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May 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Journal of my Planted Sorority Tank
I figured I should officially put this tank in my blog, lol. I just got my shipment of plants and snails in this week so the tank is looking a lot more filled out. The girls are loving it!
Tank Size: 18 Gallons
Filtration: HOB Power Filter
Heater: Stealth Heater
Lighting: 20 watt Flourescent Fixture (1.1 WPG)
Substrate: White Caribsea Aquarium Sand
Temp: 80 Degrees
Plants: Java Fern, Anubias Nana Narrow Leaf, Alternanthera reineckii, Dwarf Lilies (Nymphaea stellata), Wisteria (rooted and floating), Java Moss, and Cryptocoryne Wendtii "Red".
Inverts: 25 Malaysian Trumpet Snails
Fish: 7 Female Bettas (Tink, Arya, Sprite, Crysta, Pixie, Galadriel, Arwen) | 
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May 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Omg! It looks AMAZING!
I'm so scared to try live plants. | |
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May 20th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Hi Kate
your tank looks amazing! I bet the girls love all those nooks and crannies.  I love all your plants and that driftwood decoration is fantastic, is that a real root, wow really nice your little girl in the last photo with the dark tail fin, and the white around the edge is gorgeous!  Best of luck with the little beauties...  | |
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May 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| I like the look, beautifully done. Just the sand? I don't have sand but some say it vacuums nicely as all poop sits in top of it and easy to suck, with yours is this true??
Love the tank MissMTS!
Dave | |
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May 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Amanda  Omg! It looks AMAZING!
I'm so scared to try live plants. | Thanks Amanda Don't be scared to try live plants. Plants like Java Fern, Anubias, Anarchis, and Java Moss are almost impossible to kill. Once you start with plants though, it becomes quite addicting  Quote:
Originally Posted by capekate Hi Kate
your tank looks amazing! I bet the girls love all those nooks and crannies. I love all your plants and that driftwood decoration is fantastic, is that a real root, wow really nice your little girl in the last photo with the dark tail fin, and the white around the edge is gorgeous! Best of luck with the little beauties... | Thanks Kate The driftwood decoration is fake, but I love it that everyone thinks its real  The girls do love all the nooks and cranies, but as soon as I walk up to the tank they pop out of their hiding spots and come say hello. Its too cute...one of the girls likes hanging out inside the driftwood decoration, so she burrowed a hole in the java moss so she can get in and out. The girl you mentioned looks just like Miss Piggy, but she has a curly top fin. She is super cute. I am so tempted to try adding Miss Piggy to the tank, but  nooooo I don't think that would work Quote:
Originally Posted by djbrist I like the look, beautifully done. Just the sand? I don't have sand but some say it vacuums nicely as all poop sits in top of it and easy to suck, with yours is this true??
Love the tank MissMTS!
Dave | Thanks Dave The sand is really easy to clean. I added a colony of Malaysian Trumpet Snails to the tank because the burrow in the sand and turn it over from time to time which keeps it from getting gas pockets. | |
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May 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| it looks wonderful and your girls are beautiful! | |
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May 26th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Thanks Alex I am actually starting to think that they really enjoy eachothers company. A lot of times they just swim up to eachother and kind of check eachother out and say hello and then go about their business. They never chase eachother, nip fins, or anything.... I hope it stays this way. | |
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May 26th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| That's great. I hope they stay that way too. That must be a fun tank to watch. | |
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May 26th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Beautiful tank Kate dear! Sorority tanks are so much fun! I've found that my girls are also perfect companions to bottomdwellers, maybe because they're used to having company. But they've never ever had a go at my cories.  And so the cories are all happy and swim all over the place and never get bothered. | |
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May 26th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucy That's great. I hope they stay that way too. That must be a fun tank to watch. | Thanks Lucy Its a really fun tank to watch. I don't know why, but whenever I go up to the tank, I have to count them. I guess its just me being paranoid, lol. Quote:
Originally Posted by pinkfloydpuffer Beautiful tank Kate dear! Sorority tanks are so much fun! I've found that my girls are also perfect companions to bottomdwellers, maybe because they're used to having company. But they've never ever had a go at my cories. And so the cories are all happy and swim all over the place and never get bothered. | Thanks Pink I'm glad your girls are still getting along so well, and I hope that they stay healthy with everything you have had happen these last few days. Hmmmm cories....that's an idea Like I need to buy more fish right now  | |
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May 28th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Well the tank sprung a leak today  That's the last time I buy a tank off of craigslist. Anyways, I upgraded to a 20 high, so I have to move everything over when I get home from work tonight.... | |
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May 28th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Oh no, that stinks! I hope things work out with the new tank. I was wondering if a 20 long would be beter for a sorority tank.  | |
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May 28th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| That's bad news. Sorry to hear it.
