Betta's 2.5 Gallon Tank

We need an updated pic!

I had micro sword in both my betta tanks and it seems to be doing pretty well. I took it out of my white tank and put it in my 38 g build. It was too hard to keep the white sand looking clean around the sword. My sand is really fine. But it's doing really well in my black tank. It can be harder to plant in the coarser substrate. But I like it. It looks like little sprigs of grass here and there!
If you want something that will do something of a carpet, I hear S reopens might work in low/mid light. I haven't tried it yet. But you might look into it.

 

Okay, pics then!

The full tank. Filter got moved to the right side of tank, while the heater was moved to the left.
Bad pic of Oscar. He's so hard to get a pic of! Never stops wiggling.
The ramshorn. He hasn't laid any eggs and seems to eat more algae than the MTS. Fast little thing too.
The rock that I was thinking about tying some Java around. The green is a bit ugly, and I hate the Anubias roots.

We need an updated pic!

I had micro sword in both my betta tanks and it seems to be doing pretty well. I took it out of my white tank and put it in my 38 g build. It was too hard to keep the white sand looking clean around the sword. My sand is really fine. But it's doing really well in my black tank. It can be harder to plant in the coarser substrate. But I like it. It looks like little sprigs of grass here and there!
If you want something that will do something of a carpet, I hear S reopens might work in low/mid light. I haven't tried it yet. But you might look into it.

S Reopens? Lol, was that autocorrect or an actual species name? I'm intrigued

 

ugh autocorrect! S. Repens. Lol

And I can't see the videos

 

ugh autocorrect! S. Repens. Lol

And I can't see the videos

They show up as videos for you? They're imgur links- let me try something different and see if I can fix it.

Try it now, set it to links to the site

 

They work now! It's looking great! Oscar really is looking good too! And the green algae really doesn't look bad! At least it's not brown! The fake cave I have in one of my tanks had green coloring on purpose! Lol. I guess to make it look more realistic!


Arizona had to photobomb!

 

I think it's really neat how our tanks are so similar! White sand, white rock, 3 green plants, and a red fish! Biggest difference is my floating plants and my two color fish!

Edit:
Oh and here's the micro sword in my other tank.

 

Looks great! Yeah, the similarites are pretty funny!

The green algae really doesn't bother me too bad, it's the Anubias roots. They're just ugly to me lol, and I've read of people using moss to cover them up. We'll see!

The Blue-Green algae has died wayyyy back from what it was at, but it's still there. Kinda looks cool tbh, it's almost fluorescent under the LEDs!

The Micro sword does look good, although I'm looking for something that'd grow in a bit thicker. What kind of plants do you have in Arizona's tank, aside from the Anubias? They're beautiful!

The species you gave me earlier looks promising, if I can find a place to buy some!

Scratch that, Petsmart carries it! I may be going to petsmart soon...

 

In Arizona's tank (white) I have an amazon sword, Anubias Nana, and a crypt (don't know which one though). I got them all from petco and petsmart. I like the ones from petsmart better. The ones from petco come with the roots all wrapped up in thread! Weird! Takes forever to get it off. I had a crested java fern, but I accidentally let it dry out. And an "Asian water fern" that wasn't actually aquatic. It was turning black so I removed it, but it was the prettiest. I also had crystalwort moss on my cave, but I didn't like it so I took it out too. I also had frogbit in here, but it was dying so I replaced it with the lettuce.

I have a lot more in Indiana's tank (black). Rosette sword, ozelot (sword), wisteria (I didn't like it at first but the new growth is really neat looking!) lots of java fern(I thought I was getting different plants, one was labeled tropical fern, but it's a java. It has produced like 10+ babies I put in my 38 on my driftwood!) and three crypts(these look different from the one in the other tank), and java moss on the driftwood too, along with the micro. Since I started using root tabs everything is growing a lot more. Especially the wisteria! I had some anacharis but it melted and I pulled it out. I also have floating dwarf water lettuce in all my tanks. I started out with about 10, and boy have they multiplied! This is about how much I started with. Edit: that's the new wisteria growth on the right.




This was all in one 5 gal tank!





And these are the roots in my 38 gal!




This is the one crypt. It's by a root tab and has doubled in size.




This is the other crypt, it's leaves are brown, and not from algae. They are smaller even though they are close to a root tab too




These are all the baby java ferns I took out!




And the crested java I dried. I'm trying to get it to come back, but if not maybe I'll get some babies from it!




All of my planting has been trial and error! If something dies, I pull it and move on, if I don't like it, I'll move it or pull it.

Sorry to bombard you with photos!

 

Looks great!

I'm thinking about running out to my LFS and Petsmart to pick up some new plants after I get my stand done. Building a 4' long stand for my tank and shrimp jar... making room for (hopefully) a larger tank in the future! Or many small ones. I really, really like my shrimp jar lol. So fun to watch!

