Soon to be occupied by chili rasbora

After moving my betta out of this tank I have added additional plants in anticipation of a school of chili rasbora.

It's all a bit random in here but I think it's...... natural? Apart from the peculiar bogwood

If you leave the tank for any length of time without fish in it, or a source of ammonia, the filter bacteria will go dormant and can take a few days to get going again when you finally add fish. If you are restocking a tank it is a good idea to keep some fish (your Betta) in the tank until the day before you get the new fish. Then you can move him out, do a complete drain and refill the tank. Wait 24 hours and then add the new fish.

The big water change will get rid of most of the microscopic organisms in the water and let you start with a clean tank for the new fish.

The tank looks nice tho and should look really good when the plants have grown.

TallPaul said:

After moving my betta out of this tank I have added additional plants in anticipation of a school of chili rasbora.

It's all a bit random in here but I think it's...... natural? Apart from the peculiar bogwood

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With those plants, and especially the floating plants in the photo, you will not have ammonia issues when the rasbora are added. I would leave this tank empty of fish to avoid possible issues, just keep it otherwise running normally, and do a weekly partial water change of 40-50% even if no fish yet. Acquire all the Boraras brigittae at the one time and add them. With no other fish in the tank, any quarantining is pointless and they will settle much better in a planted running tank anyway, so even less chance of ich or similar.

There is no issue with nitrifying bacteria when you have live plants that are growing, and fast growers like the floaters. I have a 20g QT for new fish that I keep running permanently, planted, and it can sit without any fish for months. Then I might add 40-50 fish at one time. The plants actually improve due to the increase in ammonia/ammonium, but the fish never have issues and ammonia/nitrite remain zero.

There are 4 Otocinclus in the tank. You can see 3 of them in the photo next to the thermometer.

The new betta tank had half of its water taken from the old tank, it also has cuttings of plants and a scoop of the floating plants too. There is another diatom outbreak in there. I am half caught between taking the ornament out and scrubbing them off or just leaving them there as they are not affecting the plants

My wife just saw some lamp eye killifish, now I am being pestered about getting those.

TallPaul said:

There are 4 Otocinclus in the tank. You can see 3 of them in the photo next to the thermometer.

The new betta tank had half of its water taken from the old tank, it also has cuttings of plants and a scoop of the floating plants too. There is another diatom outbreak in there. I am half caught between taking the ornament out and scrubbing them off or just leaving them there as they are not affecting the plants

My wife just saw some lamp eye killifish, now I am being pestered about getting those.

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By "empty of fish" I meant not to go adding fish to feed the bacteria, that is not an issue. The otos are fine.

Which "lampeye" species?

Byron said:

By "empty of fish" I meant not to go adding fish to feed the bacteria, that is not an issue. The otos are fine.

Which "lampeye" species?

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Norman's Lampeye Killifish. They are under 1 inch, are grey bodied with yellow fins and neon blue eyelids

TallPaul said:

Norman's Lampeye Killifish. They are under 1 inch, are grey bodied with yellow fins and neon blue eyelids

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Poropanchax normani seems the current accepted name (according to Eschmeyer, CAS database) though this species may still be seen under the previous name Aplocheilichthys normani. Info is not plentiful, this site may help:
http://www.killi.co.uk/speciesProfile/Poropanchax/normani