GKat250000

Thanks for all the help you guys. My new tank, Eclipse System 6, (Eclipse Hex-5 made my betta crazy with the reflections) will be here any day now. I am going to put down substrate to break up the "mirror" effect of the surface of the water and try some floating plants. (not sure how many plants I might get- also not much of a green thumb, so plastic at first)

What do you think the easiest-to-care for/ best substrate will be? I was thinking beige-colored polished river rocks. Your thoughts?

Thank you!
GER

Drea

I have my VT betta in a 10g, with a 1/2" layer of gravel, then over the top of the gravel are polished glass rocks. They can be bought at dollar stores or craft stores. I've never noticed if LFS/PS carry them. This method gives a smoother top surfave to keep his tail from tearing. IMO the polished river rocks would be ok, but maybe hard to clean I didn't remeber if you had a cave or cubby for your betta, they like those too.....so glad you're not givin up of our hobby

Barbrella

I have several substrates in my tanks, but I do like the plain black gravel in two of my betta tanks. Perfect size for a mini-vacuum, and the fish seem to like the dark substrate.

Did you return the Hex?

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Jendayi

I use small polished river stone in my Eclipse 6 and Eclipse corner 5. It's too big for the boys to eat (and they both tried) but small enough to tumble in my gravel vac. The color is nice and the stones are smooth. So far I have not had any problems in the past several months. This pic shows the rock pretty well (click for bigger version).

COBettaCouple

I like the beige polished river rocks. He's so fiery, he could flare at glass marbles maybe.

0morrokh

Just make sure they're smooth. A thinner layer is easier to keep clean than a deep gravel bed.

janoue

I have the same thing for my boys. I picked them up at wal mart for like 99 cents a bag and OMG they are so easy to clean and they come in so many different colours. I've had no problem with the reflection thing. They are wonderful!
WEll i'm off to clean my boys now.

GKat250000

Do all of you guys have a gravel vacuum (like an Eheim sludge remover, etc.) Is that pretty necessary? Or will a turkey baster do? I just want to do this right. Also, algae scrapers- which kind do you all use? magnetic? With a handle? Thanks.

Drea

I use a gravel vac. I use a two sided handled sponge/scrubbie to take algae of the glass. You might be able to use a turkey baster since your tank is 6g, mine is 10g. Sometimes it works to have more than one method so you can get it done the way you want

Barbrella

To clean algae, I get the little scrubbie sponges made for glass at the dollar store. You can get a few for a dollar!

Here's the kind of gravel vac I have. For a 6 gal aquarium, you can get the smallest size and it's relatively inexpensive:

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Aquarium_Gravel_Cleaner.jpg (11.0 KB, 11 views)

ricktavious

For algae, I use unscented plain white paper towels. Gets it up pretty well.

voiceless_kat

I use a small siphon same as Barbrella, cleans the gravel and removed water relatively quickly. ( have one for each of my 6's, 10's and now 3), but that is probably overkill.

I use algae scrubber on the longer handle, so I can clean the glass top to bottom, and also the back glass without putting my hands into the water, then I just wipe around the top with a clean soft cloth or paper towel. I also use a new toothbrush to get the corners and clean the decs when necessary.

My substrates are either tumbled river rock ( small and smooth); or epoxy coated gravel, very smooth, black, natural, and blue in one tank. I have some large smooth river rocks, or larger smooth glass shells laying around every tank, my bettas like to rest on these.

Good luck, is your fish still flaring??

Val

Jendayi

You'll want to be careful with algae scrapers because the Eclipse tanks are acrylic, and scrapers made for glass will scratch the acrylic badly.

I use the same type of gravel vac that Barbrella posted for all my tanks. Even with a "deep" gravel bed (about 1 inch) it works fine. The way I use it is to dig the tube into the gravel and leave it in one spot until the water runs clear, then move it to a different spot. I do half the tank one week and the other half the next weekly cleaning. You only clean the gravel after your tank is cycled. I don't really use the turkey basters much now that all my tanks have a gravel substrate.

I just use a piece of bonded blue filter pad to clean the algae from the tank. It doesn't scratch the acrylic and it's flexible enough to get into corners. It works on the plants, too, if you use silk ones.

GKat250000

thanks guys, so you let the siphon run into a bucket? How much do they cost? How do you get the waterflow started? And for a 6 gallon tank, how many bags/pound of small polished riverrocks do you think one needs? Do the plants use the riverrocks as "soil" to wind their roots through?

Thanks.

PS Kat, yep, since being in that hex-5 he flares quite a bit more than he did (he almost never flared before). Though he has calmed down significantly now that he's back in a bowl. Thanks you guys! GERRY

Barbrella

Yes, just let the siphon drain the water into a bucket - just a regular plastic household bucket you can find at the dollar store.

Make sure this bucket is used ONLY for the tank and that no soap ever touches it.

The bucket must be lower than the tank, of course. You can start the flow by sucking on the end of the hose while holding it down near the bucket. Yes, you'll get a few mouthfuls of tankwater at first, but you'll get the hang of it.

A word of caution: Bettas are extremely nosy. Make sure you keep a close eye on the vacuum end of the siphon and guard closely against your betta getting sucked up. This happened to me not long ago when my girlie zipped across the tank really fast and got sucked up. Luckily she lived, but was injured.

