Dangora's Nightstand Betta Tank

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Dangora

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jul 11, 2011
Messages
129
Location
Massachusetts
Dangora's Betta Arcadia

For months, I have had a couple of gift cards to a local pet store in my wallet, and I finally used them today. My sister found my amazon wishlist which included a Rapids Mini Canister Filter, and I was delighted upon opening it for Christmas. Today I took a trip to the local pet store (privately owned, only locations in my region) and bought a 5.5 gallon standard tank, with black sand and an Elite heater. As always any thoughts or tips are greatly appreciated !

So my plans...
I want to (obviously) have a nice betta as the center piece for this tank. I was thinking a minimum school of pygmy cories would go nice in the future. That's all I want for this tank is a center-piece betta and a small school of cories. I have some nice-looking fake plants (ludwigia and ambulia, from the looks of them) that I want to use in combination with some real plants. I haven't put much thought into plants, as I just purchased the tank, but I feel some dwarf hairgrass might be nice.

Now for the specs:
5.5 gallon tank
Rapids Mini Canister Filter
Archaea 13W Power Compact Fixture
Elite 50W heater
Marina LCD Thermometer (Will probably get replaced)
Black sand from Stoney Sand (safe for FW and SW; rinsed before put in tank)

And of course, some pictures!

New Tank!!
newfishtank002.jpg


The light fixture
newfishtank003.jpg


Filter. I like the look and it's really quiet.
newfishtank004.jpg


Heater and thermometer. Thermometer is junk, needs to be replaced.
newfishtank005.jpg


Empty bag of sand
newfishtank011.jpg


The tank as it sits now.
newfishtank019.jpg
 
Forgot to mention I took some ceramic disks from my cycled ten gallon and put them in the mini canister filter.

The sand that is floating on top: should I be worried about removing it or does it sink eventually?
 
Dangora said:
Forgot to mention I took some ceramic disks from my cycled ten gallon and put them in the mini canister filter.

The sand that is floating on top: should I be worried about removing it or does it sink eventually?

The sand will eventually settle at the bottom.
 
congrats! i'm interested to see how this turns out. :) good move on the black sand btw. :)
 
Fishie said:
The sand will eventually settle at the bottom.

Thanks. I'll wait and see how it looks in the morning.

blackmolly said:
congrats! i'm interested to see how this turns out. :) good move on the black sand btw. :)

Thanks! I forgot I had a bag of fluval substrate, but its okay because I remember reading that cories prefer a fine substrate anyways! Definitely keep checking back. With the size of the tank this could be finished by the end of January/beginning of February!
 
i'm sort of getting into nano tanks myself... the general upkeep is just easier, even though levels tend to fluctuate more. do you have any other tanks? taking some media from them would speed things up dramatically.
 
Fishie said:
Sometimes takes up to 2 days.

Okay thanks for the heads up. I'm patient enough to wait. I appreciate the help!

blackmolly said:
i'm sort of getting into nano tanks myself... the general upkeep is just easier, even though levels tend to fluctuate more. do you have any other tanks? taking some media from them would speed things up dramatically.

I have a 10 gallon that's a couple of months mature with fish in it (you should check out the build thread I have for it; it was my first build). I put some ceramic rings from that tank in my new filter, also. I really like the small tanks because space is a big issue for me but I still get quite a lot of enjoyment from them. Nice money saver and time saver too! Thanks for the feedback, I appreciative every bit!
 
the only issue i see with shrimp and snails is the betta... depending on the betta's personality, shrimp and snails could both wind up being harrassed to death. just a thought.
 
Is your Fluval substrate called 'Stratum'. If so, good choice not using it. It is dirty stuff and breaks down quickly. You would be forever dusting your tank.
 
+1

I have pygmys in my 16 and cannot imagine them in anything smaller than a 10.

i agree with Mumma and Lynda. Sorry. :( If you're set on Pygmy's can you return the 5.5 gal and get a 10 gal? Breaking it down would be a bit of a pain but worth it in the long run to get the fish you want. :D
 
I have a 10 that I could put pygmies in. It currently has 2 male and 2 female scarlet gem basis and 3 celestial pearls. I would swap the pearls to the betta tank and replace them with pygmy cories. If not I'm fine with getting a third tank just for pygmies lol and having just a betta in the 5.5. I'm not all that worried about it. Plus I have a 29 that's going up this month. I'll have plenty of room.
 
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