New Member/Aquarist

[Matthew Zinni]

Hello everyone,
I'm fairly new to the Aquarist hobby. I bought a betta fish for my desk at work, but didn't want to put him in a bowl. Instead, I bought a 2.5 gallon ready-made aquarium from Tetra.
I decided I wanted to do a planted tank, so I upgraded to a 5 gallon tank, and then a 10 gallon.
However, this wasn't enough room for what I wanted to do. So now my betta is living in the lap of luxury, swimming in a 20 gallon tank. It sits on my office desk.

In order to get minimal water movement while, at the same time, maintaining a clean tank, I bought a turtle tank filter from ZooMed that has an output of 55gph. It has separate compartments for the mechanical, chemical, and biological components of the filter. I bought it when I had my 10 gallon tank, but now that I've upgraded to a 20, it wil be replaced by an AquaClear 20.

The current lights are stock with the Deep Blue Solar lid. They are 10,000K and are too much for my plants. I will be replacing them with 6500k bulbs, tomorrow.

I currently have Anubias Nana, Cryptocoryne Wendtii, Java Fern, and an Amazon Sword. I use API Leaf Zone and CO2 booster. Except for the Anubias, the plants are rooted CaribSea black fluorite substrate.

Let me know if you have any advice or suggestions!

 

[myswtsins]

Welcome to AC and the very addicting hobby of aquaria, which you've already found out just addicting! lol That's a lucky Betta! I see you've got a heater and a floating log, way to go! Looks like you have all the anubias rhizomes out of the substrate too!? You are off to a great start, good for you!

Not familiar with that light fixture/hood. What type of lights is it (led, t5, t8)? And how many watts? What do you mean it, 10,000k, is too much for your plants? If you mean it seems like too much light than you need to lower the wattage and/or duration. Plants are fine in 10,000 kelvin, but most agree that 6500k is better. Kelvin is more about the spectrum of light emitted not the amount.

 

[dougall]

The light temperature will really only affect how you see the plants and fish, it will do incredibly little for growth.

otherwise you look good, I would personally rethink the sword, amazons will get pretty big and take over your aquarium. you can remove individual leaves, but the whole plant or roots will prove more difficult as time goes on.

 

[Matthew Zinni]

Welcome to AC and the very addicting hobby of aquaria, which you've already found out just addicting! lol That's a lucky Betta! I see you've got a heater and a floating log, way to go! Looks like you have all the anubias rhizomes out of the substrate too!? You are off to a great start, good for you!

Not familiar with that light fixture/hood. What type of lights is it (led, t5, t8)? And how many watts? What do you mean it, 10,000k, is too much for your plants? If you mean it seems like too much light than you need to lower the wattage and/or duration. Plants are fine in 10,000 kelvin, but most agree that 6500k is better. Kelvin is more about the spectrum of light emitted not the amount.

Thanks for replying! Yes, I've tied the Anubias to rocks and driftwood with fishing line so they are out of the substrate. My Betta, Reggie, loves his floating log! I keep wanting to take it out for aesthetics, but he seems to always be swimming through it or nudging it around, so I've left it. It's the only "artificial decoration" that is in the tank. I have a 4" air stone under the substrate by the heater to provide just a little more circulation. The valve is turned almost all the way down though, so it's very light. Reggie also likes to swim through the bubbles.

I currently have a DeepBlue "SolarMax H.O." It is a double T5 lighting system. The canopy contains two 24 watt T5 bulbs, one 10,000K daylight lamp and an actinic-03 lamp that I don't use due to it being a freshwater tank. I run the lights for about 8 hours a day. I was told that 6500k would be a better spectrum for plant growth. I ordered a bundle of 5 T5 24w lamps that have a 6500k spectrum. So I'm hoping that will work. I was also told that 10,000k can stunt growth and cause algae to grow. I've read that 5-7,000k is best for these plants.
Then again, I am a rookie at this and no expert at all, so I could be wrong.

My Amazon Sword has doubled in size already and I think it will soon take over its side of the tank.

Reggie isn't the only one in the tank. I have a handful of pond snails that miraculously appeared. I placed several trumpet snails and Ramshorn in there as well to help clean the bottom and hold back the algae. I've actually had no algae at all in this tank, at least none that I have seen. My Mag-Float has sat on the side of my tank, never used so far.

I do weekly water changes though of 10%, and my ammonia and nitrite levels are roughly zero, my nitrate levels are around 5ppm.

 

[myswtsins]

Good stuff! 6500k is definitely the preferred spectrum, by hobbyists and plants. Who is telling you this info, cause they are doing a good job. lol

That amazon sword will take over that whole side....then the whole tank! They get very large and you will end up replacing it some day but I say enjoy it for now since you already have it. Just be warned that they develop a very large root system and it may be hard/messy to remove later.

I love snails and will praise you for that as well. Their numbers can get out of control though if you over feed and slack on maintenance, just a heads up. You do have quite a bit of algae on the anubias, not sure if you got it that way though. The dark green spots on the leaves are algae, hard green algae. The black sections could be algae too but it's hard to tell from the pictures. This algae is common on slow growing plants like anubias. Provide them with a little more shade and it will help.

