What live plants can I house with these fish?

[BlazerBuddy]

There's also plenty of choices, so take your time, go to several different LFS/LPS, note how they are kept, if they swim around or passive, check carefully body and fins, and, maybe surprising from me, do not anyone moves you by saying a kind of 'if you don't buy it, it goes to trash".

Okay, could I cycle my water with live plants or do I need to go through all the cycling steps?

 

[Essjay]

With live plants you do not need to do a fishless cycle with ammonia.

In short -

Set up the tank and put the plants in the tank.
Take a photo once you have finished.
Leave the tank for 10 to 14 days.
Look at the photo you took and compare it to the tank now - have the plants grown at all? Do they look even healthier than when the tank was set up? Are any of the plants looking sick or dying?

If the plants are looking good and are bigger than when you planted them with no sick or dying plants, go fish shopping.



Don't forget that plants need feeding. For plants that feed through their leaves, look at Seachem Flourish Comprehensive Supplement, or Brightwell FlorinMulti. For root feeders, Seachem Flourish root tabs.


If you need advice on which plants to get, and what type of fertiliser they need, post in the Plant section.

 

[Avel1896]

Okay, could I cycle my water with live plants or do I need to go through all the cycling steps?

You definitely cycle with much plants, waterchange once or twice a week while cycling, and wait 4 weeks (allowing you to check like advices), until it is done : at the 30th day NH3 NO2 must be undetectable and NO3 below 15 mg/l.
Not forgetting pH 6.5 to 7 - GH and KH below 8.

 

[Colin_T]

You could put some shrimp and snails in with the Betta.

 

[Avel1896]

You could put some shrimp and snails in with the Betta.

It depends on the Betta personality so several possibilities :
either he will make a general carnage,
or he will attack "only" zoes,
or he will not care at all, but will try to nip snail tentacles, as my Betta did