redsea's 10g Betta Build

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redsea

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Jul 25, 2011
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Hi all, I may be starting a FW tank up again!

I currently have a Betta in a vase, I know HUGE and I mean HUGE mistake. :banghead: I want to set up a FW, and I want him to have a suitable home. I will probably have a lot of questions in this thread as I don't think I know much about FW fish.

I would like this tank to be planted, but don't know what some suitable choices are. Can you guys recommend a light for a 10g that can grow some great plants? Also, what would you recommend as a filter?

For substrate I would like to have some kind of sand.

Lastly, any stocking ideas as far as fish and invertebrates? I am open to all ideas you may have. :)

Thanks.
 
redsea said:
Hi all, I may be starting a FW tank up again!

I currently have a Betta in a vase, I know HUGE and I mean HUGE mistake. :banghead: I want to set up a FW, and I want him to have a suitable home. I will probably have a lot of questions in this thread as I don't think I know much about FW fish.

I would like this tank to be planted, but don't know what some suitable choices are. Can you guys recommend a light for a 10g that can grow some great plants? Also, what would you recommend as a filter?

For substrate I would like to have some kind of sand.

Lastly, any stocking ideas as far as fish and invertebrates? I am open to all ideas you may have. :)

Thanks.

I love my ten watt 5100K marineland bulbs
They are screw in CFLs
Two will work well
You can grow low to moderate light plants with that
For a filter a external Aqueon or small Aquaclear or Tetra Whisper will do well
For sand, PFS is perfect
For stocking-
1- betta
6- Celestial Pearl Danios or Ember Tetras
6- Chili Rasboras or Emerald Rasboras or Male Endlers Livebearers
10- Red Cherry Shrimp(betta may eat them)
1- Nerite Snail
 
Some easy plants you can try are java fern, java moss, anubias, crypts, water sprite, and water wisteria. I keep all these in moderately lighted tanks without any CO2 or ferts(other than root tabs). I'm not sure how much work you want to put into the plants, but these are all simple and easy.

Most people prefer red cherry shrimp, but I think ghost shrimp are pretty cool too. Plus they're cheaper, and they get bigger than RCS so it's less likely your betta will eat them.
:)
 
I love my ten watt 5100K marineland bulbs
They are screw in CFLs
Two will work well
You can grow low to moderate light plants with that
For a filter a external Aqueon or small Aquaclear or Tetra Whisper will do well
For sand, PFS is perfect
For stocking-
1- betta
6- Celestial Pearl Danios or Ember Tetras
6- Chili Rasboras or Emerald Rasboras or Male Endlers Livebearers
10- Red Cherry Shrimp(betta may eat them)
1- Nerite Snail

Thanks for the info.

For the first group I like the Celestial Pearl Danios
I have it narrowed down between Chillis and Endlers for the second group.

Just wondering, would Harlequin Rasboras work too?


Would I get all six fish in the group at once, or add them slowly?
 
IME, Wisteria, H. Corymbosa "Angustifolia", Bleheri Sword, Lemon Bacopa (watch for shading), Rotala Rotundifolia, some Crypts (again, watch for shading) and of course Anubias and Java Fern will grow nicely under a very low light setup (single T8 fixture) with minimal fertilization. It all depends where you want to go with your setup in the future.

PFS (light color) or black blasting sand are decent cheap substrates. Eco-Complete is also very good and requires no rinsing.

Filter of your choice but AquaClears are very flexible and easy to maintain.

emerald76 said:
For stocking-
1- betta
6- Celestial Pearl Danios or Ember Tetras
6- Chili Rasboras or Emerald Rasboras or Male Endlers Livebearers
10- Red Cherry Shrimp(betta may eat them)
1- Nerite Snail
That is a lot of stock for a ten gallon. Personally, I would do the one Betta and a small school of nano-Cories.
 
blert said:
IME, Wisteria, H. Corymbosa "Angustifolia", Bleheri Sword, Lemon Bacopa (watch for shading), Rotala Rotundifolia, some Crypts (again, watch for shading) and of course Anubias and Java Fern will grow nicely under a very low light setup (single T8 fixture) with minimal fertilization. It all depends where you want to go with your setup in the future.

PFS (light color) or black blasting sand are decent cheap substrates. Eco-Complete is also very good and requires no rinsing.

Filter of your choice but AquaClears are very flexible and easy to maintain.

That is a lot of stock for a ten gallon. Personally, I would do the one Betta and a small school of nano-Cories.

That's basically the same stock going into my ten
Shrimp and snails have very small violists generally
 
redsea said:
Thanks for the info.

For the first group I like the Celestial Pearl Danios
I have it narrowed down between Chillis and Endlers for the second group.

Just wondering, would Harlequin Rasboras work too?

Would I get all six fish in the group at once, or add them slowly?

No Harlequins need a 20 gal minimum
Add them all at once and the betta last
Be sure your betta doesn't flare at them by putting his vase by the tank
 
I have a 10g betta set up and it could very be the one tank out of all of mine I had the most fun with! I have wisteria, anubias and an brazilian sword in mine. I have a single t8 and black sand substrate. I does api co2 once a day(1ml) and flourish at every water change. They have all taken very nicley and my betta and mystery snail LOVE this set up. I included a picture for ya:dance:
60630-albums9307-picture38466.jpg
 
O and I forgot to add I am new to the live plant world and I have had no troubles with these. I also have an aqueon 10 gal. filter and a little heater. I added the air bubbler just for surface aggitation.
 
emerald76 said:
No Harlequins need a 20 gal minimum
Add them all at once and the betta last
Be sure your betta doesn't flare at them by putting his vase by the tank

I disagree. Harlequin can be perfectly happy in a 10 or 15 gallon, though they would enjoy a 20g long more. It's not absolutely a must, though.
 
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