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UPDATE: Barry The Betta


d0rift

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Hello everyone!

It’s been a while since my intro post but would like to tell you about my Betta and tankmates.

I started with Barry the Betta in a 12L tank, heater and Aquaclear 20 HOB filter. With Barry’s new tank setup I got him some live plants.

I didn’t plant them and left them as they came from the LFS. My ambulia died but my other one survived (I think its pink baby tears?).

I had chosen these plants on impulse, didn’t know their names nor if they were appropriate so I went on to do some research.

I then bought a Anubia nana potted, a Corkscrew Val, and some java moss planted them in some gravel I placed into a horizontal vase-type

thing I got from IKEA. Barry was quiet happy. I soon felt I wanted to give him some tankmates and realised a 12L would not cut it.

I bought some cherry shrimps from a seller on gumtree, upgraded to a 2ft 60L (with stand and light) I got from another seller,

bought an Eheim 2215 and Resun CL-280 chiller from ebay. I set up the new tank with a DIY CO2 generating substrate which some of you may be used.

I then decided to get some more plants. Since I got some free driftwood from one of the sellers, I bought the following plants:

- Bareroot Anubia Nana to split and attach to mini clay pots and driftwood

- Java ferns

- Thin Val

I planted the Thin Val and Corkscrew Val in the background, attached the moss to some smaller pieces of driftwood and laid them towards the front.

Now, I was ready to cycle the tank. I decided to go with the fishless food method. At my disposal were algae wafers I had bought to feed the Cherry Shrimps.

I quickly witness the cloudy, bacteria bloom which I was quite pleased with. Two things that followed not so much.

I noticed on the algae wafers I was using to feed the tank had a web-like bacteria growing on it. When I removed it, the water that accompanied it was smelly.

I also started to notice little white dots thats darted around my tank, mostly on the glass. I’m pretty sure they are not anything to worry about from my research.

After cycling, I decided to populate my substrate with some blackworms from the LFS. I had read they may be beneficial. Even so, I quickly realised it was a huge

mistake as when I introduced Barry the Betta, he started eating and didn’t stop. I had to return him to the 12L until I knew how to deal with the worms.

Around then I started noticing some small snails. I believe they are ramhorn snails. I also noticed some areas of my substrate becoming dark in colour

(not on the surface but in lower levels).

Currently, I have 3 of my cherry shrimp in the tank, Barry (enclosed in a makeshift box to keep him from the rest of the tank), 3 Panda cories and 3 Sterbai cories.

The cories are only a recent addition which was planned but I also hoped they would eat some of the blackworms.

I also have a few questions as I’m not 100% that my research has confirmed:

1) Should I be worried about the tiny white dots and web-like bacteria that formed during cycling?

2) What about the snails? I dont mind having them as long as it doesn't destroy my tank in any way.

3) Some people say the black substrate is just due to it “cycling”, others say its anaerobic, what do you say?

4) Should the cories deal with the large amount of blackworms?

5) Some sources suggest having more than 3 of each species of cory. If what I already have is ok, I’d probably keep it like so but otherwise,

how many more cories can I realistically add? Is there enough space for potentially some tetras too? (though I'd rather be under than overstocked)

There are probably many things I have left out but its a quite long post already. I hope someone reads it! lol

Cheers,

Ray

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That's awesome, quite a jump from a 12L to a 2 foot tank and not only that, all the other stuff you put in it!

The general advice I've received about corys is, the more of them you have, the better, since they are a schooling species.

I have 6 corys, 3 of which are pepperred corys and 3 are pandas. I find that both species corys will occasionally hang out together but not often. And even so, I have also observed that my peppered corys seem to have paired off, leaving one peppered to hang out on its own a bit. Not really sure what's going on there, maybe the pair is a male-female mating pair.

The 3 panda corys on the other hand usually hang out together as a group of 3.

So I would just keep an eye out on your corys and see how they interact maybe.

If all I had were the three peppered corys and no pandas, I would get at least another peppered to keep that single peppered cory company. But since I've got 6 of both types of corys, it 'looks' ok.

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Some pics

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_lTHFNnF-AkNmExMjhjYmQtZjdmMi00Y2YzLThkZjYtZmI2MDZiMDFhMmE4

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_lTHFNnF-AkMWQ4ZjMzZDAtNDRhMC00ODNjLWFmNTgtNWY5OTQwNjVjMzU0

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_lTHFNnF-AkZGEyN2M1MTUtZDA3My00MWQzLWFiNTgtN2Q3MzJiNzZhMzRj

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_lTHFNnF-AkMDEyMWEwNTItNTUxNS00NGYxLWE3M2MtOWEyNzg2YjUzNTkw

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_lTHFNnF-AkMjA2MTM2NjktYmY0Yi00ZjA2LThjY2YtYTAwZTVmNGNiZTE4

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_lTHFNnF-AkYTUxOTAwOTYtOTdmYi00MWQwLWIzY2QtY2Y2OWUxOTRlYTli

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_lTHFNnF-AkNDRlYTUzNTYtMTQ4Mi00YjEyLTllZjEtNjA4NTY3ZTZlY2Vm

Also Tested Water params a day after adding the cories:

Ammonia: 0ppm (on second thought, it might be 0.25ppm)

Nirite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 5-10ppm

It seems my tank is properly cycled. I was expecting nitrate to be used up by the plants though. Any ideas anyone?

Also I am pretty keen on getting more cories but would any more be overstocking the tank (I'm thinking of the 1 inch per gallon rule)

I noticed most of the blackworms are gone so thats one problem =)

Anyone have a comment on the black substrate, white dots, web-like bacteria?

Edited by d0rift
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