Planted Betta Sorority (Pic Heavy)

[Demeter32]

JUST SO YOU KNOW, this is going to be really long. 
 
I've been wanting to get me a nice planted tank going for my single royal blue female betta. After doing a bit of research I decided to make a planted sorority tank and get a more females. After talking to a friend who lives on the other side of the US, I was told a dirt tank does great for all types of plants. He refered me to a YouTuber called Dustinsfishtank (check him out, he's pretty great) 
 
Being the cheapskate that I am, I just got some plain old dirt that I recently had had worms in (for fishing). All the worms were gone of course so I picked out the few twigs and rocks along with several little centipedes and made the dirt all muddy. I put the dirt in my 10gal tank and spread it out, then added a top layer of fluorite red that i had in the original 5gal that had my blue betta in and some extra that I had in a pail. I followed the steps from the video I watched and then filled the tank up. THERE WAS HARDLY ANY CLOUDINESS!!! I was so happy that I didn't have to deal with dirty water.
 
After filling the tank up I planted it and let is be for a week. Between the used filter cartridge and the used fluorite, the tank was pretty much completely cycled by the time I went and bought my fish. 
 
I come home with my 5 lovely new bettas and let them float in the tank for a while before I put them in the tank, 2 at a time. 
 
Here's the stocking list and the stores I got them from:
 
Original Royal Blue round tail (Walmart)-she was and impulsive rescue 

 
Pink Crown Tail (petsmart)

 
Blue Dragon scale HM (petsmart)

 
Red veil tail (petsmart)
(NOTE!!!)She never acted right but appeared physically healthy until she ended up having Dropsy and died soon after.
She was replaced with a red fined white bodied halfmoon
 
 
Purple round tail (LPS)

 
 
Orange-ish round tail (Walmart)-I planed on only getting 4 females but she was just too sad and pretty to pass up

 
 
 
 

 

[Demeter32]

Update: I got a pic of the new HM 

 
 
and also of the red VT that died:

 
She always hung around the bottom of the tank, always avoiding the others (even tho she's the biggest) and didn't eat hardly at all. 
 
Also got pics of entire tank:
Then
 
Now
 
Not much difference but the plants have taken root and are sending up new leaves all the time.Everyone gets along great with barely any split fins. After hearing from a few other peoples' experiences first hand, I've been thinking of trying to add a male plakat with the girls. *audible gasp from the crowd*

  Please don't panic!!! I'm only thinking and if I do decide to do it, I will monitor them 24/7! I would love to hear any thought you guys have on this (plz have mercy on my poor soul and don't be cruel)

 

[betta fish]

Nice tank and pretty girls but please don't spoil it and add a male, it won't end well and your girls won't thank you for it, you won't be able to monitor them 24/7 and things can happen in a blink of an eye, your 10 gallon is just big enough for these girls, get a male by all means but keep him in his own tank 

 judging by how you expected us to respond I am sure you knew this is a bad idea really 

if people have done it it is probably fry grown up together in much larger heavily planted tanks but this too doesn't always go to plan.

 

[Demeter32]

Indeed I know it is a risky business adding a male and I would probably only do it to get a few of the females to breed with him and raise the fry. I've spawned Bettas before but they never got past the wriggler stage because the males always ate them 

 I kinda gave up on spawning them again but now I'm feeling temped because now I have SIX mature females instead of just one. 
 
On note of you talking about the larger and heavier planted tank, the guy I spoke to said he had a big tank with lots of females and a few males and from all them he got about 60 fry of varying fin type and color. All my ideas of adding a male are his fault   
 
I probably won't ever get around to trying it out unless the most GORGEOUS plakat male catches my eye at the LPS. Even then I might chicken out  

 

[betta fish]

Plakats are beautiful, they are my favourite type 

it would be easier to breed them if you introduce the female to his tank after conditioning the pair etc there is a fair bit of work involved and signs to look for when they are ready to breed, I have never tried breeding in a community I would assume the other fish would eat the eggs? obviously not in his case, would be interesting to see his set up!

 

[tunagirll]

Bettas aren't guppies - keep the male separate. When breeding, they are still kept separate until breeding time.

 

[Demeter32]

I think it's safe to say his tank was a jungle of plants! I wish I could of talked to him more but alas, I had bettas in their cups waiting for me in the car (he was the cashier were I got the purple female). I am well versed in terms of research about the set up and signs for breeding bettas. Lord knows I spent days obsessing over it for the first few times I tried getting bettas to spawn before. 

