Update on betta, and some ideas on another tank.

[Deja_Vu]

Alright, bettas first. Fabio's spot hasn't gotten any bigger or changed at all, so I figure its just a small color change. Until it changes, I'm not terribly worried about it. On the first post I made about it, a bunch of people told me to get the bettas into a tank with a filter and some way of heating, so today I went and bought two 1 gallon starter kits--which by the way look gigantic compared to what they are in now--and some gravel. I followed all the instructions, rinsed everything, and am now letting the filters run for a bit as per the tank's directions. As soon as the suggested 48 hours are up, the boys will be moving to there new home. I'll get pictures as soon as I can :3

Now about the other tank. I have a 40g that I am working on setting up, I have a location for it, and I know that I want it to be planted. I'm working on selling the old equipment that came with it from the garage sale, because I'm sure someone out there wants three saltwater filters, a bunch of nice fake corals, and some crushed coral substrate, because I really don't.

Anyway, I've found a local fish supply that has bio-spira for a decent price($4 for a package made for 30g tanks). Once I've sold the stuff, or found a good place to put it until it is sold, I'm going to buy a filter, and begin the process of setting it up. I'll be most likely buying one of the plant packs from www.liveaquaria.com for the tank, seeing as how I can't find anywhere local that sells the plants I want. I've been looking up lots of fish, and was looking at the stocking thread on this forum, and have decided on a few fish that I'd really like to have, but I'm stuck as to what else to get.
So, what I'll be getting for my tank so far:
2 powder blue dwarf gouramis
6 panda cory cats
6 bleeding heart tetras
3-4 shrimp of some sort, I was thinking cherry fire shrimp, but if there is a better species please do share.
a few non-plant-eating snails

Any other suggestions would be appreciated, thanks!

[Deja_Vu]

oi...anyone?

[Emg]

Hello DeJa.....

If you're going for a 40gallon planted....go with echo-complete for planted tanks as a substrate. It's good stuff, you don't have to rinse it...it has added bio "stuff" in it to help get your cycle going...along with a full dose of nutrients to get your plants off to a good start. It looks like potting soil in your tank..very nice stuff. I recently purchased a 20lb bag of that stuff at bigalsonline for only 22$...including shipping. Very good price for that ! You'll likely need 3 or 4 bags for your 40, depending on how deep you want it.

Also, go heavily planted right off the bat...the more plants you put in there to start with...the less chance the algae will have. Good nutrient sucking stem plants are great....java fern, ludwigia, anacherus, water sprite, wysteria......keeping in mind what your lighting will be and what plants will do best in it.

Your stocking plan looks good to me. Go with the cherrie shrimp if you can find them....perhaps along with an otocinclus or two.

[Deja_Vu]

For the plants, the only one I had settled on was java moss, then I figured I'd get a plant pack that was made for like...55g and had java moss in it, just to make sure that I would be well stocked. Mum and I already bought the substrate, I'm not exactly sure what it was called but the lady at the "Wet Spot Aquarium Supply"(the name makes my dad laugh o-o;;) said that if I was going to have a planted tank I was going to need it. She said you don't need to rinse it because if you do, it'll break it all apart and it'll be no good to use. We also bought a smaller bag of really pretty natural colored gravel to put ontop of it. I was thinking of buying the "medium" plant pack at www.liveaquaria.com I'd probably have to double the order and all that.

Thanks for the help, its much appreciated. :D

[Emg]

Hmm...never heard of a plant substrate like the one you described...if you could remember what it was called I'd be interested to know.

You would want to check on your lighting...how many watts per gallon and all to be able to choose the right plants for your tank. Most plants need more lighting than the average light supplied with most aquariums. But there are enough hardy low light plants that you could do up a nice planted with them.

Low Light Plants:
Java fern
Java moss
anubias
most cryptocyrenes
water sprite

[Deja_Vu]

we're actually going to have to buy the lighting because the tank I have was a former saltwater tank, and didn't have lighting, just a top.

I've been looking at some of those plants and I really like them, so those are what I'd most likely go for anyway :D

New photos!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v44/OverlijdenWens/carlandgeorge/antonio.jpg Antonio
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v44/OverlijdenWens/carlandgeorge/fabio.jpg Fabio
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v44/OverlijdenWens/carlandgeorge/tanks.jpg Their new homes.

[Emg]

Nice bettas....I have those tanks too.

[Deja_Vu]

Thanks :D I picked the two healthiest ones I could find in the store, and they still didn't look all to healthy at first. Since I moved them into the bigger tanks they've doubled in fin-size. Antonio has HUGE fins, its crazy. Fabio's still have some way to go before they catch up to Antonio's, but he's getting there slowly. I'll post pictures when both of them have settled into the new tanks, deffinatly.