What do we really need?

Jakiebabie

Yeah for Bettas!! See what happens when you give a Betta a nice big home!? They zoom! I once had one in a 45 gallon. He was King of his castle!! Your story is a prime example of why we need to keep Betta's in bigger tanks. Cause they have big personalities!! And you are also seeing a difference because you have live plants over plastic. That makes a diff too.
Good job!! (is hubby talking baby talk to him?)lol
Be careful not to use a clay pot with a hole in the base.. they can get stuck trying to swim thru the hole.
Yes the Ammonia test strips come separate I believe. You will get Ammonia first... but plants take up Ammonia so getting them is a big step to protecting him from Ammonia burn. You won't see NI or NA for a few weeks I imagine.

Nilet699

IMO the API master tester kit is now singularly the most important thing on your shopping list. whilst you are right, as some one like byron can inform you better of, you may not kill your fish bad water conditions, especially during the cycling period can cause your fish long term unseen damage.

So you need to keep on top of the testing especially early on to keep them levels safe.
As i think i've mentioned before i was doing 50-60% water changes a day early on to keep mine down, sometimes twice.

What did you wash the 5pound bag in? dechlorinated waster? Just you dont want to have washed it in normal tap water and then effectively put chlorine in your tak and possibly killed some/all of your bacteria in the ''live'' gravel. I'm not sure if that would kill it, but i assume it would.

(sorry i just kinda posted the worst case etc on the aboves, but better than going blind IMO)

Now.....

YAY! loving the way it looks, and LOVING the fact that you have a small piece of cabomba floating about- that is the bane of my life! haha.

Bluewind

My goodness you're fast! I hadn't even edited my last post before you replied to it!
(btw, go back and read the rest)

So cute how he reclines on his plant! It's why Betta hamocks are so popular

The water is a little soft, but it will work. pH will work too. Between 6 and 8 is fine, but it is more important to have STABLE pH than perfect pH. Big swings (over 0.2 a day) will hurt and stress your fish. It can even kill them!

Now that you know your chemistry, you can narrow down what fish/inverts will work the best in your tank. Best of luck hun
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Bluewind

*starts handing out pins for AAA: Anphibious Adicts Anonomus*

And yes I know I can't spell! Sue me
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Fishybusiness

Thanks so much for your help everyone! I will be researching his possible tank mates in the coming days (probably tonight lol)...

I'll get that test kit asap. I really don't like the strips. Too much of a range and guessing the #. As I'm sure you guys can tell I'm a bit ...OCD... So I need exact #'s!

We did rinse the 5lb dry gravel several times in dechlorinated water. We added the live one first, then the 5lb cleaned one, planted and then poured dechlorianted water over a plate until we filled the tank. The process was a bit..crazy because we only had a 5gallon clean water bottle so he'd fill it and I'd add the conditioner to each one. Etc... It worked out though. I'm sure I will be there next week spending money on more stuff... Blue wind, I'll be needed one of those AAA pins I think.
Hubby loves his fish... The water got clear too. Seems to be pretty good acctually. I expected it to be a lot cloudier.

Mr. Fish is swimming around zooming and fluttering his little fins. It's so nice to see him so happy. I have to admit I was one of those betta people that kept them in a 5 gallon bowl with a plastic plant. Now I feel bad.

I love the look of the live plants. Would never buy fake now. I'm hooked and they're cheap! Cheaper than fake ones.
Any recommendations on fertilizer?

I'd like to get a timer for the light too.

The background we're using was the old one that came with the tank. In the excitment we forgot to buy one while at the store. It works though. I acctually used vaseline to stick it on there. Any other ways of doing this if it doesn't come with adhesive already?

Jackiebabie... What's the ideal #'s I should be aiming for? You mentioned I won't see Nitriate or Nitrate for some time? Do I want to see it? Still trying to understand this part. Have some more reading to do I guess.

Sigh... Thanks for all your patience with my gazillion and one questions!
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Fishybusiness

Bluewind- we got flakes... The large ones. Ooops! TetraColor plus tropical flakes. Fed him half of one (they're huge) a little after he got situated and the poor thing ate all of it. Honestly, most of the Bettas they had look sick. Very sad. They keep the other fish under great conditions (for a petstore) but the bettas were not looking good. He was the most active and healthy looking one.
Once we get other fish would I still feed him his special pellet food or would there be a general food? I guess I need to wait until we find out what fish we're getting to work that part out?
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Fishybusiness

Oh last thing (geez!)... Even though we're getting a new pump, I'm wondering if this is normal. The part where the filtered water flows back into the tank is kind of like a little waterfall causing current (and some bubbles). Is that normal or should that part be submerged? Maybe we have our water too low.
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Jakiebabie

Awww don't feel bad! I once had a turtle in one of those tiny little pans with the itty bitty plastic palm tree.
My current turtle has a 45 Gallon and is getting a 75gal.

You are looking for 5-20ppm for NitrAte when you get there. Anything higher needs a water change right away.
Yes you will want to set your lights on timers.. you may have to review your light bulbs too.
Do a water changes on day one, then liquid ferts on day 2 and possibly on day 5. Start with once a week but you may have to go to 2 x a week if you are not seeing growth, new leaves or they seem to be melting away. Dechlor negates ferts so don't do them on the same day. I use Seachem Flourish. You planted and de-chlor'd today... so fert tomorrow.

Fishybusiness

Got it. Great! Will send him to the store... Hehe
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Jakiebabie

Yes take your water up to the top. A HOB, hang on back, is sometimes too much for a Betta for that very reason. Another reason why this 10 gallon filter might be fine for him on the 20 gal. He won't want much motion but you also need the water return to break the surface or it will/can go stagnant. The water surface must be broken in some way to prevent that. There are ways to slow the flow down even more... let us know if this 10 gal filter is still too much for him.