# Marko's Betta Sorority Riparium -- Updated 8/19/13



## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

now that i have a growing spawn of black orchid CTs being jarred and sold off, i decided it would be a good idea to make a sorority tank to house 8 or 9 nice looking females that i want to keep for myself. its going to be a mid-tech tank, and im doing a dry start. after 1 month in dry start, here is how it looks:
fts









h. 'tiger'









f. 'mini'

















m. pteporus 'threadleaf' (this is not needleleaf, the leaves of threadleaf are even thinner)









h. glomeratus









r. 'green'


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## FriendsNotFood (Sep 21, 2010)

Gorgeous. Where did you get those lovely reddish rocks and what kind are they?


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## SpecGrrl (Jul 26, 2012)

*jelly*


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## SpecGrrl (Jul 26, 2012)

Your hard scape is super!


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## CryptKeeper54 (Apr 14, 2012)

Cool scape. DSM seems the way to go when attatching mosses. Can you do that with all mosses? just lay them on an object and let them attatch while emersed? Generally, how long does it take?


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

FriendsNotFood said:


> Gorgeous. Where did you get those lovely reddish rocks and what kind are they?


petrified wood. from my LFS.
but all petrified wood ive seen is more or less the same. i love the way it looks in a scape.



SpecGrrl said:


> *jelly*





SpecGrrl said:


> Your hard scape is super!


thank you.
IMO, everybody should spend as much time as needed to get their hardscape as good as possible, since that is the backbone of your tank. without a solid hardscape its hard to orient yourself in the tank.



CryptKeeper54 said:


> Cool scape. DSM seems the way to go when attatching mosses. Can you do that with all mosses? just lay them on an object and let them attatch while emersed? Generally, how long does it take?


thanks.
i agree.
so far i havent heard of a moss that wont grow emersed, so they should all attach.
you can just lay them down, but i minced them. some people even put them in a blender (google "moss graffiti"). when you have more disconnected segments, you have more growth points, and that is where the moss will be attaching.
since attaching was the goal here, i minced pretty finely (most sections of rhizome were 1/8" or so long). but when planting emersed and just looking for growth, ill just lay the fronds down onto the substrate. thats what i did with my terrarium (here is a link if youd like: http://plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=73569 page 8 has a pic of the moss at its best)
the time it takes depends on the moss. i dont think it should take any longer than 3 weeks. once you see significant emersed growth, its safe to assume its attached.


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## CryptKeeper54 (Apr 14, 2012)

Awesome. Thanks for the info. Good stuff. I wanted to try it with mini pellia on driftwood and rocks. And maybe other moss and go for the amano scape look.

Nice terrarium. I wanted to make one for a Jackson chameleon (popular here in Hawaii) but my warden (wife) said no


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## Complexity (Jan 30, 2008)

Simply beautiful! I love the rock work. When I first saw it, the large rock on the right reminded me of a magical castle. I'm looking forward to watching the plants grow out.


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## starrlamia (Jul 31, 2012)

Awesome! I love sororities, wish I wasn't in Canada so I could get some girls from you. 

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2


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## Jegli09 (Jul 25, 2012)

Great looking tank so far!


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

CryptKeeper54 said:


> Awesome. Thanks for the info. Good stuff. I wanted to try it with mini pellia on driftwood and rocks. And maybe other moss and go for the amano scape look.
> 
> Nice terrarium. I wanted to make one for a Jackson chameleon (popular here in Hawaii) but my warden (wife) said no


no problem
thats life. :icon_roll



Complexity said:


> Simply beautiful! I love the rock work. When I first saw it, the large rock on the right reminded me of a magical castle. I'm looking forward to watching the plants grow out.


thank you.
the large "rock" on the right is actually manzi. also from my lfs. its got SO much texture, i fell in love with it. ill post a macro shot later today and show you guys. 



starrlamia said:


> Awesome! I love sororities, wish I wasn't in Canada so I could get some girls from you.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2


thanks.
yeah i dont know anything about trans shipping, sorry. 



Jegli09 said:


> Great looking tank so far!


thank you.


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## starrlamia (Jul 31, 2012)

all i know is it is way too pricey!


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Nice, I'm keeping my eye on this tank for sure.


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## vannyvanny (Aug 7, 2012)

Can't wait to see the finished product. ^.^


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

flooded. will post pics tomorrow.