Anyway, how have the Java Fern been growing? I love the color, and I've been thinking about maybe putting 2-3 stems of it next to the Anubias (glue it down behind the rock so it looks to be growing up out of the rock) and seeing how it does. So far, I've had pretty decent luck with most of my plants. My banana plant was dying until I put it in with my shrimp. For some reason it got healthier in a much lower light, stagnant, cooler water setup than in a heated high light tank.

 

I haven't seen a whole lot of growth in the ferns themselves, just lots of babies. They pop out of the backs of the leaves.

New tanks are always exciting! I haven't delved into shrimp though.

 

Shrimp are great! My jar isn't cycled, just gets weekly WC's and they're thriving. I feed them a pea a week, and they usually scavenge on whatever else they find in the meantime.

New tanks are great! This is pretty far off though lol, getting ready to turn 16 and I'm also saving up for a car... so tanks will be put on the backburner soon enough. Kinda the reason why I'm getting everything I need now!

 

Oh, I remember 16...almost 20 years ago! My first car was a 1988 Dodge Ram conversion van. Just google it! Lol. Then my dad bought me a new Ford Focus when I was 17.

 

Nice!

Lol, I pretty much got told I could use my money however... But I had to buy my own stuff!

I may be getting a hand-me-down 2001 Camry, but I'll probably end up having to buy one. I'm alright with it, as I have a decent cash flow, but rural KY isn't the easiest place to find running cars in!

 

Been a while since I posted on here, so I thought I might as well do an update.

I'm going to the LFS to pick up some plants and hopefully some RCS for my shrimp jar. Might even be heading out to Petsmart to pick up some S. Repens as suggested last week. I've spotted a clutch of eggs on the water line, so I think I'm going to remove most of them and leave 1-2. I think they're Ramshorn eggs.

The algae has died off quite a bit due to a failed light timer and a 3 day blackout, yet it's still present... Hard stuff to put down!

Ammonia,Nitrite, and Nitrate are still reading 0/0/0. So I'm going to buy myself another Test Kit today as well. I don't think mine has gone bad, but it makes me nervous. Oscar has been doing well, and is enjoying having a cycled tank. Proof that even "experienced betta keepers" can be wrong

As always, if anyone has suggestions on what I can do to make the tank a bit better, let me know! Pics probably coming tonight.

 

Okay, so I got everything I went after except for the RCS and the Test Kit.

I've been planting for the last hour... and I've gotta say, planting S. Repens is pure (insert word that would mysteriously disappear after I posted it). It won't stay planted in the Nat Geo sand (have I mentioned that I hate this sand?), and tends to be so light, it floats as soon as the air bubbles form on it after put into the water.

The portion I got was too big, so I had to throw some away, sadly enough. However, what I managed to get into the tank looks great. The Java Moss I got also looks pretty nice (the fishing line is painfully visible, however I think as it grows the line will get covered up). I also got some Moss for my shrimp, and they've got it picked pretty clean already

- Full tank shot. Not everything has settled yet, so it's still kinda cloudy.
- S. Repens. With my sausage fingers, took me 4-5 minutes to get each stem planted. Awful lol. However, its pretty and I think it'll do well in the tank.

 

Like it! . I can't find repens local so I'll have to order online. I'll take your leftovers!

 

Thanks! Lol, I'd send them to you but they're outside in the compost pile lol. You can't find it local? Petsmart carries huge portions of it tissue-cultured.

 

I didn't see any at petsmart the other day. I got some compacta though. Petco has a pretty decent plant tank, but they had a very fuzzy dead glass catfish in there. I was afraid to get anything! Also had a Baka shark COVERED in ich. I guess it's luck of the draw. I'll keep a lookout.

 

The nearest Petco is about 2 hours away, so I've never been in one. Luckily, my LFS and Petsmart are about 5 minutes from eachother, so I can usually get stuff from both places in one trip lol.

I think you can get Repens from tons of online dealers pretty cheap, as I thought about just getting it that way. I also almost came home with a micro sword... but I talked myself out of it. The tank is getting pretty packed (I can't really get my hand to the substrate without taking out plants and/or the rock) so I think I'm about stocked until I find a floating plant that I like or upgrade to a 10 gallon.

 

I like the floating water lettuce. It's quite pretty . Doesn't hurt that it flourishes in my tank!

 

Water Lettuce? I'll look around for some. Thanks!

 

So I FINALLY got a Nitrate reading this morning. Now reading 0/0/5. I stirred up a bunch of mulm the other day when I added all the new plants in, so I'm assuming that's why.

New plants seem to be doing well. The java moss is... being mossy. Its not dead yet at least lol. The S. Repens is soooo annoying! It has no roots, so until it roots you more or less have to replant it every day because it just floats up. Ugh!

So, my swords aren't looking the greatest. I don't think they're dying, and they seem to be getting pretty decent growth, they just don't look very good. I have been dosing Flourish and using Flourish tabs pretty much right under both of the swords, so its not a micro nutrients issue. It seems as if there's brown "cracks" in the leaves, and I was wondering if that signaled some type of deficiancy or something. I've also been seeing slow growth out of the Anubias, and haven't seen a new leaf out of it in a few weeks. It however, looks healthier than ever thanks to the decrease in algae.

