# Perlite and other questions



## CarbonHorizon (Jul 28, 2007)

This is for a 2.5g tank. 

I went down to get the soil for my tank. It is currently sitting outside in an open bag. I read that airing it out could help prevent problems. I ended up buying Hyponex, which sadly has Perlite in it. Every bag of soil at the store had Perlite. This was the cheapest soil, however. .96 cents for a 10 pound bag.

After the soil is done airing out, I was thinking about dumping the amount I need into my spare tank and adding some water. I believe I read that Perlite floats, so I figured I could scoop out the floating bits. 

After that, my plan is to plant my tank! I was also going to add some Laterite to the soil. I figure it won't hurt. The plants that will be growing in my tank will be Dwarf Hairgrass, Banana Plant, Wisteria, Java Fern, and Java Moss. 

I also bought a Whisper 1-3 gallon filter, which I will be using for water movement. It runs off an air pump, so I'm sure I'll need to find a way to clamp the tubing to keep my Betta from going nutso. For light, I'm using a 27w fluorescent desk lamp I purchased from walmart. 

I'm hoping to get this going tomorrow. 

Now, the questions - I have BWE that I add to my water. Do I keep adding that with a NPT? What about aquarium salt? Do I use that or not? I currently use it as a preventative and I use it with every water change, but I'm not quite sure how it will work with this set up.


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## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

CarbonHorizon said:


> This is for a 2.5g tank.
> 
> I went down to get the soil for my tank. It is currently sitting outside in an open bag. I read that airing it out could help prevent problems. I ended up buying Hyponex, which sadly has Perlite in it. Every bag of soil at the store had Perlite. This was the cheapest soil, however. .96 cents for a 10 pound bag.
> 
> ...


Based on the types of plants you indicated you would be keeping, I don't think that you would have a problem. Some fish despise salt.

Ottos and cories don't particularly like salt. You'd be surprised how at the number of plants known to tolerate a certain level of salt. The following is a a listing. 
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/bracplants.htm
Salt is great anti-parasitic and the reality is that unless you set up a quarantine tank for newly purchased fish before you introduce them into your tank or use a Ultraviolet sterilizer, whether you set up a NPT or a regular aquarium, you will end up with a store bought parasite infected fish sooner or later. Salt could be the thing that saves your fish from infection /death if you don't put new fish through quarantine or use a UV sterilizer.


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## CarbonHorizon (Jul 28, 2007)

The tank is just going to house my betta fish.


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

CarbonHorizon said:


> This is for a 2.5g tank.
> 
> I went down to get the soil for my tank. It is currently sitting outside in an open bag. I read that airing it out could help prevent problems. I ended up buying Hyponex, which sadly has Perlite in it. Every bag of soil at the store had Perlite. This was the cheapest soil, however. .96 cents for a 10 pound bag.
> 
> ...


Did you buy potting soil? I think most potting soils have perlite in them. I used topsoil and there's no perlite in that. I don't think you need to add Laterite though. I think that can cause problems for an El Natural tank but I could be wrong.

I don't think you have to "keep adding" BWE to the tank. I had only put it in once since I set up my 10g tank(I had set it up on the 6th of this month) and I've never added anymore since then. As for salt, don't add that in the tank. Save the salt for if you betta ever gets sick, then you can add it to the water in the hospital tank but I think it's best to keep it out of an el natural tank.

Also another suggestion. When you have your tank completely set up, make sure you keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrites. When I had set up my tank, the ammonia rose up to .25ppm on the third day and I had let the soil air out for almost two weeks.

I strongly suggest you read Ms. Walstad's book. You'll learn a great deal from reading it.


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## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

CarbonHorizon said:


> The tank is just going to house my betta fish.


No problems there, I have a betta in a small "unplanted" tank. I throw in some about a 1/4 teaspoon or a little more of aquarium salt every second water change. He is in excellent health. I feed him frozen blood worms once a week and spend a little extra and give him the expensive Hikari Betta Bio-Gold. I would strongly recommend feeding your betta these. Out of all the pellets I tried in the numerous years I had bettas, I found my Bettas seemed the healthiest and had the best color when I fed them the Hikari Betta Bio-Gold. A co-worker just bought a betta and told me that her betta was spitting out the pellets she was feeding him. I told her to buy and feed her betta the Hikari Betta Bio-Gold and she told me he now anxiously looks forward to feedings and love these. He goes berzerk in anticipation that she will feed him these when she approaches the tank. Check out the reviews.
http://www.amazon.com/Hikari-Betta-Gold-2-gm-package/dp/B000084ENG


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

Homer_Simpson said:


