Aquarists unite: fish are friends, and food

Aamry

Aamry

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Xadion said:
What would make a good tank mate for a betta? If you do male+female do they just keep making babies?

Going to get a basic 10gal for the betta... it is the only survivor of one of those 3 tier waterfall beta things.
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There are a lot of good tank mates for a betta. I personally like fancy guppies, because they are non-aggressive, and will breed like crazy to give your Betta fry to eat hah. Best bet is a fast, non-aggressive species, so they can avoid getting their fins ruined.

Any bottom feeder, like corydoras will be good, and will clean up whatever food your betta doesn't catch before it sinks. Avoid pleco's if you don't know the specific species, "Florida" plecos grow massive and will quickly outgrow the 10 gallon. Dwarf neocardinia shrimp do okay, but the betta will harass them for entertainment. I kept dwarf shrimp and a betta in an 8 gallon for over a year, and they did fine together.
 
Siliconemelons

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Aamry said:
There are a lot of good tank mates for a betta. I personally like fancy guppies, because they are non-aggressive, and will breed like crazy to give your Betta fry to eat hah. Best bet is a fast, non-aggressive species, so they can avoid getting their fins ruined.

Any bottom feeder, like corydoras will be good, and will clean up whatever food your betta doesn't catch before it sinks. Avoid pleco's if you don't know the specific species, "Florida" plecos grow massive and will quickly outgrow the 10 gallon. Dwarf neocardinia shrimp do okay, but the betta will harass them for entertainment. I kept dwarf shrimp and a betta in an 8 gallon for over a year, and they did fine together.
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Thanks... I am petco level here...so, basic 10gal kit...I do like live plants so I will try them again...and then the betta, hes red...he outlived all the others... had such a pretty purple blue fade.. :-(

How many little friends should it have? like...6?

I would love to just have a male and female, but I would not have anything to help if they had baby fish... I dont want to kill them, nor let them eat them (lol) .. would the male perhaps be, too old to breed?
 
Aamry

Aamry

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Xadion said:
Thanks... I am petco level here...so, basic 10gal kit...I do like live plants so I will try them again...and then the betta, hes red...he outlived all the others... had such a pretty purple blue fade.. :-(

How many little friends should it have? like...6?

I would love to just have a male and female, but I would not have anything to help if they had baby fish... I dont want to kill them, nor let them eat them (lol) .. would the male perhaps be, too old to breed?
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6 of the same species, making a nice little school, would probably be fine. The rule of thumb is 1 square inch of fish per gallon, but you can stretch that with quality filtration, more water changes, live plants, etc.

The betta will love the live plants, and will probably like a wide leaf to rest on. I highly recommend Anubias Nana (any Anubias really), just superglue them to a rock or something and they will do really well, they just don't like their roots to be buried really.
 
Siliconemelons

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Yeah I had 1 smaller large leaf ( well large as in...about 1.5 the size of the fish.) plant in the little cubes of thier waterfall, they loved them...they would sleep on them etc.
 
lurker

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Aamry said:
6 of the same species, making a nice little school, would probably be fine. The rule of thumb is 1 square inch of fish per gallon, but you can stretch that with quality filtration, more water changes, live plants, etc.

The betta will love the live plants, and will probably like a wide leaf to rest on. I highly recommend Anubias Nana (any Anubias really), just superglue them to a rock or something and they will do really well, they just don't like their roots to be buried really.
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No disrespect, but that should read 1 linear inch or just 1 inch. Other than that, all great advice.
 
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Aamry

Aamry

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lurker said:
No disrespect, but that should read 1 linear inch or just 1 inch. Other than that, all great advice.
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I disagree with the linear inch thing personally. A whiptail catfish that's 9 inches long and a pleco thats 9 inches long have very different body mass, and thus nutrient and waste needs.
 
lurker

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Aamry said:
I disagree with the linear inch thing personally. A whiptail catfish that's 9 inches long and a pleco thats 9 inches long have very different body mass, and thus nutrient and waste needs.
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True. I think that rule of thumb is more directed at beginners who probably wouldn’t have a 9 inch pleco but might try to overload a 10 gal tank with 30-40 fish. If they instead only tried to keep 10 inches of fish (3 swordtails and a catfish, 10-15 neons, etc) they’d have more success.
 
Aazrael

Aazrael

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Xadion said:
What would make a good tank mate for a betta? If you do male+female do they just keep making babies?

Going to get a basic 10gal for the betta... it is the only survivor of one of those 3 tier waterfall beta things.
Click to expand...
Bettas aren't my personal hobby but my GF knows alot about them and breeds and sells them very succesfully. She would say no mates at all for a male Betta, and never a female in the same tank unless you want to breed them and then only during the act itself. The male will (most likely) kill the female if she is in there all the time, or the other way around. If it's a healthy specimen they can harass the female to death.