 

- Here's a pic of the issue I was talking about this morning. On the very center leaf, you can see that brown "cracking" (the leaves aren't actually cracked, they feel healthy). It seems to affect young leaves and disappear with age, but I've also seen it near the base of the older leaves as well.

 

The new plants are settling in nicely. I saw a sort of "melt" out of the java moss the first few days, but it's quickly come back and has grown a bit and become noticeably greener.

The S. Repens that made it into the tanks have tiny roots starting to grow, so I think in another week or of settling in they'll stay planted (I've been spending 30 minutes a day replanting plants...). They've become paler though, and I'm trying to decide if that's them adjusting to the light, the emersed leaves dying off, or maybe if they're just supposed to look like that in a tank.

There's now almost no noticeable algae in the tank (with the exception of some GSA on the glass) and the Anubias and both swords have new leaves. Everythings looking good! Seems to be shifting into a bit more of the "established" phase.

 

Yeah, I've got the filter turned down as far as it'll go, and enough media in there to slow it down to a trickle (he swims straight into it with no issues)

I know bettas are renowned for being extremely aggressive, but when I redo his tank, is a clean up crew out of the question? IE maybe a Nerite and possibly a ghost shrimp or two? If not, me and my handy tooth brush have got it covered

In all my Betta tanks I've kept a small pleco or even ottos with them in the larger planted tanks I've had. Never had a problem.

Depends on your bettas temper though and what he'll stand for. A Betta a shrimp and a moss ball are always a safe bet for me when feeling my guys out.

 

In all my Betta tanks I've kept a small pleco or even ottos with them in the larger planted tanks I've had. Never had a problem.

Depends on your bettas temper though and what he'll stand for. A Betta a shrimp and a moss ball are always a safe bet for me when feeling my guys out.

I actually tried some Ghost Shrimp (posted about it later on in the thread) and they lasted for a single night.

To be fair, I think it had more to do with bad water parameters at the time (I had some Nitrite and ammonia), however the betta chasing them around the tank didn't help. He's perfectly happy with some snails now lol.

In the future, with a bigger tank and more hiding spots, I'd love to try again with the shrimp.

 

Just water changes. Do you have prime? It works great with stability and will detoxify ammonia and nitrite up to 1 ppm. You prolly know that though. They like live plants.

I love my bettas and I haven't had them long.

Arizona. He just got a new tank setup today.




I love the rock cave center piece

 

Update time!

The S. Repens have begun to grow roots, and tomorrow I'm gonna do a large WC (again) and try to replant all of them. Pretty plants!

The dead portion of the java moss has melted and new, green growth has taken over. I haven't seen much increase in size, but it's gotten thicker.

The Anubias is unfurling a new leaf after a month of nothing, so that's pretty exciting! It's becoming one of my favorite plants, just because it's so easy to watch grow.

The swords are both still growing like weeds. However, they still have that brown "cracking" pattern. I don't know if its may a species thing, or if it's a deficiency. I think I posted a pic of it above somewhere.

Oscar is doing well, I think he's definitely enjoying the new plants. He's taken to resting on the moss, almost like it's a bed!

Still no algae issues. Pretty exciting!

Stopped with DIY Co2 last week. I was getting good results, but it wasn't worth the trouble. Maybe in a larger tank with more plants.

Today was spent setting up a pico Saltwater tank, so I didn't get to enjoy this tank much today. I'll definitely post pics tomorrow after the WC!

 

So after almost frying my Saltwater tank overnight, the heater that was in the Saltwater tank is now in the betta tank.

It's at 78F right now, so I think it was a good decision.

 

Looks great! When I first saw this thread's title, I thought you were keeping an oscar in a 2.5 gallon lol

 

Yeaaaaah I get that a lot

 

I chuckled...

 

How's Arizona, Angel?

 

He's improving thanks for asking!

 

Good to hear! It looks like he had a pretty bad case, poor guy. I'm glad he's getting better

 

WC and replanting is gonna wait till tomorrow, as I've more or less been taking care of tanks all day and I'm done with it for now lol

 

Got everything I wanted to do done.

Did a 50% WC, dosed Flourish, and replanted all of the S. Repens. Whatever I couldn't get to stay in the sand got thrown into my shrimp tank.

Tank after WC -

and a bonus pic of my shrimp tank -

I like the wild look of it. I had some order in it, but the plants in there have grown so quickly that I had to just break it up and let it grow how it wanted to.

 

Looking good! I like the wild look too!

 

Thanks Angel!

 

Decided to up the lighting period a bit. Only been getting about 7 1/2 hours split across the day, upped it to 9.

I also turned the filter flow up a little bit, trying to get a bit more circulation in the tank, as the detritus build up is becoming pretty noticeable.