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

here they are.
as you can see, there was some algal growth during the emersed phase, likely since there was an inch or so of water above the front substrate as it accumulated from misting. but im not too worried. some mechanical removal, shrimp, and healthy plants should clear it up.

pics:


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

hear come the ladies:


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## QQQUUUUAADDD (Feb 26, 2012)

Even though I've never kept a female betta, your females' bellies seem quite big.


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

looks awesome! your fish are beautiful! i cant wait to get mine!


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

QQQUUUUAADDD said:


> Even though I've never kept a female betta, your females' bellies seem quite big.


they are.
i just fed a large amount of frozen mysis, to help them heal from yesterdays battle royale (the first thing they did was fight to figure out who the alpha was).
many also seem to be full of eggs, and would likely produce some very nice large spawns if i were to put them in with a male.



orchidman said:


> looks awesome! your fish are beautiful! i cant wait to get mine!


thank you.
only a few days. 
he is a pretty handsome fish. looks very much like a replica of the spawns sire (the fish in my avatar).


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## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

@[email protected] said:


> they are.
> i just fed a large amount of frozen mysis, to help them heal from yesterdays battle royale (the first thing they did was fight to figure out who the alpha was).
> many also seem to be full of eggs, and would likely produce some very nice large spawns if i were to put them in with a male.
> 
> ...


yes, mr BDM03 is quite the looker!  IMHO the best one out of the batch!


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

update.
everything is growing very well. better than i expected actually. and the bettas are all doing fine and healing from their initially bout.

FTS:









the best looking orchid female:

































lavender female (from same spawn, just exhibiting an unlikely phenotype):









nerite:









r. green:









h. tiger:


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## SpecGrrl (Jul 26, 2012)

Who takes care of them while you're at college?


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## SpecGrrl (Jul 26, 2012)

D they bite the nerite's antennae?


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

SpecGrrl said:


> Who takes care of them while you're at college?


nobody.
they have a feeder and i show up to do water changes at least every other week. my college (rutgers) is only 35 min from my house, so its easy to go back and forth to dump my laundry and take care of the girls.


SpecGrrl said:


> D they bite the nerite's antennae?


i dont think so. they grew up with that nerite, and i dont think they even notice that its a living animal. i never saw them lunge toward it, and i see the nerite in a different spot every time i look, so im pretty sure they are coexisting just fine.


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## @marko@ (Oct 24, 2007)

single shot from my phone:


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

its been a while and a few changes have occured.
1 - the timer got stuck in the on position for 2 weeks and i didnt notice (as i was at college), so some algae occurred. its going away now that i fixed the issue, and reduced the photoperiod by 1.5 hours.
2 - the resulting CO2 shortage did a number on the h. glomeratus and r. green. i removed them and added l. sessiliflora
3 - got a tellis raft and so i took out my old riparium planter and set them up in here. using an aluminum plant in the planter, and h. glomeratus on the raft.

pics:


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## SpecGrrl (Jul 26, 2012)

Are the girls stress stripe-y bc they squabble? Or is it a coloring thing?

Still stunned by the beauty of the tank!


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

the submissive ones get stress stripes when another girl swims by, then as the other girl swims away, the stripes fade. i think in this case, its more of a sign of submission than a sign of actual stress and fear.
i know its not a water quality issue, as the alpha (the larger, and darker devil girl) is jet black with blood red fins all the time, constantly flaring and strutting her stuff. her fins have never been perfect from introduction to the tank, though, as occasionally the other not-all-that-submissive girls get fed up with her and spar. since they all occasionally squabble with her, and not with each other, she is the most torn up. all of it is superficial though. no damage to anything but the ray extensions which are the easiest to get at.


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## SpecGrrl (Jul 26, 2012)

Oh how fascinating!

Thanks for explaining!


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## microw (Jun 30, 2012)

This is so cool. Love your tank and bettas. : )


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## andrewss (Oct 17, 2012)

your bettas look amazing and your scape is real nice... I love the rock on the far right its perfect


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

microw said:


> This is so cool. Love your tank and bettas. : )


thanks. 



andrewss said:


> your bettas look amazing and your scape is real nice... I love the rock on the far right its perfect


thank you
that "rock" is actually manzi driftwood from my LFS. just had to have it when i saw it.


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## PinoyBoy (Mar 14, 2008)

Neat tank. Any thoughts on the java fern thread leaves?


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## andrewss (Oct 17, 2012)

@[email protected] said:


> thanks.
> 
> 
> thank you
> that "rock" is actually manzi driftwood from my LFS. just had to have it when i saw it.



:icon_redf

haha well its a great find


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

long overdue update. 