Now, everyone can do what they want and some have good results to the opposite of what I said. But we have seen that the healthiest Betta males are the ones that go by themselves in a tank. They build nests and flare up and are quite aggressive, as they should be.

But in the end you do what you like and might have good results. Theres lots of cool looking female Bettas nowdays and I would recommend maybe having a female sorority tank with a few of them and also other fish as they don't fight as much.
 
Siliconemelons

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Thanks for the input.

I kinda always thought it would be cool to have a rather long / wide / big & fairly shallow rank with lots of rocks and plants and have a form of "natural" betta environment with a few males and few females... they have to somewhat get along / deal with it in nature... but in nature they have their own little sections and alcoves they live in and have to their own etc.
 
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Aazrael

Aazrael

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Xadion said:
Thanks for the input.

I kinda always thought it would be cool to have a rather long / wide / big & fairly shallow rank with lots of rocks and plants and have a form of "natural" betta environment with a few males and few females... they have to somewhat get along / deal with it in nature... but in nature they have their own little sections and alcoves they live in and have to their own etc.
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This is how we keep the males, 1000mm x 200mm x 200mm tanks, divided in the middle. So kinda like how yoy described besides that ours are on the smaller end. :)

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Siliconemelons

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very nice.

I know for a "natural stream/pond" betta idea, it would be very large / long because they can steak out quite a bit of real estate for themselves or so I read. I was wanting no barriers... because in my mind I always think... how do these things live/survive in the wild? In nature are there only 1 Betta every 50ft of stream? lol
 
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NeverlosT

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She just arrived Bros. 340g AGE masterpiece. Going to be an SPS reef. I'll post more pics once on the stand and with rock and cycling. Equipment coming is epic too. Custom sump/skimmer/calcium reactor from Aquarium Engineering that I designed and Bill built. Gonna be fun.

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Siliconemelons

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I may want some wood also in this tank...

google...how to make your own driftwood...

boil wood constantly for 2-3 days changing water 1/2 every day.

Okay, I will just buy a hunk...

72 hours of boiling to water log a big stick? sheesh.
 
Aamry

Aamry

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Xadion said:
I may want some wood also in this tank...

google...how to make your own driftwood...

boil wood constantly for 2-3 days changing water 1/2 every day.

Okay, I will just buy a hunk...

72 hours of boiling to water log a big stick? sheesh.
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It's more to boil out the majority of the tannins, which stain the water and can be toxic. But yeah, some manzanita or spiderwood is fairly inexpensive.
 
a c i d.f l y

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Aamry said:
It's more to boil out the majority of the tannins, which stain the water and can be toxic. But yeah, some manzanita or spiderwood is fairly inexpensive.
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It's not toxic. You'll get a minor change in pH (0.01, that's actually more stable due to buffering), and it'll change the color of the water. Which is actually better for some fish as it reduces visibility and calms them down. Not everyone appreciates dingy brown water, though. Certain wood will never stop releasing tannins. You can use carbon filtration and water changes till you're blue in the face. I soaked a log in my upstairs bathtub for 6 months, changing the water every few days. Still floats. Still changes the color of the water. Decided not to use that piece.

If you're just looking to sink a piece of wood, it's a lot easier to drill in some large screws with weighted washers on the bottom or back of the wood (where it's not visible). Or attach a heavy ceramic plate to the bottom with screws and cover up the plate with the substrate. Make sure the screws and washers are stainless. Don't want something rusting or leaching into the water.

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Aamry

Aamry

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a c i d.f l y said:
It's not toxic. You'll get a minor change in pH (0.01, that's actually more stable due to buffering), and it'll change the color of the water. Which is actually better for some fish as it reduces visibility and calms them down. Not everyone appreciates dingy brown water, though. Certain wood will never stop releasing tannins. You can use carbon filtration and water changes till you're blue in the face. I soaked a log in my upstairs bathtub for 6 months, changing the water every few days. Still floats. Still changes the color of the water. Decided not to use that piece.

If you're just looking to sink a piece of wood, it's a lot easier to drill in some large screws with weighted washers on the bottom or back of the wood (where it's not visible). Or attach a heavy ceramic plate to the bottom with screws and cover up the plate with the substrate. Make sure the screws and washers are stainless. Don't want something rusting or leaching into the water.

View attachment 287329

View attachment 287330
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To be fair though...

Unsafe woods for use in an aquarium
Cedar (avoid anything evergreen/coniferous)
Cypress
Grape vine – this rots very quickly
Horse chestnut
Lilac – this is poisonous
Ivy – this is poisonous
Pine
Spruce
Walnut
Yew – this is toxic
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From Guide to aquarium wood - INJAF

I would have though Cypress would be perfect for an aquarium, personally.
 
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