So I Finally Got My 10 Gallon Setup.

[Dieses Madchen]

So I finally got my betta in his ten gallon home. He is doing really well and adjusting nicely. I will have pics up soon.

 

[Flame Heart]

Nice! I hope he will be happy and beautiful in his new home. I envy people who have more then 2 10 gallon-over-over tanks. (if you do) =P

 

[lilfishie]

Can't wait to see him in his new home

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Nice! I hope he will be happy and beautiful in his new home. I envy people who have more then 2 10 gallon-over-over tanks. (if you do) =P

I am thinking of getting a 20 gallon and having a female betta tanks. All the females that I have seen in the petstore turned me off of the females, but I have seen some beautiful females on this forum and now I want some If I do that, I will have a 10g, a 20g, a 40g, and 3 1g tanks.....oh got maintanance on sundays is going to be fun lol


The next question is...He looks lonely with all that room. What else can go in a ten gallon that a betta will get along with? I want him to have a few friends

 

[lilfishie]

Pygmy Cories or any of the 3 Dwarfs would work well with him

 

[Dieses Madchen]

So here are the pics. Unfortunately, and I didn't even bother to post it cause its becoming a part of my life. Shimmer, the betta I was going to put in this tank, died yesterday, from the same illness as my other two bettas. I don't understand why they keep getting sick. I take care of them no different than I do my betta, Blue, who is alive and very well. The only thing the three had in common was that they were bought at Chain pet stores. The guy in the tank, whom needs a name and I cannot come up with one (open to suggestions) I bought yesterday at a little hole in the wall fish store, in fact, the same one that I bought Blue from.

 

[lilfishie]

So sorry to hear about Shimmer, sounds like your having about the same look as me recently

The new guy is beautiful

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Your tank looks lovely...however one tiny comment; I think there is too much gravel in there. Go for an inch maximum (it'll be easier to clean and healthier for the tank).

Sorry to hear about Shimmer

I have a male in a 14 gallon tank and for company I have snails, however pygmy cories would be ok in 10 gallon. I was going to add some to my other males (now females) 10 gallon tank but when I looked at them in the LFS I wasn't impressed with them quality wise.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Your tank looks lovely...however one tiny comment; I think there is too much gravel in there. Go for an inch maximum (it'll be easier to clean and healthier for the tank).

Sorry to hear about Shimmer

I have a male in a 14 gallon tank and for company I have snails, however pygmy cories would be ok in 10 gallon. I was going to add some to my other males (now females) 10 gallon tank but when I looked at them in the LFS I wasn't impressed with them quality wise.

It's actually substrate as I will be replacing the fake plants with real ones. There is a couple of real ones in there and I am slowly replacing all of them. I followed the advice of my LFS to make sure the the plants are well grounded and stay healthy.

So sorry to hear about Shimmer, sounds like your having about the same look as me recently

The new guy is beautiful

Yeah, I was really skeptical about picking this little guy up. I am so paranoid that he is going to die within the month. I just don't understand because my other betta I have had for 6 months and he is healthy and well. I don't do anything different with him that i didnt do with the others. It's so confusing.

 

[Jinty McGinty]

Way too much gravel and I'd swap it for sand.

Other than that looks good, but will look better once you've gotten rid of the plastic.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Way too much gravel and I'd swap it for sand.

Other than that looks good, but will look better once you've gotten rid of the plastic.

I tried sand and I couldn't get it clean enough. It would cause the water to foam when the filter was running And I can't wait to get rid of the plastic, unfortunatly I am kinda on a budget so I am replacing them on at a time. He seems pretty comfortable in there to, and I will look into removing some of the gravel. I'm not worried at the point about the gravel getting overly dirty because there is only one fish and I am not planning on adding more yet, not for at least a month. I want to make sure the betta stays healthy, and I don't want to stress him out. I will definatly be monitoring the water and doing 10-30% water changes and gravel cleaning as needed, or weekly, whichever happens first.

 

[Whisper]

Sand is not the best substrate for tropical fish. It's great for salt water fish though. You do have too much gravel and it looks like your heater is on the left end and the filter return is on the right end. The heater is too far from the highest water current area of the tank and you will get uneven heating if I'm seeing this correctly. Try to move the heater to center or toward the side with the filter return tube. This will distribute the heat more evenly.

Other than that....Beautiful tank but even prettier Betta. He is absolutely adorable.

 

[Jinty McGinty]

Sand is not the best substrate for tropical fish. It's great for salt water fish though. You do have too much gravel and it looks like your heater is on the left end and the filter return is on the right end. The heater is too far from the highest water current area of the tank and you will get uneven heating if I'm seeing this correctly. Try to move the heater to center or toward the side with the filter return tube. This will distribute the heat more evenly.

Other than that....Beautiful tank but even prettier Betta. He is absolutely adorable.

Sand actually is a great substrate for tropical fish, you find the majority of tanks on this forum use it......where do you find your information from???

