"Bookshelf" Aquarium

Jakiebabie

But a betta also needs a heater tho, so be very careful if the tank is plastic/acrylic.

Grimmjow

I wasnt too interested in it till I clicked the link and it actually looks pretty cool.

And honestly, anybody would rather answer any question than see another "help, all my fish died, pet store employee said it was ok" thread, so ask away.

SomeDudeAtHome

Welcome!

I agree with everything that has been said about bettas. I wasn't to into them either until I got one and now I want more haha. They are pretty active fish and have great personalities when kept in a big enough tank. If you check out this link of my betta you'll see what I mean kind of.

http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/b...-school-65629/

About plants I'd say just buy a couple that are relatively low maintenance and see how they do. If you buy some Seachems Comprehensive plant supplement and have good lighting chances are they will do pretty well.

Also using water from your turtle tank to help cycle won't really do much. The good bacteria lives on surfaces of the rocks, glass, filter etc. There's not anything beneficial in the water of an established aquarium.

Blaxicanlatino

yea i think using the old water ffrom the other tanks will help the cylce along. Plants is a whole new ball park in itself. I think that keeping live plants is far more difficult than keeping fish! But once you fail and get it right, it makes the tank look amazing! and keeps it healthier and helps the fish live better

redchigh

Agree with everything mentioned. If you wanted, you could take some gravel or filter media from your turtle tank, and that would help... Or set up the tank, run it, and rinse off the turtle's filter media in the tank right before you add something small... Adding a teaspoon of sugar when you add the 'junk' from the filter will help kick-start it as well.


Do you know the Ph of your water? I would base the decision around that.

There are a LOT of fish that will fit, but many will have to be specially ordered. (petco or pet supplies plus can order them, but they're fairly tiny...)

You could even have a nice little teeny community tank-

6-8 of one of these:
Bororas merah( Dwarf Clown Rasbora, Phoenix Rasbora)
Bororas urophthalmoides( Exclamation Point Rasbora, Sparrow Rasbora)
Bororas brigitte(Dwarf Redfin Rasbora, Chili Rasbora)
Celestichthys margaritatus (Celestial Pearl Danio)
Ember Tetra (Hyphessobrycon amandae)
Pristella Tetra (Pristella maxillaris)

and 3-5 of one of these:

Dwarf Chain Loach (Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki)
Pygmy Cory (Corydoras pygmaeus)

and probably some shrimp, too... Perhaps about 5-6 cherries... If you like centerpiece fish, you could even do the minimums and add a dwarf coral Platy as your centerpiece fish... It'd be the largest one, at a whopping size of 1.5 inches.

The flourescent light would do well with live plants, which would also help reduce the need for a 'cycle', since they use ammonia as one of their nutrients.

Coyote

That's good... I might consider a betta if having more room makes them happier/more active... I do prefer small schooling fish but the rest of my family might prefer the beauty of a betta :)

This seems to be one of those questions that get different answers from everybody, but what do you guys think of tankmates for bettas? Can it be done? Does the tank need to be bigger?

redchigh

tankmates for bettas are possible... Depends on the Betta mostly.

Cories or dwarf frogs do well most of the time... Couldbn't use the dwarf cories I mentioned though. Betta would eat them.

Blaxicanlatino

comes down to temperment. I use to have a male betta in a one gallon planted bowl. BUt as soon as i moved him to a 10 gallon tank, i swear he smiled at me and smiled eversince!!! Anyway... i made the tank into a community tank with neon tetras (schooling fish) and everyone got along great! I have noticed that every once in awhile the betta chased other fish but never killed anyone.

the male betta died (old age) and replaced with a female betta. She didnt chase the fish as much as the male did. BUt i noticed when summer came here in Big O Texas, it seemed she became less tolerant of the other fish in the tank. I noticed that since bettas are slow swimmers, quick fish like corydoras and tetras or any small fish for that matter, she will quickly get tired and stop chasing them.

Coyote

Wow! I woke up to so many new replies... thanks everyone! :D I'll read them all and the links and reply to individual posts in a little bit.

Thank you all for the warm welcome. I'm always afraid to start posting on a new forum because I'm afraid I'll say something stupid and people will make fun of me. But you guys have been completely awesome :)

Blaxicanlatino

ive been on a few forums and one in particular i got cursed at so bad lol XD
This one, i dont even have the inclination like that could happen