Rae88
- #1
I joined up here about a year ago on my venture into my first betta tank. Needless to say, it didn't go so well. We hit a lot of snags in the road for different reasons. Our first fish was great, but died from ammonia poisoning. The ammonia test kit I had appeared to be faulty and was giving me okay readings when in reality it was actually pretty toxic. We sorted the water out and got another fish a while later, but he didn't live very long. He didn't seem like he was the healthiest fish when we bought him, so why he got clamp fin we're still not sure. It happened while I was away on vacation and someone else was taking care of him.
My local pet store has some very experienced fish keepers working there, and the head of the department told me these things can happen and I did well for my first time. However, there were some things I learned.
Don't get cocky. I opted for super fine grained black sand for my first tank. I thought it would be better for plants even though I was warned it can be tricky for beginners to clean. They were right. My sister said when she was caring for our fish that she felt I wasn't properly cleaning the edges of the tank and it could have contributed to some mould or dodgy water parameters. This time I opted for stones to try and make it as easy as possible for myself.
Secondly, I just had a very basic sponge filter as I had read they were easiest for bettas with big fins. I'd also read others on these forums who had had difficulty keeping well maintained tanks with the sponges alone. After my experience, I think I agree so I went out and bought an Marina i25 this time around.
So, I set up the new tank last night. I upgraded it from an 18 litre to a 30 litre. Although 30 is still smaller, I felt like the 18 litre was very very hard to maintain because it was so small. I washed the stones, I cleaned the old tank equipment with vinegar and I set up the new filter. I added Seachem stability as a water conditioner and to help speed up the tank cycle, although I won't be rushing that this time. I added live plants - we have a crypt, java fern, anubias and a lindernia. The anubuas is currently just floating. I need to get some drift wood to tie it down.
Going to add stability once a week as per instruction and add a little bit of food after about a week as my pet shop instructed to add bacteria to help the cycle. At what stage should I begin taking water parameter readings? I know I need to watch for the ammonia spike and then the nitrate spikes before I can consider the tank cycled and ready for a fishy friend.
Wish me luck! I'll upload pics later, file type doesn't seem to be supported.
My local pet store has some very experienced fish keepers working there, and the head of the department told me these things can happen and I did well for my first time. However, there were some things I learned.
Don't get cocky. I opted for super fine grained black sand for my first tank. I thought it would be better for plants even though I was warned it can be tricky for beginners to clean. They were right. My sister said when she was caring for our fish that she felt I wasn't properly cleaning the edges of the tank and it could have contributed to some mould or dodgy water parameters. This time I opted for stones to try and make it as easy as possible for myself.
Secondly, I just had a very basic sponge filter as I had read they were easiest for bettas with big fins. I'd also read others on these forums who had had difficulty keeping well maintained tanks with the sponges alone. After my experience, I think I agree so I went out and bought an Marina i25 this time around.
So, I set up the new tank last night. I upgraded it from an 18 litre to a 30 litre. Although 30 is still smaller, I felt like the 18 litre was very very hard to maintain because it was so small. I washed the stones, I cleaned the old tank equipment with vinegar and I set up the new filter. I added Seachem stability as a water conditioner and to help speed up the tank cycle, although I won't be rushing that this time. I added live plants - we have a crypt, java fern, anubias and a lindernia. The anubuas is currently just floating. I need to get some drift wood to tie it down.
Going to add stability once a week as per instruction and add a little bit of food after about a week as my pet shop instructed to add bacteria to help the cycle. At what stage should I begin taking water parameter readings? I know I need to watch for the ammonia spike and then the nitrate spikes before I can consider the tank cycled and ready for a fishy friend.
Wish me luck! I'll upload pics later, file type doesn't seem to be supported.