 

[Whisper]

Sand is not the best substrate for tropical fish. It's great for salt water fish though. You do have too much gravel and it looks like your heater is on the left end and the filter return is on the right end. The heater is too far from the highest water current area of the tank and you will get uneven heating if I'm seeing this correctly. Try to move the heater to center or toward the side with the filter return tube. This will distribute the heat more evenly.

Other than that....Beautiful tank but even prettier Betta. He is absolutely adorable.

Sand actually is a great substrate for tropical fish, you find the majority of tanks on this forum use it......where do you find your information from???

I get my information from every place I can find it and from my own research and experience. Some of it has to do with logic and being an Engineer. This answer has a little to do with engineering.

When you look at a tank bottom with sand and compare that to a tank bottom with gravel, you will see that the sand bottom is a much smoother surface. The more coarse surface of the tank with gravel actually works to increase the surface area of the substrate allowing more area for the beneficial bacteria to grow on. As I'm sure you know, beneficial bacteria is essential to fighting ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate in the tank. Granted, benificial bacteria will grow on every surface in the tank including plants, rocks, and the inside glass walls of the tank. But we do tend to clean the inside glass and decorations periodically so we really have to depend on the substrate at the bottom to be our main supply of beneficial bacteria. It is also easier to over stock a tank with a sand substrate because the reality of how much fish you can put into a tank is directly related to the amount of beneficial bacteria the tank can support.

I did not say that sand was a bad substrate for tropical fish. But it is not the best. Do not lean too heavily to the other side either, for example a substrate of marbles with the diameter of a dime is too large and hazzardous as it traps polution as fairly large pieces of uneaten foods and poopoos can get through the rather large openings between the marbles and work it'ss way down below the area we can clean with marbles. If this isn't cleaned out regularly you'll breed germs and germs kill fish.

The other thing about sand is you must be REAL careful where you get it and make sure you clean it thoroughly. Some sand suppliers don't do a good job of this and the sand can contain harmful chemicals or germs that can hurt the fish.

For looks, I think sand and gravel and the tiny rocks look great. I don't use them because I like a totally bare bottom so I can monitor the regularity of my Bettas' digestive systems. Sounds silly I know, but it's a great way to monitor the health of your Betta and get an early warning sign. It's also extremely easy to keep the tank spotless.

 

[Jinty McGinty]

Sand is not the best substrate for tropical fish. It's great for salt water fish though. You do have too much gravel and it looks like your heater is on the left end and the filter return is on the right end. The heater is too far from the highest water current area of the tank and you will get uneven heating if I'm seeing this correctly. Try to move the heater to center or toward the side with the filter return tube. This will distribute the heat more evenly.

Other than that....Beautiful tank but even prettier Betta. He is absolutely adorable.

Sand actually is a great substrate for tropical fish, you find the majority of tanks on this forum use it......where do you find your information from???

I get my information from every place I can find it and from my own research and experience. Some of it has to do with logic and being an Engineer. This answer has a little to do with engineering.

When you look at a tank bottom with sand and compare that to a tank bottom with gravel, you will see that the sand bottom is a much smoother surface. The more coarse surface of the tank with gravel actually works to increase the surface area of the substrate allowing more area for the beneficial bacteria to grow on. As I'm sure you know, beneficial bacteria is essential to fighting ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate in the tank. Granted, benificial bacteria will grow on every surface in the tank including plants, rocks, and the inside glass walls of the tank. But we do tend to clean the inside glass and decorations periodically so we really have to depend on the substrate at the bottom to be our main supply of beneficial bacteria. It is also easier to over stock a tank with a sand substrate because the reality of how much fish you can put into a tank is directly related to the amount of beneficial bacteria the tank can support.

I did not say that sand was a bad substrate for tropical fish. But it is not the best. Do not lean too heavily to the other side either, for example a substrate of marbles with the diameter of a dime is too large and hazzardous as it traps polution as fairly large pieces of uneaten foods and poopoos can get through the rather large openings between the marbles and work it'ss way down below the area we can clean with marbles. If this isn't cleaned out regularly you'll breed germs and germs kill fish.

The other thing about sand is you must be REAL careful where you get it and make sure you clean it thoroughly. Some sand suppliers don't do a good job of this and the sand can contain harmful chemicals or germs that can hurt the fish.

For looks, I think sand and gravel and the tiny rocks look great. I don't use them because I like a totally bare bottom so I can monitor the regularity of my Bettas' digestive systems. Sounds silly I know, but it's a great way to monitor the health of your Betta and get an early warning sign. It's also extremely easy to keep the tank spotless.

The only point I have to make is that there is not enough beneficial bacteria on gravel to be of any use to a tank, it is all stored in our filters.

Personally I think a betta should be on sand for the sake of their fins. I have seen your bare bottom tank with the tiles and find it very strange indeed. I can and do keep my sand spotless and prefer it aesthetically as well.