets so if it isn't necessary for the first month or so, we will get it later.

 

[KuronoEnyo]

I unno I'd put some java moss in there for the little guy you can convert it to a floating plant, or just some place for him to chill on its very cheap like 5 bucks and it grows like crazy with little to no care. I mean I got a clump in a 2g snail tank that just gets natural sunlight.

Oh its also fantastic for keeping the water in decent condition

 

[nikkifro8994]

I'll ask her about live plants. I don't know if she's ever kept them before.

 

[KuronoEnyo]

I'll ask her about live plants. I don't know if she's ever kept them before.

Oh this kinda tacky and I hate mine but they sell these things called "Betta Logs" I hate it for because its fake but my betta uses it all the time, it allows him to float near the top of the water there's a little hole on the top he can put his face into to breathe air and you can even put his food into the hole, but I notice during lights out on my aquarium I always find mine inside of it almost as if he's sleeping.

 

[nikkifro8994]

The fake plants I'm giving her are plastic. They aren't sharp, but will they pose a threat to the betas fins? Sadly, the many pet stores and specialty fish stores here don't sell silk plants. Only plastic and real. My friend doesn't want real plants.

 

[fluttermoth]

You won't cycle a filter by running it your tank for a week, I'm afraid. It would take at least six to eight weeks. Give her a bit of your media (enough that will support a betta; you can work out how much, roughly, that would be according to the stocking in your tank) instead

 

[nikkifro8994]

I have a 10 gallon livebearer tank that has an HoB filter and a sponge filter. Can I give her the sponge filter that has been running for almost a year? That will leave the HoB filter still in that tank. That should work, right? The sponge would be better for the betta than the strong HoB I was going to give her. The sponge filter has gravel to weigh it down, carbon, and a sponge on top. It is powered by an airstone.

 

[the_lock_man]

That should be ok, but it's difficult to say for certain.

You can give away up to a third of the bacteria you have, assuming there is capacity for the bacteria to recolonise. Your difficulty comes in knowing exactly where your bacteria are colonised.

I once tried to instant-cycle a new filter for a 34l tank with media from my 65l. The 34l was only going to be housing a Siamese Fighter, so I took about a third of the media from my 65l. I had ammonia problems, but never saw a trace of nitrite - I had obviously not moved enough A-bacs to cope, but sufficient N-bacs. A few days of water changes sorted me, no problems.

 

[nikkifro8994]

The sponge filter was in a 5 gallon fry tank and I never had any issues with the tank trying to cycle again. I do need to test her water before we set up the tank. She may have the same problem as me. I have 2 ppm ammonia in my tap. It's a pain when I do water changes.

 

[the_lock_man]

I have 2 ppm ammonia in my tap.

Jeepers! WOuldn't be legal in the UK.

 

[nikkifro8994]

Florida cleans the water with chlorine and ammonia. I'd switch to an RO setup, but they are expensive and I'm on a very tight budget. I use prime conditioner because it binds the ammonia and makes it less lethal. I also have great filters that cycle the ammonia through pretty quickly.

 

[the_lock_man]

Prime only works for 24-48 hours though, but still in that time the filter will still be munching it into nitrite.

To go back to your original question, it all depends on how many bacteria are living in the sponge filter - a case of try it and see, but be prepared to do a fish-in cycle, which will be a huge pain if you have 2ppm ammonia in your tapwater.

 

[nikkifro8994]

I'll test my friends tap water before we set up the tank. Hopefully she doesn't have high ammonia like me. My water comes from the county plant and hers comes from the city plant.