Fish Lovers 3.0 [new poll]

[.Middy.]

Yes, gfp axolotls glow under black light. I'll post some pictures tomorrow. I need to get a black light bulb. Octavia is a gfp dirty Lucy so I can't wait to see her glow!

Though I think blue light is actually better than black light if I remember correctly.

[Hime]

i've been wanting to redo my two split ten gallon betta tanks for ages now, and it looks like i'll finally be able to soon! i would really like to finally throw out all the plastic plants and replace them with live ones but i'm having a hard time understanding how the best way to do this would be. my tanks have been setup for a couple months now, i'm worried about doing something wrong and harming my boys or the plants hgngn. so my questions are-

should i add a few live plants at a time or all at once? i'm guessing a few, so i can see how they do before adding the rest in.

i have sand substrate, would that be okay for plants to grow in or would i need a layer of something beneath the sand (like unfertilized soil)?

/runs back to researching

I don't think it matters if you replace all at once or not. Actually doing it in little at time might be better and that way you'll also be able to see which plants thrive and which don't. So you won't accidentally end up with totally bare tank.
Sand is fine as substrate. If you want to use some sort of root fertilizer then there's several kinds of root tab etc which are pushed into the sand near the plant

hmm, so it's alright to stick them in and they won't mess with the water parameters at all or anything? looks like i'll be getting myself some more sand then, too. (': also would you suggest root tabs or something like api leaf zone?

this is turning out to be a lot simpler then i first thought haha

Well, plants mainly eat nitrates and phosphates in cycled tank and since you don't really need lot of those, it should be fine. Only thing that might happen, is that if those two's ratio goes wrong you might get some blue algae
Fertilizer vise it depends a little what kind of plant you are getting, since some don't even have roots or are not planted into the sand. I personally don't have any experience of any root tabs just yet as until month or two back I had long term fertilizer under the sand(long story short it clogged up at some spots, so I took it out). Basically all plants should be able to use you the stuff given in liquid form, but some plants grow strong roots(swords for example) so for those root tabs are usually recommended. But you can probably start off with just liquid fertilizer, personally I've really started to like Easy life's Profito.

[Keletheryl]

A little about myself;
I'm betta obsessed.
It'd been too long since i'd last had a betta, since i'd been having bad luck with them and I didn't want anymore.
RIP Ranger, Nira, Wendigo, and Moose.

Today, I bought a new betta. I thought, it's only fitting i'll be getting a tattoo of a betta soon, why don't I have one?
So... I bought all the supplies... the tank, the plants, everything...



... And meet, King Arthur.



He's housed with three oto's, who he seems curious about, but doesn't chase. Even when they freak out when he comes near. Thinking I might get one or two shrimp to help with cleanup. Since he's so good with the oto's, I figured that if I get some larger shrimp, he'll be fine with them.

[PeachFuzz]

A little about myself;
I'm betta obsessed.
It'd been too long since i'd last had a betta, since i'd been having bad luck with them and I didn't want anymore.
RIP Ranger, Nira, Wendigo, and Moose.

Today, I bought a new betta. I thought, it's only fitting i'll be getting a tattoo of a betta soon, why don't I have one?
So... I bought all the supplies... the tank, the plants, everything...

-snip-

... And meet, King Arthur.

-snip-

He's housed with three oto's, who he seems curious about, but doesn't chase. Even when they freak out when he comes near. Thinking I might get one or two shrimp to help with cleanup. Since he's so good with the oto's, I figured that if I get some larger shrimp, he'll be fine with them.

A word of warning: Most bettas will kill shrimp. That includes bettas who do great with other fish. The difference is your betta doesn't see the otos as prey, probably due to their size and maybe the way they move. Bettas are predators and shrimp are prey. My females are amazing with each other and other fish (neon tetras, endlers, guppies, platys) but when I tried to add shrimp they were all eaten within a couple weeks, and that's in my heavily planted tank that has many more hiding spots than yours.

I'm not saying don't try shrimp, but the simple fact is that the chance of them ending up dead very soon is very high. If you want to get some and see, go for it, but I thought you deserved at least a prior warning.

If you are set on shrimp, there are a couple things you'll need to do with your tank. 1. It needs to be fully cycled and matured for a good 4-6 months. 2. It needs to be HEAVILY planted - no open spaces, no bare patches, no line of sight from back to front or side to side.

[Keletheryl]

I added another ornament which is a log that only my shrimp would be able to fit into. My otos do move the same way as the shrimp, basically very fast. I only got Amano shrimp so it wasn't very expensive, just a tester. And yes I knew the risks when I got them.

[jess32247]

so i might of splurged a little and got myself two new bettas to add to my previous count of four oops. not sorry. |D and because of my lack of self control i'll be setting up another 10g tank later this week! i'm going to completely redo all three tanks so it'll be a work in progress for a while but ahhh i'm so excited<3

i think i'm going to switch over my white mesh dividers for black ones, but i can't decide what type of gravel/substrate would look best with it. i have white sand now, but i'm thinking of eventually changing it to a natural color gravel or black gravel/sand? i can't decide which would look the best with the black dividers while still looking natural.

[.Middy.]

Well my gfp dirty Lucy died yesterday. i bought from someone who got them from a supplier. Apparently the supplier had a fungus problem which the Lucy had. Didn't even show any signs of being sick, just woke up to it dead yesterday.

Treating my wild and tank as soon as I can get the salt I need. I don't think my wild has it, but just want to be safe.

Once I treat, I'll be getting another from a different breeder. Now just need to get the wild to eat better, it is still being stubborn about it.

[Keletheryl]

It's been two days and the shrimp are still alive. King Arthur knows that they are there, but he's only curious of them or will charge them, but they're too fast for them. If they're not hiding, that is. They hide in the back vegetation, where King Arthur rarely goes. So it's working out

Also, King Arthur will feed from my hand! It's pretty cool, and when I stuck my finger in to test the temperature of the water, he kept swimming in a circle around my finger. So closely his fins touched me. Not sure what that means in fish language, but.. I think he likes me?

[Keletheryl]

It's been two days and the shrimp are still alive. King Arthur knows that they are there, but he's only curious of them or will charge them, but they're too fast for them. If they're not hiding, that is. They hide in the back vegetation, where King Arthur rarely goes. So it's working out

Also, King Arthur will feed from my hand! It's pretty cool, and when I stuck my finger in to test the temperature of the water, he kept swimming in a circle around my finger. So closely his fins touched me. Not sure what that means in fish language, but.. I think he likes me?

That's so neat! Watch out though, I know you can give a fish infections sometimes from the bacteria on your hands.

Of course! I only stuck it in there to check the temperature, and as cool as it was that he did that, I won't make him do it all the time.

[PeachFuzz]

It's been two days and the shrimp are still alive. King Arthur knows that they are there, but he's only curious of them or will charge them, but they're too fast for them. If they're not hiding, that is. They hide in the back vegetation, where King Arthur rarely goes. So it's working out

Also, King Arthur will feed from my hand! It's pretty cool, and when I stuck my finger in to test the temperature of the water, he kept swimming in a circle around my finger. So closely his fins touched me. Not sure what that means in fish language, but.. I think he likes me?

That's so neat! Watch out though, I know you can give a fish infections sometimes from the bacteria on your hands.

What bacteria are you referring to? A common practice among goldfish keepers/breeders (including myself) is to hold the fish slightly out of the water for photos/health checks/show. I've been doing this for years and others have been doing it for decades without problems. I'm not aware of any disease other than TB that can be passed from human to fish and visa versa. Of course if the fish has an open wound don't go poking it with bare dirty fingers but that's common sense.