Just Bought A New Tank To Use For Betta, Few Questions

Hi, I'm still undecided the route i want to take with my community tank so in the mean time I just bought an Aquastart 320 28 litre tank for a betta, possibly divide it and get 2.

It comes with a built in under gravel filter system, is that sufficient or would I need to buy additional filtration? I take it they don't generate much in the way of current so the betta should be fine with it?

What would you advise in the way of decoration, plants, gravel etc, which the betta will enjoy?

it has a built in flourescent light, but i do like the moon lighters you get, would bettas mind moonlighting or do they prefer complete darkness?

emm i think that's all my questions for now, lol

Undergravel filtration is not perfect for plants... The Betta would not mind the moonlight tube... You could add plants which are attached to rocks/wood, etc...

yea i guess i could get some on a rock or some on bogwood, i heard bogwood softens water... I also heard bettas like a neutral pH ideally. So would a rock be the better choice?

there is a place near me that sells java fern, java moss and anubias nana all pre-rooted to rocks, which of these would be the most suitable, if any?

i was looking at the jager heaters, I don't know whether to get the 25w or 50w. Most sites say the 50w is for min of 10 gallons, then the actual eheim site says

Jager 25 Watt Heater Tank Size 20-25 litres
Jager 50 Watt Heater Tank Size 25-60 litres

my tank is 28 litres, like 7 and a half gallons... would I go with the eheim site and get the 50 watt?

Java fern, java moss, and anubias are all suitable. They all don't require much light or CO2. The anubias will be probably be the more expensive of the three, but it's a lovely plant that can sometimes flower and has nice, large leaves that the betta can rest on. Java fern is also nice looking, and I think (from what I'm experiencing now) that it will grow slowly at first and then suddenly, a few weeks later, begin growing very quickly. Java moss is even more so reported to grow quickly and "take over" whatever you put it on.

thanks for the info

is there any way of making or buying a tank divider that isn't permanent, i.e. glued in? is aquarium silicon easily removable without marks on the glass? I'd like to divide the tank at some stage but not permanently

some dividers you can buy can be just sloted in and sloted out when needed.try looking on the DIY section for deviding tips. plants will do for bettas but the ones sold near you sound perfect,java moss/fern is a great plant to have needing little care.adding wood can become a danger if its got sharp or jagged edges to the bettas fin so make sure before adding to the tank.i would go with the jager 50 watt heater and have it turned down to about 79-81F.moonlighting will be ok as most other lights aswell, as long as your betta have compleat darkness at night as it have no eyelids and can not go to sleep/rest in bright light.tall plants at the sides work well for bettas as they swim around them but small ones as useful too.broad leaves for the betta to rest one helps.i dont know much about under gravel filters as ive never had them,if they dont produce much movement in the water then its fine, bettas prefer calm water.decorations that are a good choice are caves as betta can rest in these.maybe try adding a few marbles to the floor as bettas like to push these around and play with them.what i did once for my betta in a 5 gallon was attach some SAFE marble sized wood balls to the end of some thread hanging down in the water,my betta use to love pushing them and swimming in between them.

yea i had a look at the diy dividers and most were held in with silicon/glue. I'll need to keep my eyes peeled in my LFS for a removable divider.

that's a good point i didn't think about the jagged bits of wood and the bettas fins, i'll definitely go with the rocks.

i'll look in to caves, might get some slate and build one myself as i like the look of them.

i read on here that floating plants help slow the current of the water, what floating plants would you recommend?

that is the same tank i have (needs tidying up abit)

perfect for a betta

sharon

thanks for the pic, nice tank and nice fish

did you remove the under gravel filter or does it work ok?

i still have the under gravel in there.

it works for me for now with no problems. i just give it a good clean with the gravel vac once a week.

sharon

ah thats good, i heard somewhere that its a bit noisy, is that true or someone being overly picky?

1ncubu5 said:

ah thats good, i heard somewhere that its a bit noisy, is that true or someone being overly picky?

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there is no noise from mine what so ever

if you make sure whe water level is above the water outlet on the filter you dont even get the sound of water running

its a great little tank you wont be disapointed

ah cool, thanks for your time

1ncubu5 said:

i read on here that floating plants help slow the current of the water, what floating plants would you recommend?

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any floating plant would do, a cheap low care one is fine, if it grows out of control, just cut it back,i use Common salvinia,i've heard a lot of people hate it but its been good to me, its grows not too fast nor too slow, has small leaves but roots in the water for bettas to swim around.other floating plant i use is water lettice, it grows thick and often have to cut it back but i only do that every month or so when changing the water.heres a good floating plant site i know.
http/aquaplant.tamu.edu/database/index/p...ting_plants.htm