Am I in trouble?

[Fathomed]

Hello everyone, I just joined AA and I think I need some help.

Yesturday I bought a 5 Gallon tank and a male Betta fish with a filter, light, decorations, etc. for about $100 CDN. I have relatively long questions so please bear with me, I am concerned about the following:

1. I used tap water for my tank and dosed a bit of chlorine remover, did what I thought was right but then I realized I have a water softener installed in my house's water system. It uses 99.8% evaporated salt, it doesn't taste salty at all though, it's just softer and was wondering if that's alright. My Betta is doing fine but I don't know for how long.

2. Secondly, I know I need to clean the filter every so often, but for the walls should I just get snails and catfish to do that? If so any recommendations are appreciated. And I just need to change about 25% of the water every 2 weeks or so right?

3. I'd like to actually rid my 5 Gallon tank, and buy a 25-30 Gallon tank and then get a Rainbow Shark. I was curious about the following community: 1 Rainbow Shark, 1 male Betta, 1 swordtail, and 3 Scissor Tail Rosbora. I know the Rainbow, Scissor Tail are fine together but the Betta I'm not sure and the Swordtail. Oh and I might add that catfish if it's recommended for cleaning walls. I won't a cool looking one. XD

4. The Swordtail and Scissor Tail roam the top and eat most of the food right? Won't my Rainbow Shark starve?

5. Rainbow Sharks need a pH of 6-7.5. Edmonton has a pH of 7.8, does that difference account for much? Oh I just found out water softeners change the pH. I don't know if it goes up or down though. =( I think my 1st question is easier to answer now.

6. What's a decent price range for a 30 Gallon tank with a filter, light+cover, and miscellaneous such as ornaments and plants?

That's about it, I'm probably thinking about a $200 budget since I have no job and heading into 1st year university with 5k tutition fees.

Thanks for all replies, helpful or not. But helpful is more appreciated. =)

 

[Alaris]

Yesturday I bought a 5 Gallon tank and a male Betta fish with a filter, light, decorations, etc. for about $100 CDN. I have relatively long questions so please bear with me, I am concerned about the following:

First you should read up on the nitrogen cycle and the Fishless Cycle for Dummies. You already have a fish, but this will give you an idea of what your tank is about to go through. Buy the API Master test kit. This is a liquid test kit and is much more accurate than the strips. Test your water everyday. Whenever your ammonia and/or nitrItes are above 0.5ppm you'll need to do a pwc. You want to keep these below 0.25ppm.

Did your "etc." include a heater? Bettas like a very warm tank at 80-82F. For a 5g you can get a small 25w submersible heater. Also get a thermometer, not the one that sticks on the glass, that you can measure your temp with.

1. I used tap water for my tank and dosed a bit of chlorine remover

Prime is an excellent dechlorinator as it removes not only chlorine, but will also take care of chloramine. If you have ammonia in your tap, that usually means you have chloramine. Prime will trap the ammonia in your tap and make it non-toxic until your filter can take care of it. Prime will also help you with those nitrIte spikes yet to come.

And I just need to change about 25% of the water every 2 weeks or so right?

As a new uncycled tank you will be changing the water much more often than that. And after it is cycled you'll want to do about 10-20% every week. 5g is small and as such requires more cleaning maintenance than a larger tank.

3. I'd like to actually rid my 5 Gallon tank, and buy a 25-30 Gallon tank and then get a Rainbow Shark. I was curious about the following community: 1 Rainbow Shark, 1 male Betta, 1 swordtail, and 3 Scissor Tail Rosbora. I know the Rainbow, Scissor Tail are fine together but the Betta I'm not sure and the Swordtail. Oh and I might add that catfish if it's recommended for cleaning walls. I won't a cool looking one. XD

Don't put a male betta with anything that has a "feather-like" tail or he will think it's another male betta to fight with. (i.e. male guppies) I'm not sure about the other fish you mentioned.

5. Rainbow Sharks need a pH of 6-7.5. Edmonton has a pH of 7.8, does that difference account for much? Oh I just found out water softeners change the pH. I don't know if it goes up or down though. =( I think my 1st question is easier to answer now.

Fish prefer a STABLE pH, even it's higher or lower than what they're natively used to.

6. What's a decent price range for a 30 Gallon tank with a filter, light+cover, and miscellaneous such as ornaments and plants?

