Started With A Betta, Contemplating A New Project, Would Like Some Adv

[Maedhros]

Hi guys,

I currently have a red VT male betta in a 22l filtered, cycled tank. Initial intention was to stop there, but you know what they say about the road to hell...I've been well and truly bitten by the bug, and I'm desperate to get some more aquatic critters.

I don't plan on doing anything for the moment; Maedhros arrived with damaged fins, and despite my best efforts the dreaded fin rot set in. He's recovering now (he's eating, flaring and building bubble nests, there's clear tissue growth on his fins and tail, and the horrible black edge is receding), so I'm going to wait until he's at 100% again, then look at expanding. I've toyed with lots of ideas so apologies in advance for the gazillion questions - I'm not set on any one idea, and since my original plan was just the one betta I'll probably end up asking something really daft, because I haven't done a lot of research yet. All thoughts and comments gratefully received...

Options

1. Tankmates - I like the idea of dwarf frogs; would they be OK in the current set-up, if they had plenty of hiding places? Is there anything else I could consider, given the size of tank I have? I know bettas and tankmates can be a bit of a grey area, but I'd appreciate opinions.

2. New community tank - If I did go down the "more fish" route, am I right in thinking I'd probably need a bigger tank? I live in a tiny old terrace with lots of nooks and odd corners so adding/upgrading to a massive set-up isn't an option, but I could find space for something around 50l. If I did get a bigger tank, I'd probably be tempted to leave Maedhros where he is and avoid the compatibility issues bettas cause - he could keep his kingdom, and I could fill the new tank with lots of small, colourful fish (guppies, tetras and cories?)

3. Nanoreef - again, leave Maedhros where he is, but get a small saltwater set up as well and stock it with corals and inverts. Maybe a fish or two...dottybacks, perhaps?

4. Invert-only freshwater set-up - inspired by some beautifully coloured shrimp I saw in my LFS. Definitely don't want to chance Maedhros eating them; they'd need a home of their own!

What sort of size would I need as a minimum, and is it possible to house different species of shrimp together?

Thank you to anyone who's bothered to read this far! Help and advice is gratefully received.

 

[Essjay]

If it was me, I'd get a 50 litre tank and leave the betta alone in the 22 litre. There are plenty of small fish to choose from for a tank that size.

I have a 25 litre betta tank, and I put 2 frogs with the previous betta. They were fine for a while, then the frogs started biting the betta's tail (he was a half moon, so a big tail). I think they mistook him for food. He ended up with severe fin rot in his tail - there was only about 1cm left when the finrot finally came to a stop. I had to move the frogs to my quarantine tank. I know other people have no problems, but I would never mix the two again.

If you do decide on a bigger tank, you can take some media from the 22 litre's filter to seed the new one and speed up the cycle.

 

[daizeUK]

Maedhros arrived with damaged fins

OT, but that is such a cool name for a fish I had to do a Google to see where it came from!

 

[the_lock_man]

1) I don't think you really want to put anything else in the 22l

2) Would be my favoured option.

3) Marine is a whole different ballgame. There's so much more that could go wrong with a marine tank. I'd love to do marine, but I will definitely have to wait until I've got seriously more time on my hands. With small tanks, too, whether it be fresh or salty, the smaller the tank, the quicker it takes for a problem to become a catastrophe, so if you do want to go salty, the bigger the tank the better for learning on.

4) You could potentially use the 22l as an invert-only tank, and put your fighter into a community. People often go off the deep-end about what is and isn't compatible with a fighter, but you do have plenty of choice. In a 50l, I'd have the fighter, a shoal of 6 salt & pepper cories and a shoal of 6 chilli rasboras. And of depending on the filter, 2/3 male endlers as well. Loads of plants around the edges (for the rasbos and the fighter), and an area of open substrate (which would be sand) for the cories to snuffle through. Ensure the filter has decent capacity, but the output isn't too strong, otherwise the fighter struggles to swim. My first fighter was in a community with platies and cories, no major problems.

 

[Maedhros]

Thank you for the replies, guys

Hmm, this is the first time I've heard anyone having issues with frogs and bettas, but it does confirm what I thought - nothing is 100% guaranteed to get on with anything else! I'm too attached to Maedhros to chance it; he can stay where he is.

That decided, I guess I should look to buy another tank I think I can rule out the marine; I've been doing a little more research and given that I'm still a fishy novice, it just seems like asking for trouble. Very pretty, but not for me right now! I think I'll wait on the inverts, too; I'm starting to fall for the idea of a community tank, those chili rasboras are gorgeous.

Next questions, then - any recommendations for tanks around the 50l mark, possibly up to 60ish if I moved some furniture around? And what would be the easiest way to kick start the cycling of my new tank?

Thank you!

 

[the_lock_man]

I don't want to recommend any particular brands, but you are best off getting the most surface area for your volume that you can, in other words, tanks that are taller than they are wide aren't so good - the more surface area the better, really.

When you get the tank, get some household ammonia and fishless cycle - but here's the trick.

Take some of the media from the 22l filter, no more than a third of it though, and put it in the new tank's filter. Top the 22l filter back up with the new media that comes with the new tank. Then use the rest of the new media in the new filter. This is called "seeding".

Then proceed with a fishless cycle. Job done.

 

[Maedhros]

Brilliant, thank you so much!

I suppose the best way round to do it would be decide what fish I want and make sure the tank is suitable...I'll put some pictures up when I get going. Having said that, I really should post some pictures of Maedhros, I haven't uploaded any yet...

 

[the_lock_man]

Deffo. Decide which tank you're gonna get, post up a list of species that you like the look of, and you'll be inundated with suggested stocking lists. Probably so many that it'll make your decisions harder!