# Planted Betta Tank



## Ingrid (Dec 7, 2006)

Hello, I learned about this site from Betty H. aka DataGuru.  I have a 1 gallon bowl that I planted with soil in June. It's been doing OK, but I've had some issues. They are:
-the water turns yellow
-the ramshorn snails die 
-the duckweed and water lettuce bleach and die
- brown biofilms develope on older leaves of the sunset hygro and water lettuce roots
-persistant cloudiness (except that suddenly improved this week after months of frustration  )
-the sunset hygro doesn't want to grow tall

Now, the things that are going right with this bowl:

-betta is very happy
-shrimp are happy 
-crypts and e. tenellus are very happy
-no nitrogenous waste buildup

I decided to upgrade Twizzler (betta) to a 2 gallon hex tank. I'm going to transplant the crypts and e. tenellus to the new tank and add some wysteria. I have a different soil that hopefully won't turn yellow. For the top of the soil, instead of gravel I was thinking of using Schultz Aquatic Plant soil, which is like little clay (laterite??) granules. Is this OK?

Here are some pics of the current bowl:


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

That's a nice bowl and a beautiful betta. I've never used soilmaster select so I can't help you there. Try a bottle test of what you plan for your substrate to see if you get any turbidity.


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## Ingrid (Dec 7, 2006)

Thanks, Catherine! With the current bowl, the cloudiness didn't start until after it had been set up for a number of weeks. I wonder if the potting soil was just too rich or perhaps I was overfeeding. It's hard to resist that little red face begging at you all day!


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## Mud Pie Mama (Jul 30, 2006)

Wow! That is a beautiful Betta, I love your photo of him doing a nose dive into the gravel. What type of shrimp are you able to keep in with your betta? I have a betta in a 5g Hex and I'm hesitant to put in any shrimp, but are yours surviving? 

Perhaps the turbidity was caused by some cycling the bowl was going thru? Or when I set up my soil based tanks I use a little deeper layer of gravel to cap off the soil, at least a good one inch thick up to an inch and a half (1 1/2). From the photos it appears your gravel layer is not even a half inch. Perhaps this might help prevent any future problems with cloudiness.


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## Ingrid (Dec 7, 2006)

Thanks for the tips! The shrimp are _Neocardinia sp._, the same genus as cherry shrimp. I think the key to their survival is adding them in after the E. tenellus had really taken off. They spend almost all of their time hiding down in there, and Twizzler can't get them. Although he tries, as evidenced in the "nose dive" picture. [smilie=l:


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

Wow! Look at that color on that Betta! Twizzler looks great!

And the roots on those plants. Nice.


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## Ingrid (Dec 7, 2006)

Thanks!

I tore down the bowl and set up a 2 gallon hex this week. Twizzler is loving the extra room. I think the soil/gravel combo will be much better in this hex, and the height makes the light not so bright to the plants (12 watt spiral fluorescent). The E. tenellus in the bowl was like a perfect a wreath around the edges, all chained together in stems and roots. I put a bunch of those guys, the little crypts, and some stems of wysteria in the hex.

By the way, the shrimp were all eaten or killed after being moved to the hex. :dance: <--- Twizzler

These pics were from Wednesay, and the water is much less murky now (Friday).


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

I love it! 

Whenever I look for these nice hex tanks, I can only find them in kits for a price that I will not pay. Where is the light? 

ALL of the shrimp got eaten?


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## Ingrid (Dec 7, 2006)

I think about 4 or 5 got eaten and the rest were maimed. I found 5 bodies with bites taken out of them. He had a big potbelly that day. 

The light is a clamp lamp that I'm suspending from the shelf above the tank. This hex was part of a kit, but I got it for pretty cheap off ebay.


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## BiscayneBoulevard (Nov 18, 2006)

That is a lovely betta! My betta does nose dives into the hairgrass too hehe. I recently set up an El Natural 2.5 gallon bowl for a new betta - the ammonia had been at a steady 0.5 for about a week before I added him - and I had no choice but to add him and some more plants on the same day... and by the next day, the ammonia was down to 0! I am amazed by the filtering quality of these plants.

I have a 5 gallon hex filled and waiting for its light and eventually plants, and then my other betta will go in there - I look forward to seeing how yours grows with the lovely Twizzler in there!


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## Jane in Upton (Aug 10, 2005)

Hi Ingrid!

Welcome! You've obviously got a great "mentor" in Betty!

I'm sure Twizzler loves his new digs, and I'm sorry to hear about your shrimp. 

