prairielilly

I have a happy betta in a 3g and a 5g that's currently a QT in which I hope to someday soon put a female betta (and possibly 3 pygmy cories...? another thread)

I thought it would be great to enter the wonderful unknown world of aquatic plants (never been!) with these two small tanks. I could change over the 5g once I'm done using it as a QT, then put betta in there and change over the 3g.

So I know not to use sand with bettas bc they will eat it. I also know they will really benefit from live plants. So what I hoped to do for the plants was get some pond soil and mix it 50-50 with the current gravel (keep that beneficial bacteria!)

Will the betta eat the soil though? and if so, will the plants do ok in just plain gravel?

(recommendations for easy plants are welcome too )

uprightandlocked

I'm looking forward to the answers to these questions because I would like to learn about keeping live plants, as well!

Phinny12

Java Fern is a low light ,Low maintenece plant that is a favorite for Betta Fish. You will not need soil for these plants..they will grow and spread in a gravel substrate.
I would not recomend pond soil in a Betta tank. Very possibly it would contain bacteria and other organisms that could harm your Betta and possibly cause an infestation of planaria in your tank.
If you were setting up an indigenous tank that may be a benificial substrate for thet type of tank.

prairielilly

'infestation of planaria' - yeah let's avoid that please
'indigenous tank' - like an Amazonian biotope do you mean? I am so not there yet (although one day....!)

The light will be the fluorescent that came with the tank. It mimics daylight but I have no idea as to lumens etc. So I guess it would be safe to go with 'low light'. Java fern...would mosses work ok too? and I was hoping for something grassy, or with lots of little leaves. The included picture here is something someone else set up for a dwarf puffer, but that's the same tank as my 3g and I like the look of it.

Attached Images

puffers.jpg (53.4 KB, 12 views)

pinkfloydpuffer

I use EcoComplete in my betta tank, and I've had no problems with it.

Phinny12

Those plants look really nice for Bettas. The Java fern grows pretty thick however it will dissolve in more intense light...and it may overgrow your other plants in a smaller tank. The Bulb that came with your tank should work fine for Java fern if you just the time down to 4-6 Hours a day. are you considering a moss ball?

prairielilly

Do you know where I can buy that in smaller quantities than 20 pounds ($38.99 at Big Al's)? and would you mix that with the gravel still, or no?

then again, 20 lbs...I'd need less than half that for the 2 little tanks...could always do the 20g too...

pinkfloydpuffer

I haven't seen any smaller. I got mine from drsfostersmith.com, I think it was about $30. It has larger pieces that stay on top with the siltier stuff on bottom, so you don't necessarily need gravel.

prairielilly

Hmm, so the current 15-16 hours/day of fluorescent light is less than ideal I see. Am I considering a moss ball...I admit I don't currently know what a moss ball is. I decided this morning it would be great to put live plants in my little tanks. I've never kept live plants before and I admit I've got a lot of learning to do and haven't started my research yet (working on it). That's why I'm thinking of starting this procedure say a month from now....I know I like the little tank in the picture I posted, but I can't identify those plants - yet. What I want are easy to care for plants that stay very small and have lots of little leaves.

Red1313

I've never heard of pond soil (I'm assuming that it's soil formulated to be safe for fish/pond use) so I'll ask the question.
How would it cause Planaria?
(Which, other then knowing is a good betta candy i'm not familiar with it.) According to a quick google search the usual causes are overfeeding, ammonia spikes, and poor gravel vacing. (this site)

prairielilly

Unfortunately Drs F/S want a very large amount of money to ship things to Calgary...($68 shipping for a $7 bottle of Vitachem! sold in Canada at Big Al's for $19). Gotta work with what's available Thanks though.

pinkfloydpuffer

Ah, well that's not very nice of them

Red1313

Wow I was so super ninja'd it isn't even funny.
I'd recommend anubias nana and coffeefolia. If you have a higher wattage I'd suggest red ludwig. I love mosses and those are high on my list of recomendations.
I have horrible luck with Java Fern, the plants just dissovle. (though I do steal plantets before then).
I had something else to add but forgot.
Anyway I've been nija'd by now so I'll post.

prairielilly

Before just now, I hadn't ever heard of eco complete, had to look it up I'd just like to avoid an infestation of anything please given my past fun! I got 'pond soil' from another thread somewhere on this forum, where someone bought that at Malwart and mixed it 50-50 with their gravel. Having kept (house and garden) plants for many years, I'm a little new to the idea of plants being just fine in gravel alone...I feel like they need some sort of 'soil'. Lots to learn I see...this is going to be fun

Red1313

I know that with an El' Natural tank you use pure soil with just a very small layer of gravel on top. I'm planning that for a tank some time.

prairielilly

Yeah I have no idea what you just said. All new. I like this game

Dissolving plants? Probably not so good for Marsha...I think I'd prefer plants that um, don't dissolve...

Phinny12

We Collect Pond water for our Bio labs as it contains planaria. The students make slides of the organisms in the pond water..planaria,volvox.euglena..etc

Red1313

I don't know the leaves turn drown and kinda just fall apart. Since Java fern is well a fern it reproduces asexually by forming little plantlets on it's leave that "fall" off and are good to go wherever you want them.

Check this site out for great aquarium plant info.

The two plants I mentioned: Nana and Coffefolia(sp)

Red1313

Makes sense it's a naturally occurring organism in it's natural environment. I'm just wondering how using pond soil would cause it?

prairielilly

Sooo...just to recap: bettas won't eat eco complete or any other kind of soil? that shouldn't factor into this Major Decision to undertake live aquarium plant-keeping, which I shall begin once I can identify plants that won't dissolve and won't infest anything with planaria or other muglies? My lovely betta's pretty happy in his 3g home and I'd hate to do anything other than make it even better

pinkfloydpuffer

Mine haven't eaten it. And the stuff on top is about gravel-sized. Plus it's organic, unlike sand, so I'm pretty sure it wouldn't block up their digestive tract like sand does.

Red1313

Sounds like it.
If you're still interested in the soil idea try this site.
Good Luck!

prairielilly

I'm guessing that the pond soil would cause the worm infestation if it were collected from actual ponds, and therefore contained the planaria in their natural habitat. I was hoping that whatever I bought would be freshly made and (somewhat) sterile, just intended for ponds/aquariums as its end use. It should be, but that would be worth finding out before I bought something, for sure.

I knew a girl in university that collected water from the roadside ditch near her home in small-town Saskatchewan for her betta tank. She said it was awesome and he was healthy and happy and lived 5 years. I never saw him, don't know if he was healthy or not, don't know if she knew about cycling or anything...I definitely think there's something to be said for using natural materials and mimicking environments but I couldn't use ditch water or soil from real ponds, both may have too many muglies (I know no one's advocating that).

Red1313

lol I wouldn't put anything from the ditch in my area into my tank. I'm in the heart of farm country so if that alone wasn't enough the water is gross (guess what grows really well in ditches of muddy water. )

prairielilly

hmmm....roses and daffodils?

I know, gross! her argument was that was the closest she could find to actual river water. I'll respectfully disagree...

Red1313

I'll leave the ditch water in the ditches. It wouldn't be fair to take it away from the mosquito's.

prairielilly

..or the algae or weeds or bulrushes or ducks...

Red1313

lol all of the above.