When you get your 20H going the way you like, I think you should look into cryptocoryne retrospiralis. It's as easy to grow as your wendtii, and would make an excellent mid- to background plant for a 20. Just a thought. | |
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May 28th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by harpua2002 That's bad news. Sorry to hear it.
When you get your 20H going the way you like, I think you should look into cryptocoryne retrospiralis. It's as easy to grow as your wendtii, and would make an excellent mid- to background plant for a 20. Just a thought. | I've seen people selling those on aquabid, but I haven't found any locally. They are gorgeous plants though I would love to add some to my tank at some point. Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucy Oh no, that stinks! I hope things work out with the new tank. I was wondering if a 20 long would be beter for a sorority tank. | Hi Lucy I know I was bummed. The good news is, I get two extra gallons (I know its not a lot, but its something) so maybe I can add a small school of dwarf cories of something. I thought about getting a 20 Long, but I would have had to replace the stand, hood, and light which I can't afford right now. The tank is very heavily planted though and the girls use all of the levels of the tank so hopefully this will work long term....we'll see You know how fiesty those girls can be | |
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May 28th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| The bettas I have kept (males and females) have never been aggressive toward small cories- I kept pygmaeus for a bit. You may be ok to add a few; it appears from your username that you would have a "plan B" should it not work out.
As for the retrospiralis, I can get it locally, but IMO it is totally worth buying from Aquabid if funds permit. I've kept it for several years and it's been one of my favorite plants. | |
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May 28th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Absolutely beautiful job on the tank Kate! Sorry to hear it sprung a leak. I'm sure the 20 high will be every bit as lovely and enjoyable for you and your betta girls (I really like their names)
Your smaller root decoration is the same one I've got - it looks lovely with live plants on it. Hmmm...ideas....hmmm.... | |
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June 9th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Update
First of all, Marsha and Harpua, thanks for the nice comments
When I moved the tank into the 20g High, I rescaped the plants a bit. Some of them got moved into my 10 gallon guppy tank. One of my crypts totally melted when I took it out of the tank. I added a giant bunch of needle leaf java fern which I think really helps fill in the tank. I also tied the anubias onto the driftwood instead of keeping it in the substrate. Well here's the pic (sdrry for the reflection). Let me know what you guys think | |
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June 9th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Very nice! | |
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June 9th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Looks great Kate!!! | |
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June 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| I would love to start my own sorority tank one day... these picture only make me want one even more. Now I hear that a sorority tank works out best when all the females are siblings... true? | |
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June 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| It looks lovely Kate (I still want one...) Quote:
Originally Posted by TFA101 I would love to start my own sorority tank one day... these picture only make me want one even more. Now I hear that a sorority tank works out best when all the females are siblings... true? | That's what I've been told, yup betta sorority? | |
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June 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| It looks great!! | |
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June 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Thanks everyone I like the needleleaf java fern a lot because it gives the tank some consistency instead of just looking like there are a ton of random plants stuffed in there.
TFA101, yes that is true. My girlies are siblings and I have never had so much as a nipped fin in my tank | |
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June 11th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| aww, what a shame... I'm more of a sucker for the cup bettas | |
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