Novice Betta Owner and Aquatics Enthusiast

[syren]

Hi y’all!

My name is Alyssa and I currently own one king male betta. I have been fish keeping for 10 years, but more recently have dove headfirst into the realm of planted tanks. I have kept shubunkin, goldfish, betta and shrimp. I am currently running a 10 gallon (will upgrade in the future, once I move out of my apartment!) with a canister filter, heater, air pump and plants/lava rock. My betta’s name is Grosso.
I have a passion for freshwater fish and have always been amazed by fish personality, ability and beauty. The idea of underwater horticulture is great, since I can’t grow anything out of water, and I love spending time tending to my plants and “gardening” (aquascaping.)
I have come to this forum for advice for my king male and as well as to share my love for the hobby with fellow hobbyists.
I currently reside in Oklahoma, USA (moved from Illinois last March) with my cat and fiancé. I am excited to upgrade to a planted 55 gallon in the future (house purchase first!). Ideally I’d like a school of female betta and shrimp, maybe a snail or two! We’d also like an outdoor, heated koi pond (that’s way far into the future
Thanks for the welcome and I am excited to be apart of the group.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Planted tanks are awesome. Once I tried live plants, I never went back to artificial plants. I also love Bettas.

Any pictures of your tank/Betta?

 

[Circus]

Welcome!

 

[syren]

I was attempting to post this with my original post but I’m on mobile and it was being difficult, so I skipped all together. This was taken around December, I was given a tiny replica of his tank and it’s stayed on top of his ever since! Tank has changed just a tad, changed out a few plants and stuck a static cling black background to “hide” his air pump and canister filter until I get a more efficient set up/tank stand.
I’ve got one fake plant, and it’s a silk one that’s in his hospital tank. I’ll never go back now that I’ve finally started a planted tank. I was expecting it to be difficult but I was wrong, all these plants seem pretty hardy and are thriving on their own. Sometimes I wish he was a female so I could add a few shrimp to manage my algae, but for now (and forever) it’s just his happy self. ?

 

[mbsqw1d]

You'd be surprised how well shrimp can hide!
I have red cherry shrimp in my 52 gallon and I moved some vallis over into my 62 gallon. I wasn't overly surprised to find some shrimps had also made the journey over to the 62 a few weeks later, and I thought they wouldn't be around for much longer with 40 barbs an danios darting about. That was around 6 months ago and I still spot a hand full of the shrimp tending to the vallis today!
If you give them enough plant cover they'll survive your Betta, but yeh, you don't get to enjoy the shrimp when their in hiding mode as much