Jendayi

A five pound bag of rock should be plenty. You might not even use the whole bag if you are going for a thin layer of substrate. Make sure to give it a good rinse to get rid of all the dust before adding it to the tank.

Ah yes, I have gotten several mouthfuls of tank water in the past year. You just spit it out and try not to think about it! lol Also, two of my bettas bite me when I'm siphoning their tanks, but only when I'm not paying attention so that it startles me, the little stinkers...

LuvaBetta

Okay, I'm not big into drinking tank water. This works for me:

1 Hold your finger over the end of the hose. (keep it below tank level)
2 Fill the big suction end with water, lift it up, release your finger briefly 'til the water reaches the end of the hose, then stop it up again.
3 Fill the big tube again and without taking it out of the water, turn it down to the gravel.
4 Take your finger off the end. Drop the end into the bucket and let 'er rip!

You might have to do this a time or two until you get the hang of it. Be sure to keep the end of the hose that you've closed off below the level of the tank.

(Also, step 2 is kind of a test to make sure it's working, you don't always have to do that. I'm not good at it, but sometimes you can just hold the end, fill the big tube, turn it down, and let go of the end.)

And everyone is right - WATCH OUT FOR THE FISH!

COBettaCouple

I'm crazy, but I do it all with a turkey baster. I'm thinking about getting one of those Eheim sludge removers though.

GKat250000

Thanks guys! Bought the small polished river rocks tonight (see below for similar picture of the "kordon's wonder rock" that I bought.)

Question: If I do get a live plant- will its roots dig into the small polished river rocks? I've also heard something about plant fertilizer tablets that the plants sometimes come with.

The guys at the pet store said that I would be wasting my money to put a live plant in a 6 gallon tank. That seems to contradict so much of what I have read here.

Your thoughts on substrate and how plants grow in it are appreciated.
Thanks,
GERRY

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wonder rock.jpg (32.2 KB, 11 views)

COBettaCouple

That's a good substrate choice. I believe that a live plant would do fine with that substrate and you could always go with floating plants like water sprite (popular with Betta) too.

They're definitely wrong at the pet store about live plants in a 6g tank. The 3 6.6g tanks that we have gotten recently have water sprite in them and it's growing like crazy under the natural sunlight FL tubes.

Barbrella

Are petstores employees ever right about anything at all!

If you put a compact fluorescent bulb in your tank, you can grow many kinds of plants.

Here's my 5 gal with 11 watt CF light:

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GKat250000

Thanks Barbrella,

I am thinking of getting some plants from Mike's Wet Pet's. What kinds do you recommend. Again, for a 6 gallon Betta.

Secondly, what do the plants eat? If they are growing into river rock, do I need some kind of soil base underneath it? (would prefer not have one if I can get away with it) How do you and COBettaCouple feed these plants?

Thanks, GER

Barbrella

The plants don't need soil, but if you want to get into plants seriously, most avid aquatic gardeners recommend a substrate like Eco-Complete. They do fertilize their plants, usually with something like Flourish Excel.

However, the gravel you chose will really be fine.

I suggest you start with really easy plants, like dwarf anubias and Java fern and/or Java moss. You don't need to plant them at all. You can tie them to rocks, wood or even terracotta plant pots and they will take hold with their roots and grow.

COBettaCouple

Plants like to eat the nitrates and with the water sprite, all we do is let it float, that's it. No feeding or anything and it's growing wild.

With adding plant fertilizer, look for the most 'natural' and start out with less than a full dose and build up on it - to see how your Betta reacts to it.

GKat250000

thanks guys! If I get a water sprite and a dwarf sagitarrius from my local fish store, should I soak them in snailicide first? Or should I order from Mike's wet pets. I was thinking water sprite, dwarf sagitarius and maybe a java fern? Your thoughts on ordering and the selection. Thanks, GER

Barbrella

You should check your local fish stores first before ordering plants. They usually have the most common varities.

Dwarf Saggitaria and Water Sprite are good choices. Cryptocorne (like Wendtii variety) is also a hardy plant that's quite attractive. They can be a little difficult to establish however.

If you want to add something like shrimps in your tank, Java Moss would be excellent for them.

All these plants (and many others like Ludwigia varieties) will be fine with around 2 watts of light per gallon. Java Fern/Moss can do with much less.

Here's a brief guide showing light levels needed:
http://faq.thekrib.com/plant-list.html

COBettaCouple

I'll usually put plants in a container of treated tap water and clean them, checking thoroughly for snails. I found a few on the water sprite when we brought it home, but that was enough and no snail problems with it. I just try to avoid chemicals when possible.

chickadee

Please do not buy ECO-COMPLETE. Bettas EAT IT! It is small enought to be eaten and they eat it to see if it is food and it plugs them up and they die. I lost a white female to a stomach full of the black stuff. Just get plain gravel if you get anything or if you want something smooth get epoxy covered gravel (Kordon's I believe the brand is) Fluorite is a good plant substrate but you will have to wash it for a hundred years to get it to run clear. It is like washing brick dust off of everything. I just got two shipments from mikeswetpets last week and I put them in the gravel directly from the bag. No rinsing, no dipping, no snails.

That is my nuff said.

Rose

Barbrella

I just got some last week, and I only had to rinse it about 50,000 times.

COBettaCouple

Really? Hmm.. sounds almost as bad as rinsing aquarium gravel.