My one question is what sort of clamp on lamp you're using. Is it a "shop type" one with the large silver bowl shaped reflectors, or a desk clamp light, with the narrow tube style housing? Did you just move it out of the way of the photos, or is that where it is intended? My one concern is that the light looks less intense than when it was on the 1 gal bowl. Your hex is deeper, and the angled glass may reflect more light away from the tank - the bowl had that nice plane which seemed to let a lot of light through. 

If you're using a clamp on "shop" style light, I'd move it closer. I've actually had a 10 gal with two of those over it (a "temporary" fix which is still going, LOL!) and it works pretty well. The aluminum bowl shaped relfector does a pretty good job. 

Oh, and are you using a compact flourescent bulb? You can get a lot more usable light for less watts, and not go over the rating for those fixtures if you use a CF with a regular screw in base. 

The new setup looks nice. And I'll second Jim's comment about the nice looking roots on your E. tennelus! Twizzler is really gorgeous, too. 

Thanks for posting the pictures, and keep us updated as your new hex settles in!
-Jane

PS - I was perplexed with your 1 gallon bowl why the shrimp would be OK but the ramshorns dying. Unless they were worried to death by Twizzler's constant attentions?


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

Nice looking tank Ingrid.



Jimbo205 said:


> I love it!
> 
> Whenever I look for these nice hex tanks, I can only find them in kits for a price that I will not pay. Where is the light?
> 
> ALL of the shrimp got eaten?


Jimbo, do you have a Goodwill locally? I have seen two or three of the little hex's at Goodwill while looking for other stuff. pretty cheap too.

Brian


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## Ingrid (Dec 7, 2006)

Just an update on the hex: after being set up for a couple weeks the lovely brown algae is all over the place. I put some ramshorn snails in and they are making quite a feast of it. Good snails. 

Hi Jane, it is a black clamp lamp with white on the inside. Rated for up to 250 watts (reptile bulbs and such). The bulb is a 12 watt spiral fluorescent. It's hanging about 2 or 3 inches above the top of the tank. I actually thought the bowl was getting too much light, and that's why the hygro didn't want to grow and the floating plants were getting toasted. There is definitely a lot of light reflecting off the hex walls, it makes it very difficult to photograph!  How will I know if the plants are getting enough light?



> PS - I was perplexed with your 1 gallon bowl why the shrimp would be OK but the ramshorns dying. Unless they were worried to death by Twizzler's constant attentions?


I find this perplexing too.  My best guess is that when the algae ran out, the snails didn't have anything to eat, whereas the shrimp happily dined on dying leaves. Or perhaps the shrimp out-competed the snails for food. I have a 10 gallon with just shrimp and ramshorns, and I've noticed the ramshorns aren't breeding like they did before the shrimp moved in.


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## Ingrid (Dec 7, 2006)

Hi Biscayne, plants are so impressive, huh? I remember a while back I had a pothos plant with just a couple roots in a betta tank I had set up. I couldn't figure out for the life of me why I never saw nitrates in that tank until someone commented on the pothos doing the filtration. That really turned me on to plants in aquariums! I would love to see your betta bowl, I will go look for the thread.


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## Ingrid (Dec 7, 2006)

Well, the snails are unhappy.  They did a great job getting the brown algae off the walls of the tank and the plants themselves, but now they are laying on the bottom. I thought they were dead and took one out for a sniff test. It stuck an antenna out at me and smelled fine so I put him back in. I guess I'll take them home to another tank and see how they do. This is very odd to me.  All the plants are looking good, as is the lovely Twizzler.


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## skincareaddicted (Mar 19, 2007)

Ingrid, i like your setup a lot and your betta is very healthy looking. But i am wondering if the brightness of the lights in the first or second set up bother the betta? I notice that a lot of members here use bright lights for the plants but i am not sure if the fishes like that. They don't have eyelids right and wouldn't the light be quite blinding? especially for bettas whose ancestors lived in murkier water? (I am picturing myself as a betta or other kind of fish)


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

I wouldn't worry about the lights unless it frightens them. 
Great looking betta.. He reminds me of my very first betta.


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## newbie314 (Mar 2, 2007)

Funny this was just posted.
I found my son's betta floating on top of the java moss. He was between the surface and the java moss. He didn't seem to care about the light, and doesn't seem jittery because of it.
He has quite a few floating duckweek and can hid under the moss (moss has gap between bottom of tank and bottom of moss) and the anacharis.

No worries as long as he has come where to hid.



skincareaddicted said:


> Ingrid, i like your setup a lot and your betta is very healthy looking. But i am wondering if the brightness of the lights in the first or second set up bother the betta? I notice that a lot of members here use bright lights for the plants but i am not sure if the fishes like that. They don't have eyelids right and wouldn't the light be quite blinding? especially for bettas whose ancestors lived in murkier water? (I am picturing myself as a betta or other kind of fish)


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