Bethy's Last Stand (and more)

**bethyMT** · 11-13-2012, 02:22 PM

Hi everyone! After being on here for a while, and having a lot of information regarding my tanks spread out in many different subforums, I am going to attempt a journal to keep everything together. Pictures are forthcoming.

"Big" Tank: 55 gallon tropical, planted FW. Houses 4 rainbows, 8 black skirt tetras, 5 guppies, 6 otos, and two blue mystery snails. A 48" long LED light fixture sits atop this, a saltwater setup with some simple mods for FW. This tank is also my experimental tank for plants, as I learn what will grow under 36 watts of 10,000K LED light. A hindrance to this is my gravel substrate; this may change.

"Betta Heaven": This is not set up yet. As some of you know, I have been a complete idiot caring for the two female bettas that I have had, and they have sadly died. I can pinpoint my errors, and am going to try one more time. However, my five gallon tank is terrible, I hate it, so I'm taking it down and putting up a 10G. This tank will also have LED lighting (although lower quality/quantity), a plant substrate, and will be populated with low-light plants, a female betta, and hopefully some tankmates if she will tolerate it. This is my LAST STAND as far as betta keeping goes.

I figure some accountability will help me do this right. And it might be interesting for others to read about too. I usually assume nobody cares about what I'm doing...thanks if you're willing to follow along!

**Northerly** · 11-13-2012, 02:33 PM

May I recommend to you the marineland hood with the leds? I use it on my 10g fry tank, they are awesome for the price. I'll probably follow your progress:)

**bethyMT** · 11-13-2012, 02:35 PM

Recommendation taken, Northerly!

I am also curious about using a simple sponge filter as my second filter in the 10g tank. I mean, I'm going to have an airstone anyway. Hmmm...new territory and new experiments (for me anyway).

**Northerly** · 11-13-2012, 02:46 PM

Yeah I would say a sponge filter could offer adequate backup, I'd recommend removing the tube from the top of the filter though as you achieve the same affect, but without an ugly tube sticking up to the top of your tank. Are you getting a 10g kit or piecing one together?

**bethyMT** · 11-13-2012, 02:56 PM

Definitely piecing one together. The 5 gallon I have was a kit, and I hate it...the filter is all right I guess, but I hate the light fixture and the oddball shape of the tank, and the extremely stupid cover. And I'm not fond of acrylic either, at least not in this one. And it's just too...too nano for me. The 50 dollars I spent on it seems mostly wasted.

Ok done complaining! I know more now about how I want the tank done, so I'll do it myself.

**Northerly** · 11-13-2012, 03:05 PM

Good luck:) also, did you mean that the leds on your 55 are "saltwater" leds? If so, have you grown plants with them yet? Been very curious about this sort of thing.

**bethyMT** · 11-13-2012, 05:21 PM

Yes, it's a saltwater fixture...the Marineland reef capable LED. It actually grows plants pretty well, enough for me to have to use ferts and start dosing flourish excel. It's pretty bright. The only mods I have done is to cover up the blue LEDs, as those aren't good for FW. I actually covered them up with yellow and red electrical tape, so I still get some light from them, but it's more a green and purple than the blue.

**bethyMT** · 11-13-2012, 07:29 PM

Pictures of the big tank (first three) and the 5 gallon which is being taken down (last 2):

**bethyMT** · 11-14-2012, 11:39 PM

The five gallon is gone. Thank goodness. I decided to pitch nearly everything that was in it, since I can't guarantee that the reason my fish died wasn't somehow transferred via water and contaminated the silk plants and stuff. The filter and heater had to be saved though, so I bleached them. The waste of money on this tank is making me shudder.

The new 10 gallon has substrate and water and the first filter in it. I'm using the floramax stuff from caribsea...it's weird (my only experience is with gravel). Crunchy and dirty; the water was very cloudy when I added it even though I rinsed it well. The filter seems to be taking care of it though. Upon inspection, I am going to have to augment the light that I have. Looking into a simple 6500K LED light strip to lay on the glass top. Hopefully the combo will be enough for low light plants. The driftwood is soaking now.

It's going to be a while before this tank is ready for any fish. It will be fishlessly cycled with some used filter media. I want to get the layout right first, instead of just being my impatient self and going too quickly.

QUESTION: does anyone know if driftwood is really safe for bettas? The piece I have is kind of a "lump" and it is somewhat jagged. I filed down some of it, and hopefully the shorter fins of the female betta won't be an issue. Does anybody know if this is correct?

**Northerly** · 11-14-2012, 11:51 PM

Not sure about the driftwood or anything, but I really like your 55 gallon! I cant wait to see how that 10 gallon comes out:) And honestly I liked the looks of that 5 gallon as well. Also, you will need some way to keep the BB in the filter media alive when you seed the filter on the on the 10g. I would suggest either dropping food in there to rot, or possibly dosing with ammonia. I've done it by dropping food in and it worked well enough. Just remember to clean well before you add fish(the substrate of course)