New to the forum, not to the hobby :)

[Abaddon]

Hello everyone!
I'm not exactly a newbie, but all I've ever kept are hardy beginner fish, so I wouldn't consider myself a well-rounded expert by any stretch of the imagination I currently own 2 small planted tanks - 31 litres & 45 litres (I was brought up metric but that's about 8 and 10 gallons). They have been running for almost 4 years now and all they've ever housed were Endlers and bettas (almost exclusively rescues). I'm attaching pictures but bear in mind they are not quite ready yet, as they will be moved to a new shelf and they'll both get a black background within a few weeks. The smaller one is currently inhabited by 5 amano shrimp and a baby female koi betta by the name of Carrie (and lots of snails). The bigger one has no fish, just a group of 10 amanos, but I am thinking of getting a giant betta for that tank (separate thread coming soon - I have questions .

 

[heatherpooreks]

Looking good. Love Carrie.

 

[Sgooosh]

Hello everyone!
I'm not exactly a newbie, but all I've ever kept are hardy beginner fish, so I wouldn't consider myself a well-rounded expert by any stretch of the imagination I currently own 2 small planted tanks - 31 litres & 45 litres (I was brought up metric but that's about 8 and 10 gallons). They have been running for almost 4 years now and all they've ever housed were Endlers and bettas (almost exclusively rescues). I'm attaching pictures but bear in mind they are not quite ready yet, as they will be moved to a new shelf and they'll both get a black background within a few weeks. The smaller one is currently inhabited by 5 amano shrimp and a baby female koi betta by the name of Carrie (and lots of snails). The bigger one has no fish, just a group of 10 amanos, but I am thinking of getting a giant betta for that tank (separate thread coming soon - I have questions .

some male bettas can grow pretty big! do you use any fertilisers or root tabs? im thinking to get soem

 

[Abaddon]

some male bettas can grow pretty big! do you use any fertilisers or root tabs? im thinking to get soem

I know, giant HMPK can get to about 4 inches, although it varies. Some Thai purebreds have been known to get even bigger than that, but it's very rare, most of the fish available in stores typically stay at around 4 inches max. I emailed the breeder I'm planning to get the fish from and he told me a 10 gallon tank is fine for a single male, although that's the minimum recommended size. Online info also corroborates this, but I was going to ask this question here just to get a second (third, fourth...) opinion. The last thing I'd want would be for the fish to feel cramped in a tank that's too small for its needs. The dimensions are 50x30x30cm, just over 40 litres net volume (minus the space taken up by the plants and the equipment).
As for your question - I don't use root tabs as none of the plants I have are actually planted in the substrate - they're all free floating, or attached to driftwood. I use liquid fertilizer and carbon on occasion, mostly when I start noticing deficits. Right now I'm dealing with bacterial surface film in both tanks, so I've stopped dosing until I get it under control. It's extremely frustrating though, and I don't really have the space to install skimmers or anything like that. *sigh*

 

[jonny-5]

 

[Abaddon]

OK, the second tank has recently become home to a rescue HM (butterfly?) betta who is recovering from what I have been told was pretty severe fin damage. Say hello to Dagon I will post more pictures in the future (maybe a FOTM entry, who knows ?)

 

[Retired Viking]

Hello, welcome to the forum He looks like he is doing pretty good.