> No problems there, I have a betta in a small "unplanted" tank. I throw in some about a 1/4 teaspoon or a little more of aquarium salt every second water change. He is in excellent health. I feed him frozen blood worms once a week and spend a little extra and give him the expensive Hikari Betta Bio-Gold. I would strongly recommend feeding your betta these. Out of all the pellets I tried in the numerous years I had bettas, I found my Bettas seemed the healthiest and had the best color when I fed them the Hikari Betta Bio-Gold. A co-worker just bought a betta and told me that her betta was spitting out the pellets she was feeding him. I told her to buy and feed her betta the Hikari Betta Bio-Gold and she told me he now anxiously looks forward to feedings and love these. He goes berzerk in anticipation that she will feed him these when she approaches the tank. Check out the reviews.
> http://www.amazon.com/Hikari-Betta-Gold-2-gm-package/dp/B000084ENG


Those are great pellets but unfortunately, they make my betta constipated even if I pre-soak them first before feeding the pellets to him. One pellet is enough to give him SBD from constipation. I find that he prefers the Hikari Micro Pellets instead. They are much smaller and they're easier for him to digest.


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## CarbonHorizon (Jul 28, 2007)

I do the Hikari Bio gold "baby" pellets and bloodworms. 


i'll keep my betta in the 1 gallon tank I've got until the natural tank settles down. he'll probably not like that too much, but oh well.

Edit - and yes, i did buy potting soil.


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

CarbonHorizon said:


> and yes, i did buy potting soil.


There's nothing wrong with potting soil. I think a lot of people here use it. The only thing that turned me off if it was the perlite. I didn't want to have to pick all of it out.


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## CarbonHorizon (Jul 28, 2007)

i am actually feeling smart! hehe. i used an old colander (though it's not got super small holes) and filled it up with my soil. I am stirring it around with a spoon, and sort of sifting the good stuff out and chucking "the bad" out in my mom's garden. The chunks of perlite are rather large so the colander is catching it.


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## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

Red_Rose said:


> Those are great pellets but unfortunately, they make my betta constipated even if I pre-soak them first before feeding the pellets to him. One pellet is enough to give him SBD from constipation. I find that he prefers the Hikari Micro Pellets instead. They are much smaller and they're easier for him to digest.


I read that many people with bettas give their betta one finely crushed shelled pea once a week and that keeps their digestive tract clear. I do have been doing this for years and find that it keeps my betta pooping. My betta loves the tiny chunks of peas.


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## CarbonHorizon (Jul 28, 2007)

I do the one day of fasting. I might start the pea soon.

http://ultimatebettas.com/ is <3


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

Homer_Simpson said:


> I read that many people with bettas give their betta one finely crushed shelled pea once a week and that keeps their digestive tract clear. I do have been doing this for years and find that it keeps my betta pooping. My betta loves the tiny chunks of peas.


I've been doing that for months! He gets 2-3 bite sized pieces of skinned, thawed frozen peas every Saturday. He looks forward to the pea more then the pellets! Since I've been feeding him pea every week, it's been months since he's become constipated.



CarbonHorizon said:


> I do the one day of fasting. I might start the pea soon.
> 
> http://ultimatebettas.com/ is <3


I'm a member of that site as well. I also fast my boy too. His fasting day is every Friday.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

CarbonHorizon said:


> i am actually feeling smart! hehe. i used an old colander (though it's not got super small holes) and filled it up with my soil. I am stirring it around with a spoon, and sort of sifting the good stuff out and chucking "the bad" out in my mom's garden. The chunks of perlite are rather large so the colander is catching it.


I like this practical kind of thinking. 

Perlite is a minor nuisance that shouldn't discount a good potting soil. Glad you found a way to deal with it.

I'd nix the laterite or just use it as a layer at the very bottom of the tank.


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## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

Dwalstad: Curious as to what your views are on the use of trace/miniscule amounts of salt in a NPT as anti-parastic preventative. I understand that parasites may be present in all water and in ideal conditions when fish are healthy enough, they will be able to resist a parasitic attack. But we know, there will be times where this may not be the case. In a NPT, there may be some natural beneficial micro-organisms that may help keep the tank in balance and perhaps serve as food for fish. Would salt endanger these micro-organisms?

Hope you don't mind the questions. Inquiring minds want to know . 

Many thanks


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## DataGuru (Mar 11, 2005)

I'm not Diana, but I don't think trace levels of salt will prevent anything. and I doubt it'll affect the critters and plants much either. Now therapeutic levels of salt (.3%) could cause problems.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Homer_Simpson said:


> Would salt endanger these micro-organisms?


I don't think so. Natural water has a huge range of salt (NaCl) levels.


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