I would recommend you add some faster growing plants (like stems) though. Sounds like you have a fairly strong light and mostly low light plants which usually equal algae (like the hard spot). The fast growers will help shade your low light guys and they will use the ammonia produced by your betta and snails MUCH faster than anything you have currently.

Any ammonia or nitrite is very dangerous, it is way more toxic than nitrates. Being that you have nitrates means you must be at least nearing the end of the nitrogen cycle though. Adding the fast growing plants can wipe out the ammonia and nitrites but increasing your water changes to 20% weekly would be a good idea too, until they are both ZERO at all times.

 

[Matthew Zinni]

Good stuff! 6500k is definitely the preferred spectrum, by hobbyists and plants. Who is telling you this info, cause they are doing a good job. lol

That amazon sword will take over that whole side....then the whole tank! They get very large and you will end up replacing it some day but I say enjoy it for now since you already have it. Just be warned that they develop a very large root system and it may be hard/messy to remove later.

I love snails and will praise you for that as well. Their numbers can get out of control though if you over feed and slack on maintenance, just a heads up. You do have quite a bit of algae on the anubias, not sure if you got it that way though. The dark green spots on the leaves are algae, hard green algae. The black sections could be algae too but it's hard to tell from the pictures. This algae is common on slow growing plants like anubias. Provide them with a little more shade and it will help.

I would recommend you add some faster growing plants (like stems) though. Sounds like you have a fairly strong light and mostly low light plants which usually equal algae (like the hard spot). The fast growers will help shade your low light guys and they will use the ammonia produced by your betta and snails MUCH faster than anything you have currently.

Any ammonia or nitrite is very dangerous, it is way more toxic than nitrates. Being that you have nitrates means you must be at least nearing the end of the nitrogen cycle though. Adding the fast growing plants can wipe out the ammonia and nitrites but increasing your water changes to 20% weekly would be a good idea too, until they are both ZERO at all times.

Thank you for the advice! Yes, everything is at the 0 level in regards to the cycle. Well, everything except for the nitrates. Which "stems" do you recommend? I am considering getting Vesuvius Sword, simply because I like the curly leaves. However, I don't think these are going to provide much shade. I have two pieces of driftwood, as you can see. They were both seasoned for roughly two weeks in a bucket of RO water. They provide a nice cave-like shelter for Reggie to swim into. Still, they aren't providing much shade for the Anubias. Will the 6500k light help? The snails have been on the leaves, but that algae is tough to get off. I meant to say "I have no algae, except for the Anubias" earlier. The glass has seen none. Do I have to clean the leaves by hand? Or will that hurt the plant? I've attached a photo of the algae growth. This pic was from the other tank.

Also, I'm having some trouble with the pH level. I can't get it below 7.8. In each tank, this has been the case. I've used EasyBalance, I did water changes with distilled water, every other day for a week. I've taken out pourous rocks. It may be the substrate, but wouldn't it decrease over time? I don't want to drastically lower it, as it would be worse for Reggie than a 7.8, but I've read that a Betta should be around 7.4. I just can't seem to get there.

Thanks for welcoming me and all the advice so far! I really appreciate it.

 

[myswtsins]

For initial planting of a tank I always go with tried and true species like water wisteria (great in almost any tank), hornwort (does best in higher pH IME), Brazilian pennywort (I like to float this) and any floaters like frogbit, giant duckweed (avoid standard duckweed though as it is hard to get rid of) and dwarf water lettuce, even red root floaters with good light, are good because they use the atmospheric CO2 and help shade lower plants. Make sure floaters don't get out of control and shade too much though.

Switching to 6500k could help but most likely not much. Green spot algae (GSA) is a toughie in all senses. Nerite snails sometimes eat it but they will go for easier food if available anyways. Treating it with excel or hydrogen peroxide has proven effective though. Any leaves that are deformed now though you should just trim off and try to avoid future GSA, which is the treatment I suggest actually for all heavily affected leaves. For lesser affected leaves you could try excel or H2O2 treatments which I would just refer you to google for directions, my posts are long enough. lol

If the pH is stable and steady at 7.8 just leave it alone. Stable and not optimal is way better then constantly fluctuating around the optimal level. Just don't get any acidic water loving fish or plants. My pH is 8.2 and my betta lived a long happy life.

No problem! That's why we are here.

 

[wesleydnunder]

Hi. Welcome to AC!

Mark

 

[tanker]

Welcome to AC, and your tanks looks great. WOW, a 20gal for your Betta, he is in Fish-Heaven.
You are getting good advice from those above, and even from the "lights-person".
Just an FYI though, IMO- 6500k is too yellow for my eyes, I like a combo of 6500K and 10,000K, but have had plants do OK in just 10,000K

 

[Tifftastic]

Welcome to AC!

I'm jealous that your desk can fit a 20 gallon tank on it! The tank looks great and I bet that is one happy betta