 It looks like for now I will be busy with my Africans because one is holding right now and it looks like two more females are about ready to spawn. I really want to make sure these babies survive because they are the offspring of my first batch of fry I raised nearly a year ago. 

 

[Demeter32]

It would seem that the orange betta has developed a case of dropsy. I assume she caught it from the veil tail but it has been 2-3 weeks since I removed that betta At the moment I have the sick one separated and being treated with aquarium salt and Tetra Fungus Guard, which is said to treat dropsy. In all the cases that I have come across, all the fish have died. Not once did the fish show signs of recovery. I have tried aquarium salts and Tetra Life Guard as well as melafix. I guess we'll see how the fungus guard does. If any one else has successfully cured dropsy, I would love to hear how you did it.  

 

[NickAu]

Nice tank, But TBH I do not think that is enough plants for 1 betta let alone a sorority.

 

[Demeter32]

Nice tank, But TBH I do not think that is enough plants for 1 betta let alone a sorority.

 
The tank is still fairly new and the plants are just starting to take off. This is my first planted tank and I think the plants are doing pretty well considering my inexperience. It's a 10gal so there isn't a whole lot of room for plants. As far as the bettas are concerned, I'm sure they're happier now than they were in their cups at the store  

 

[NickAu]

I do understand. Im just mad about plants,
 
My 20 gallon with 1 Betta Kuhli Loaches Shrimp and Mystery snails.

 
My 5 gallon with 1 Betta.

 

[Demeter32]

Lovely tanks They look to be of the high-tech variety that I have yet to achieve. Someday perhaps I will move up from my low-tech tank but I want to make sure I got the hang of caring for plants first. 

 

[NickAu]

 
Lovely tanks

They look to be of the high-tech variety that I have yet to achieve.

High Tech? Ummmmm, Heres how High tech they are and what I do to maintain them.
 
I feed the fish. My 2 foot tank is overstocked.
The fish poop.
I change water.50% once a week, I do this religiously.
I clean my filters when  the water flow is almost non existent.
I do not add fertilizer or Co2.
I vacuum the gravel in the 2 footer when and if I remember. In the cube its not possible.
I only use Easy Life Fluid Filter Media.
I have Malaysian Trumpet snails, I think these are vital in any planted tank. 
And thats it.
 
My tank is as low tech as it gets. But thank you for thinking its high tech. Annubias, Vallis, Duck Weed and Crypts do not require a lot of light or care and thats why I use them in my tanks, Even Blue Stricita is easy care, If it gets a bit thin just cut the top off and it will grow back, Oh yes do not throw the bit you just cut off out, Plant it and you have a whole new plant free.
 
When I first got this bit of Annubias it was 1 small plant soon I will split it into 2 bits, and in no time this will be 4 plants then 8. Quite a few " Low tech" aquatic plants can be propagated.

 
Please dont miss understand me I am not preaching or trying to be rude or anything, Just sharing how I do it. The plants in the cube are mostly cuttings from the 2 and 6 foot tanks.

 

[Demeter32]

I suppose it all come down to how long the plants have been growing. It's been a little over a month since I add the last couple of plants. In a few more months I am hoping to see some decent growth in the plants but I know anubias are slow growers. Given time I think the tank will be full of plants (fingers crossed). 
 
High-tech or low-tech, I still think your tanks are pretty great. BTW I took zero offense to what you said It's nice being able to learn from people who know what they are talking about, because Lord knows my family and friends are of no use when it comes to aquariums. 
 
 
At the moment I have:
4 annubias
1 amazon sword
2 aponogeton bulbs that I am trying to revive 
3 little clumps of dwarf crypt wendtii of the red variety 
2 moss balls
Also, some tiny java fern plantlets here and there that came off dying leaves
 
I assume the trumpet snails are for digging around in the substrate and getting rid of air pockets? I've been thinking of getting some snails for that purpose but the tank has a layer of dirt and I would like to keep it out of the water column. I'm not sure if that would really be an issue with them though  

 

[NickAu]

 
I assume the trumpet snails are for digging around in the substrate and getting rid of air pockets? I've been thinking of getting some snails for that purpose but the tank has a layer of dirt and I would like to keep it out of the water column. I'm not sure if that would really be an issue with them though

Yes the MTS are for digging around, I have no idea how they would go with dirt, Maybe Byron can shed some light on that.