Planning an impulse buy

[Reygan2]

Why not stock the 20 gallon with what you want and leave the betta in his tank?
I’ve never heard of a betta as a centerpiece fish. They CAN be in community tanks, but keep in mind that they don’t do as well long term for a couple of reasons. First, if you have the flow you need in a community tank it will be a bit much for a betta. Second, the busyness of a glow light tetra tank would be stressful for a betta, and third, bettas simply do so much better alone in a calm, tranquil, small environment. Speaking from experience, I can say that the bettas I’ve had in large community tanks don’t do as well.

 

[Darkslide]

I see, on youtube seen videos about people mentioning them as a centerpiece in community tanks but nobody ever mentioned its a problem for their health and well being.

 

[TMaier]

Flow can be a big problem for Betta’s. I’ve kept them in community tanks. You have to make sure flow is low in an area of the tank where they prefer to hang out. And that the other community fish are respecting him and his space. No NIPPY fish.

 

[Reygan2]

Yeah, good surface movement is important for good oxygen exchange for your fish, and that’s typically where the problem is for bettas. It simply creates too much flow and they aren’t strong swimmers. Competing for food is another potential problem. Mine actually learned to come to a certain corner in my tank where I’d feed floating betta pellets to him. It worked fine for a little while, then he started looking tattered. I put him back in his 5 gallon and he was back to normal in no time. You could certainly try it out, I’d just keep a close eye on him. They don’t spend much time swimming around in the water column, so that’s why I didn’t think he would make a good centerpiece fish.

 

[Darkslide]

I'll just keep him in the 5.5g. I just noticed he has a small deform in his fins. The ones on the sides near his head one is bigger than the other.

 

[Reygan2]

My new one is missing one of his too. I didn’t realize how beat up he was until I got him home and checked him out really well. He’s still healing from some sort of fungus on his head. He’s doing well otherwise.

 

[Darkslide]

I went to go turn off the lights on my tank and noticed several small dots on the glass and turns out I have snails in my tank. They came with my banana plants probably which explains why they are browning a bit. What can I do to rid of them so my plants can thrive?

 

[Fresh2o]

I went to go turn off the lights on my tank and noticed several small dots on the glass and turns out I have snails in my tank. They came with my banana plants probably which explains why they are browning a bit. What can I do to rid of them so my plants can thrive?

What makes you think that snails are detrimental to plants? I’ve have various types of snails in my tanks with plants (low tech to high tech) and have not witnessed any of them harming/eating the plants.
There are products you can add (some are copper based) to kill snails. Assuming there are no other inverts in the tank.

 

[TMaier]

Depends on the plant. Anacharis was salad on a stem...

 

[Fresh2o]

Depends on the plant. Anacharis was salad on a stem...

True. But the dermis on a banana plant is different. It is thicker and has the potential for growth above the water line (as seen in the lily pads it produces).
Now if plants are not healthy, snails can take advantage of the dying tissue.

 

[TMaier]

Yep. It took me a while to figure out what types of plants they would eat and what they would leave alone.

I was never able to keep a happy banana plant. They would melt.

 

[Reygan2]

I added 2 nerites to my betta tank 2 weeks ago and wow, they have plowed through the diatoms. My tank is sparkling clean! Even the anubias that was covered! I may have to move one or both to my main tank so they’ll have enough to eat.

 

[Darkslide]

Nice! Where did you get them from?

 

[Reygan2]

Local fish store here. They are awesome little workers.

 

[Darkslide]

So past 2 days my little guy has been sleeping on the heater mounts right next to the heater. Is this dangerous to him? I dunno if I should discourage him or just let him be comfy wherever he wants. Also stopped by petco to checkout their substrates and it turns out dollar per gallon sale was going on, really wish I had extra cash to grab a 29g tank they look better than the 20L imo. Also saw a beautiful betta and had to take its pic.

 

[V227]

I wouldn't worry too much about the Bettas fondness of the heater. My Red Texas Cichlid does the same thing. She positions herself directly next to the heater and a peice of Manzanita wood at some point nearly every day.

 

[Reygan2]

Yeah, they like a place to prop. I’ve found some of the prettiest bettas at Petco.

V227: That’s a really cool looking fish!

 

[KristaButler]

Good luck on figuring it out. I had the same problem once with a betta that just stayed in one spot. I never could figure it out.

 

[V227]

Thanks Reygan. She is a Hybrid fish, really considered a failure among breeders due to the fact she did not fade to a bright red. Instead she has blue pearly scales with red in between.
I think she turned out okay and she is very mellow compared to most Red Texas Cichlids.

 

[Reygan2]

I think she’s gorgeous. So is the other one in the pic.