Check craigslist for good deals on used tanks. Otherwise brand new: tank&hood: $150usd, stand: $80, filter: $80usd, heater: $20usd, decor: depends, range of $20-100usd, accessories/misc: $50-100usd.
Some of these things can be found cheaper if you look around, or seriously consider a used tank/stand/hood and buy the new filter. I got my 10g setup w/ everything needed for $100.

Good luck! I know you'll get more replies with much more advice than I was able to give.

 

[An t-iasg]

I agree with the suggestion to get a 25-watt heater, if you don't already have one, for the 5 gallon tank with the betta. Bettas do best at a temperature of 80-82 degrees and can often have stress and health issues if kept in cooler water or water that experiences temperature fluctuations.

I also agree with not keeping the betta in a tank with other long-tailed or colorful fish. The betta will be constantly in attack/stress mode. Also, I have seen a group of neon tetras gang up on and nip a slow-moving betta. Bettas differ widely in their personalities, and if you did have a tank of compatible fish to go along with the betta, there's no guarantee that the betta would accept the other fish. I think your best bet, if you can do it, is to keep the betta in the 5 gallon tank alone. I have had bettas in 5 and 10 gallon tanks alone, and they are quite happy and they don't get lonely. Then you could have whatever fish you liked for your community tank, provided that they were compatible, without adding the extra "unknown" factor of if the betta will get along with the chosen fish. Bettas are like a "wild card" in a community tank - some do get along with other fish and some just do not. If your betta didn't, we would recommend removing him to his own tank. Since he already has that now, I would suggest that you leave him in that tank setup.

 

[Purrbox]

You've already gotten some great answers for most of your questions. I want to address your questions reguarding the water softener. It definately is best NOT to use water that has gone through a water softener. While it feels softer to us, it just replaces the GH with salts which is just as hard for fish and the salt isn't particularly good for them and even worse if you decide to try live plants. Your best bet is if you can bypass your water softener for the water you use in your aquarium. Next best would be to use a Potassium based salt for the water softener, it's still not great but not as hard on fish and live plants.

 

[Fathomed]

Thanks for the answers, I'll likely heat up my tank, buy a 30g and have someone look at my tap water. Cleaning is easier too apparently in a 30g.

No one did answer about the snails + catfish though, I'd like to know if they're good replacements for cleaning certain areas of the tank, maybe if you have time, suggest a certain type you like.

 

[new2betas]

Definitely try craigslist....I bought a used 29g with filter/hood/heater/decorations for $50. I was happy, but I did have to replace the light with one that would support more live plant options. Craigslist is great!

 

[Alaris]

No one did answer about the snails + catfish though, I'd like to know if they're good replacements for cleaning certain areas of the tank, maybe if you have time, suggest a certain type you like.

Oto cats eat most algae. They are gentle on your plants. They like to be in a school so you'll want 3-6. They're also very delicate and difficult to keep alive after you bring them home. Here's a good article about otos: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...nclus-Catfish--Otocinclus-vittatus/Page1.html

Snails will keep your glass clean.

 

[Fathomed]

Oto cats eh? They grow to only 2" though, I fear if I get a rainbow shark it will destroy them. Swordtails and Scissor Tails go to 5" or so which is good, I guess. Thanks for tip though, I'll buy 4 snails.

At Purrbox, yeah, I found out my kitchen doesn't use the water softener to save some money when dishes are being washed so there isn't a worry about that anymore.

 

[Purrbox]

At Purrbox, yeah, I found out my kitchen doesn't use the water softener to save some money when dishes are being washed so there isn't a worry about that anymore.

That's great! It will definatley make it much easier to take care of you aquariums.

 

[happygirl65]

Snails do a decent job but can get out of control in a hurry. If you are talking about for the 5 gal you might try some snails that do not reproduce in FW like nerite snails. They can be hard to find but are supposed to be superb at keeping algae at bay.

If you are talking about for the future 30 gal tank then I would get a BN pleco they stay small and do a pretty good job keeping things clean. However if you have an acrylic tank I would think twice as mine scratched my tank to a fine haze over a years time.
Also make sure you are not getting a "common" pleco as it will quickly outgrow your tank.

Another trick to limiting algae is not to have your lights on for too long (10+ hrs per day)

Happy fish keeping!