35 Litre (roughly 10 US Gallon) Betta tank - Betta advice needed!

[tinkster87]

Sorry, my mistake, I'm reading too many posts and getting them confused So you had fish rot and not ich. Are the other fish looking OK? Fin rot can be caused by unhealthy water conditions and ammonia, etc. Cycling is tough on fish even if you do your best to keep the levels down.

No problems! Yeah the Embers are fine and as active as ever.

The API ammonia kit is hard to read. When I first got mine I thought the yellow of 0 was actually 0.25. Looking at the tube itself it looks yellow, but when you hold it against the card it starts looking green. Then I actually saw what 0.25 looks like and realized it's definitely greener. What you could do, to be sure, is either test some distilled water or your tap water (if you know it's definitely 0) against the ammonia test of your tank and compare the colors and see how you're reading them.

Tell me about it I struggle with checking results against the card. Thats a brilliant idea, I'll try that tonight! but yeah I will definitely wait a while before adding to the tank, don't want to lose any more fish.

 

[librarygirl]

Sorry about Bruno, btw

 

[tinkster87]

Since Tuesday morning (morning of discovering Bruno dead) the water has been 0 ammonia (did think it wasnt def on 0 but tested tap water and they same colour - cheers librarygirl) so hav had 3 straight days of 0 ammo - so take it the 5 embers will produce enough ammo to make it higher than 0 over 3 days?

 

[Mr.Albiman]

Aww! I'm sorry to hear about Bruno! I hate it when fish die, I remember finding two of cories dead at different times in the same day. Very sad. Good luck with everything else!

 

[eco23]

Sorry again about Bruno . You made him happy while he was with you I'm sure.

Is the no2 staying at zero along with the ammo? If so, I think it's fair to say your tank is cycled...meaning there is sufficient bacteria to support the fish you currently have.

I think it'd be okay to start adding a few more fish slowly. Just stock lightly, monitor the levels for a week or so, if it all stays zeroed out you can add a few more. Just keep repeating this until you've slowly filled your aquarium with what you want. You know the routine, if ammo or no2 spikes just break out the bucket.

 

[tinkster87]

Thanks eco.. Yh trite stayed at 0.

As i hav said before I seriously cant thank you enough. You have been a brilliant help and your advice is spot on. Im going to prob see how it goes maybe for another week just to make sure all remains ok... The embers are still fine so hopefully not a disease in tank.

Am going to a different lfs this wkend which is fair destinance away and see what they hav there as would like to find pitbull plecos.

Yh i will def follow that advice to make sure ammo n trite stay low. Thanks again

 

[eco23]

No problem . Make sure you keep us posted on your progress.

 

[tinkster87]

Definitely I like it on here

 

[Mr.Albiman]

What are you planning on adding now?

 

[maddylb99]

Try some Ghost Shrimp

 

[tinkster87]

Not sure... I am gettin quite bad brown algae at mo so possibles are... otos, pitbull plecos, snails or amano shrimp. If i get fish to solve problem I will just get a male Betta and that will be it but if I get snail or shrimp tempting getting 3 female bettas... But just really dont want to over stock.. Such a hard decision

 

[librarygirl]

The tank is 35 liters? That's just under 10 gallons, which isn't too large. I doubt you could put 3 bettas in there, probably 2 would be stretching it with the other fish, you might have aggression issues. Of course my knowledge of fish compatibility at this point is pretty low so you might want to ask around to be sure

 

[HalfMoon B]

It's definitely too small for multiple bettas, even females. One betta, and some inverts like the shrimp or snails you want, would be great though!

 

[Oscarr19]

It's definitely too small for multiple bettas, even females. One betta, and some inverts like the shrimp or snails you want, would be great though!

+1 add in 3-4 nerite snails and 8-10 shrimp and you got yourself a tank.

 

[tinkster87]

Cheers guys thought that would prob be the case re females thanks for confirming it!

I was really hoping to get otos or pitbulls (pref 2 pitbulls) over snails n more shrimp as just would prefer it but if it would over stock I wont. Just really like the pitbulls and otos

 

[tinkster87]

So do you think

1 Betta
5 Ember Tetras
3 Cherry Shrimp
and
2 Pitbull Plecos OR Otos

is to much for my tank? or if the above is a no go I take it this would be as well?

1 Betta
5 Ember Tetras
3 Cherry Shrimp
2 Amano Shrimp (if I can get any around here)
3 Pygmy Cories

... wishing I got the size up now regarding tank.... oh well always next birthday.... oh or xmas

 

[HalfMoon B]

Corys and otos prefer groups, just like tetras, so just remember to take that into account...

 

[Oscarr19]

Corys and otos prefer groups, just like tetras, so just remember to take that into account...

+1 the cories need a group of 6+ so i wouldn't put them in a 10G. You can get away with 3 otos however.

 

[tinkster87]

I may have got a new addition already... His name is Lemmy and he is a red fighting fish. I got him yesterday n he seems to be doing well.

None of my two lfs stock amano shrimp and none currently have nerite snails in stock (only shells) n they dont no when they will - I found out yesterday.

So I may well get otos next wkend as long as my water keeps good.

I know otos should be in groups of at least 3 but in a small tank will they starve themselves because they get through the algae really quick? As see they sometimes dont eat algae wafers.. Will they def eat blanched cucumber?

 

[eco23]

And where are pictures of our new friend Lemmy?

I personally would be a bit leery of 3 Otos in a 10...but I'm sure it'll be fine. Mine will eat the Hikari algae wafers, but rarely touch the blanched zucchini I supplement.