(More) Questions

[BettaFishGirl]

I'm setting up a 7 gallon cube aquarium for my Giant Betta in the future (not sure when but probably in a month or 2) and I have some questions...

1. Will the tank be ok with an inert sand and just root tabs and liquid fert? I don't really feel like spending an extra 20 bucks on a plant substrate if it's not going to make much of a difference. I won't be a walstad tank, but it will definitely be heavily planted.
2. Could I have some Pygmy corydoras in the tank if the substrate is just soft sand? Or is the cube shape not suitable for them?
3. I want to use Seachem florish root tabs for it and my other tanks, but it has a tiny amount of copper. Would it be harmful to shrimp?
4. I've asked a question similar to this but if I put, say, 7-10 cherry shrimp in the tank, how long until they start breeding? 3 weeks, 2 months, 3 months...?

I think that's it for now. Thank you!

 

[AlexT]

1. I thought about plant substrate and glad I asked around, seems more hassle than it's worth and it can impact negatively on water quality (but not always I am sure, so I would personally stay away if your water volume is low, which it obviously would be). Plus, Corydoras will dig it up and that not good either I think.

2. What's the footprint of the tank?

3. I don't know

4. I don't know

Other point. I am glad your multiple tank syndrome is doing so well !! Keep up the good work. You young guns are the future of fish keeping

 

[BettaFishGirl]

Thanks for the quick response! I think the size is 12x12x12 inches, It's a 7.1 gallon cube.

 

[Byron]

I do not think there is anything special about any plant substrate. And considering the risks, forget them. There is a cycling thread here, and I pointed out yesterday that the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate were being caused by the plant substrate. The member couldn't figure out where this was coming from, but this has been the case in various threads the past couple of years. I tried once once, and put up with it for two years, then dumped it in a hole in the back garden and got sand. Plants were just as thriving, and I had no fish issues.

The other thing is light. The more nutrients, the more light or algae will increase. If you want less light to help the fish, don't feed the algae.

I do not consider pygmy cories at all suitable in a betta's space. This cory loves to go everywhere, on floating plant leaves, right in the betta's space. I do not like risking fish, though I know some don't care. I do, and you do too

Provided the Seachem products are not overdosed, there is not sufficient copper to harm shrimp or snails. Plants need copper as one micro-nutrient, and it may or may not be sufficient in your water. If you have copper plumbing, it might (some stores will test for copper).

 

[AlexT]

I was wondering about temperature requirements as well. I'm going to be keeping my corydoras at 75 F and Bettas like higher? But @Byron point even more important

 

[Byron]

I was wondering about temperature requirements as well. I'm going to be keeping my corydoras at 75 F and Bettas like higher? But @Byron point even more important

Thanks for catching this, it slipped my mind. But this is extremely important. This cory does better in less warm water than a betta needs. 75F (24C) is fine for pygmies, or one degree higher, but no more.

 

[BettaFishGirl]

I do not consider pygmy cories at all suitable in a betta's space. This cory loves to go everywhere, on floating plant leaves, right in the betta's space. I do not like risking fish, though I know some don't care. I do, and you do too

I was wondering about temperature requirements as well. I'm going to be keeping my corydoras at 75 F and Bettas like higher? But @Byron point even more important

Thanks for catching this, it slipped my mind. But this is extremely important. This cory does better in less warm water than a betta needs. 75F (24C) is fine for pygmies, or one degree higher, but no more.

Thanks for the input! My Betta (Bubbles) has a ghost shrimp in his tank, and I literally saw the ghost shrimp climb on him when he was near the bottom and he didn't care. So I don't think he would mind the pygmy's but I could be wrong. But I see the difficulty with figuring out the temperature, since bettas like temps above 77.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Based on my experience, about the only bottom feeders I would put in a betta tank are amano shrimp and snails. I'm no betta expert, though, and ours never seem to survive for more than a year or so, even though we follow all the standard advice. So take my opinion for whatever it's worth.

 

[Lcc86]

I think you could run into issues with the pygmies, they like to use all levels of the tank and the betta may not like that. Maybe stick to the shrimp.