Hey all! Total newbie to the hobby & need some advice

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XboxBetta

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
May 1, 2017
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New interest has brought me here into a new circle of people; hello!
Please bear with me as I have a few questions.. Any and all advice much appreciated!

So here's the deal.

I bought a small 2 gallon self-sustaining aquarium for my gf. I used reverse osmosis water & upon startup tested balanced ph, 0 chlorine & 0 hardness.

Now the system is supposed to be self-sustaining - filter, pump, fish creates waste that feeds basil growing on top of the tank - in turn filtering the water even further, once it's grown.

So I got 1 betta fish, a mystery snail I think? A couple artificial ornaments & a moss ball. (Pics for ref.)

I let system run with water & decor for 2 days before I added life. I was impatient & couldn't wait for basil to grow.

1 week in & Gleek the betta eats regularly & seems generally happy. Sir snail really doesn't do much. I've only seen him change locations one time. Isolated & pit him on top of an algae thin - he was very active. Put him back in tank & remained active rest of the day. But that was it. His foot hangs out & he responds to touch but never really moves.
Legolas collectible toy came in a sealed package. Rinsed him & the tank & all the decor for that matter with the R/O water. Aqua siliconed the toy to a tank-safe rock & put him in.
Also added 3-4 drops of beneficial bacteria with water top off. -took a week for me to realize that R/O is super clean & some beneficial bacteria would, well.. be beneficial.


TLDR; So now, currently 2 weeks in - betta still happy. Snail still not active. Basil has sprouted. & I noticed the water to be slightly cloudy.. Which I know indicates a water change is necessary, right?
At least 1 algae thin & some tiny betta pellets have disintegrated in there, snail seemingly didn't eat any.

I retested water & now it's showing hardness.

I removed the toy & plan on aqua-siliconing the whole thing.

So all in all, all thoughts & advice are welcome! What should I do moving forward? Do a 25 or 50% water change until basil fully grows? Remove or add anything?

Thanks in advance for your time
 

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Welcome to the forum. Did you wait 48 hours for the silicone to cure before putting in the tank? Another thought the tank might be to small or to crowded for both of them depending on size. Was the toy made for aquariums? Accidentally you could have put something toxic in the tank.
You would be better off with a 10 gallon tank. They need room to move and get away from each other.
 
Also you should ask questions or post problems in the Freshwater & Brackish-Getting Started or Freshwater & Brackish -General Discussion forums, you'll get more responses. This forum is for introductions.
 
Wow thanks for all the speedy replies; Seems like a great community here!
Will take heed to all advice & questions given & try the aforementioned forums as I realize now this is ONLY for intros & not discussion... Sorry ?
 
Just so you know 2 gallons is the absolute minimum size of a tank for a betta, but I prefer 5 gallons and up. Mystery snails can get quite big so just keep watching him as he may later on look like a threat to the betta.
 
Wow thanks for all the speedy replies; Seems like a great community here!
Will take heed to all advice & questions given & try the aforementioned forums as I realize now this is ONLY for intros & not discussion... Sorry ?
It's cool, you'll just get more and better responses on the freshwater forum's.
 
Cloudy is normal, the tank is cycling. The nitrogen cycle is doing its thing since you already have stock in the tank do a water change but not such a huge one. think of it like this every time you do a large water change before your bio gets established you are essentially recycling the tank. With a tank that small it shouldn't take long for your bio to set up in about a month or two you should be smooth sailing. for two gallons take out maybe half a gallon once a week. once the basil roots up and gets established it will start taking up the excess until then your tank needs to get its bio going.

cool Idea though now I gotta try that.!
 
Smallfish - noted. Will probably return the snail as he doesn't seem to be liking his home. The betta seems to bw fine though.
Toolman - will be sure to check it out.
Warrior - this was the advice I think I needed. Will definitely try doing that, thanks!

Also Warrior, everybody, I'd like to add that I had been following a kickstarter for a year & the tank I got is called the "Ecoqube". So the basil wasn't my idea. But yeah, pretty cool if u ask me!
 
Your stock is fine I have nerite/mystery snails in all my betta setups. Bettas are probably one of the most misunderstood fish in the hobby. And Ironically they are tougher than woodpecker lips! But since big box pet stores exploit this fact often times they get mistreated and then you find people on different extremes of the spectrum regarding their care. get your water right and "Gleek and Sir Snail" will be just fine. especially when those basil roots go gnarly in your tank Gleek will be super happy. Just wait and see.
 
Thanks for the time & humbling advice Warrior! I went ahead & did a 25% water change for peace of mind. Took out the fake plant & gonna replace it with a real one to have more life in the tank.
I do have one last question for ya though.
The snail hasn't moved for days & as soon as I isolated him with an algae thin, he went right for it! Any idea why he might be lathargic in the tank? I know they need calcium for their shells.. Should I add a little calcium to the RO water?

Thanks!
 
No worries, as far as the calcium I dont see how it would hurt anything but be advised that in such a small volume of water you really want to be careful with additives. I notice that you mention R/O water a lot in your posts, here is the thing, reverse osmosis removes a lot of the total dissolved solids from water. so in a since you are adding "naked" water to your system and then putting "clothes" on it by adding minerals etc.... if you can visualize that. treated tap-water is fine as it contains minerals. etc... If you just want peace of mind then do this: purchase Spring Water in bulk and use that. Drinking water is just R/O filtered water that they sale for us to drink. It has no minerals unless they have been added for nutritional requirements. Sir snail seems to be reclusive due to the fact that he is being moved can you feed the wafer in the tank he is in? try that and see if he improves. I forgot to ask what is your temp? on this setup? hope this helps
 
I will try and get back to you quickly as I can cause I know you love your critters which is the ethical thing to do IMO, but today is my B day so if I dont get you right away im probably tipsy. we should be ok though I dont have any big plans. Lol
 
So glad I joined this community!
Thanks for the all the advice Warrior. Truly appreciated. & yeah I work for a walter filtration company thats why im so pro-R/O haha sorry. But yes I did realize it is completely filtered... Maybe ill do another water change in a week and just add spring water like youre talking about.
And I just have the tank at room temp.. No heater. Should I get a heater? Whats ideal temp for betta & snail?

& happy birthday!! It's Cinco De Mayo tomorrow man hope you recover from tonight quickly. Haha
 
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