My ~15 gallon fish tank project

Did the water tests and everything is fine. I used the Dennerle AquaTest GH*KH*pH that comes with an active substance. And yes the tank is not planted yet, BUT saturday i was at this new huge big box pet store to buy some maintenance stuff for the fish tank and I saw this lovely male betta, a double tail, in a small 1 liter bowl. He was completely ignoring the other bettas, but to be honest none of them were very active, maybe due to the temperature ~24C. He showed some interest when i tapped on the glass, and did follow my finger, but without flaring. So i got him for ~$15 (14 euros). Kept him in an acrilic 10 liter tank, and today I've moved him in the main tank. So far he spends his time between exploring every nook and cranny and building a bubble nest behind the heater. I named him Captain America cause in the darker areas he has intense red fins, with pearlescent white body and dark blue head, while in the well lit areas he shows gorgeous blue-green shades with traces of purple.

Mr_Harrys said:

Oh no, the Betta will be the only centerpiece fish in this tank. It will share it with 2 Otocinclus and i need to decide what nano fish for a medium school 6-8 individuals. I tend towards some green neons. I also have another bigger tank that will be the 2nd project. And everything I buy, goes to a friend for temporary housing to avoid conflicts in the tank.

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Mr_Harrys said:

Ember Tetras.. Really beautiful. Nice and active and only grow to max 0.8 inch

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As everyone has said, bettas can't go with other fish. The other fish, especially smaller fish like tetras, will tear his fins apart. I had a Betta just like yours and I kept smaller fish with him, they tore his fins apart and then he died because of it. You can keep that tank a solo Betta tank though, now that you have him in.

I'm confused, I thought you already got a betta a few days ago in another post? Maybe I have misread. But as has already been said, this is likely to end badly, even if this lovely betta isn't aggressive, he can still be picked on by the other fish you already have and they will be in each other's space as the tank is small.

How's your Betta baby? He must be enjoying the tank!

He's very active so it's hard to take a good photo (ignore the plastic plant, it's just a placeholder for him to rest on, until real plants get here). A good thing is that the cat decided to completely ignore him (and vice versa). The cat just naps besides the fish tank.

He's beautiful! Are you going to keep it as a solo Betta tank? It would be best for him and other fish. But shrimp would look nice.

Mr_Harrys said:

He's very active so it's hard to take a good photo (ignore the plastic plant, it's just a placeholder for him to rest on, until real plants get here). A good thing is that the cat decided to completely ignore him (and vice versa). The cat just naps besides the fish tank.

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I gave up taking pictures, try video, upload to YouTube and paste the link, or if you need a hand I can PM you my email address. @BettaFishGirl will be most pleased

I'll take some better shots with the Canon after the plants are planted. Right now I'm glad I''ve managed to fix the HOB filter so it's silent. The filter that came with the tank wasn't that good. An internal one with a flow powerful enough to push the fish but not powerful enough to actually do proper filtering or surface agitation, so there was this horrible biofilm covering the entire water surface. This HOB filter Aquanova NF 450 works great and also has a skimmer. It was very noisy at first but i did some changes to it- adjusted the position on the tank, removed the carbon from the cartridges. It has two cartridges each one contains a fine sponge and carbon. So I've eliminated the carbon, replace the fine sponge in the 1st one with a more rougher sponge, kept the sponge in the 2nd one and in the compartment between it and the cascade i've added ceramic rings, that i covered with the first fine sponge. The filter is set to max flow. the manufacturer says that this model is for 90L tanks, but the max flow of 250L/h makes it perfect for my 54L tank (with hardscape and substrate i measured 47L).




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If I get too much white mold on the driftwood I'll get either shrimp or otocinclus to get rid of it.

Yeh and I think Betta prefer calm movement, but Betta Girl will comment on that I am sure.

Yes, bettas like low flow. If there's too much flow there long fins could get sucked up.

What are your stocking plans now that you have your Betta?

• Cabomba Aquatica
• Anubias Congensis
• Hygrophila Polysperma
• Vallisneria Gigantea
• Myriophyllum Aquatica (green)
• Alternanthera Reineckii
• Hygrophila Guianensis
• Anubias Barteri Broad Leaf

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Oh and a great thing about this filter. It has a valve that prevents water to go out through the intake if the power is off, so the pump and the filter canister always have water.

I'm fascinated how active he is. I mean he was barely moving in the bowl at the store. Now, he's just swimming all over the place. Did some front glass cleaning. Instead of running away and hide, he came to see what i was doing.

Mr_Harrys said:

I'm fascinated how active he is. I mean he was barely moving in the bowl at the store. Now, he's just swimming all over the place. Did some front glass cleaning. Instead of running away and hide, he came to see what i was doing.

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You are enjoying what for me is the best part of fish keeping now. But we all like different things of course. My favourite part is jointly (a) how fish interact with each other and (b) how they interact with me (which is not so common of course as most fish don't really interact with us much, but some do!).