FTS:









some shots of the girls:









































and here is a shot of the threadleaf java fern:


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## Colorblizzle (Dec 27, 2012)

What do you use for filtration and lighting? Is this low-tech? (No CO2)


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## crazydaz (Mar 18, 2007)

Colorbizzle----yeah, it's non-pressurized CO2

Marko---looks good! Let me know what you think about the threadleaf! I have a ton of it in my big tank, and it's just now starting to grow OK for me in high light. Kept burning and getting algae-laden.


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## binbin9 (Jan 31, 2012)

Thats a nice eco system you got going. The girls must be very happy and the plants can definitely benefit from all the nitrates created by the bettas.


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## Option (Oct 2, 2010)

Love your orchid females! Where did you find them? Were they aquabid finds?


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

Colorblizzle said:


> What do you use for filtration and lighting? Is this low-tech? (No CO2)


eheim ecco 2332 canister filter
a 40w PC light from current USA, but with 1/4 of the bulb covered in aluminum foil to reduce the light intensity
no supplemental CO2.



crazydaz said:


> Colorbizzle----yeah, it's non-pressurized CO2
> 
> Marko---looks good! Let me know what you think about the threadleaf! I have a ton of it in my big tank, and it's just now starting to grow OK for me in high light. Kept burning and getting algae-laden.


i love it. think its a great plant. its staying really nice and small from me. 



binbin9 said:


> Thats a nice eco system you got going. The girls must be very happy and the plants can definitely benefit from all the nitrates created by the bettas.


i dont think the tanks nitrates are too high, actually; though i never measured them. the plants grow pretty fast, and i do weekly 30-40% water changes.



Option said:


> Love your orchid females! Where did you find them? Were they aquabid finds?


thank you.
they are all from my black orchid spawn. they are from my F1 generation. im trying to get an F2 generation going right now.
though their brothers and sisters that i didnt keep were sold online, some on aquabid, so they couldve been found there.


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## Silmarwen (Sep 21, 2012)

I love this tank. I've been considering putting together a betta sorority as my next tank, and all of your girls are so pretty that it'd making me itch to get started!


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

Silmarwen said:


> I love this tank. I've been considering putting together a betta sorority as my next tank, and all of your girls are so pretty that it'd making me itch to get started!


thanks.
i recommend getting females that are of the same spawn, that way they are used to each other all ready and will show minimal aggression (though they may spar upon introduction to the new tank to see who is alpha). some spawns have a lot of variation in them, particularly from multicolored marbles, so you can still have a rainbow of bettas.


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## Silmarwen (Sep 21, 2012)

@[email protected] said:


> thanks.
> i recommend getting females that are of the same spawn, that way they are used to each other all ready and will show minimal aggression (though they may spar upon introduction to the new tank to see who is alpha). some spawns have a lot of variation in them, particularly from multicolored marbles, so you can still have a rainbow of bettas.


Thanks for the tip! That's the kind of 'insider information' that's good to have on file


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## LilGreenMan (Mar 11, 2013)

Hi Marko, how many bettas do you have in the tank? I have an empty 10 gallon and I'm trying to decide what to do with it. Your tank caught my attention.


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## Neptoon'd (Apr 21, 2013)

I just wanted to say that I love your tank. Awesome hardscape. And a betta sorority is something I'd like to do some day also.


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## VJM (Feb 9, 2013)

What substrate are you using?


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## gabysapha (Oct 26, 2011)

Just came across this thread, I love the tank. I'd love to start a betta sorority myself! 

I have looked for a black orchid CT male for YEARS in my area. One Petsmart employee is an expert fishkeeper, she'd be a moderator if she were part of this forum, and she has my contact incase she ever sees a black orchid come through. She's alerted me to some alternatives, but none with that amazing black and blue... if you happen to spawn them again I'd love to purchase one


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## Yervor (Jun 14, 2012)

After lurking for way too long, I'm going to go ahead and say: this is amazing. Of the many planted aquariums I've seen, this is the one with equally stellar beauty and achievability (beginner hobbyist, here). I have been watching your thread for months and I always turn to it every now and then for inspiration and just general eye candy.

I have an empty 10 gallon (my first real tank, since a sad and empty 2gal doesn't really count) that I've been itching to get going, and while I have a clear idea of what I want, I've no idea of how to get there. Your sorority aquarium is my role model right now.

What are the specs of your tank? Specifically substrate, lights, and flora. Your help would be much appreciated. Looking forward to future updates!


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## Vermino (Jun 14, 2012)

update your tank marko - long overdue! :red_mouth


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

havent checked back here in ages. mostly cuz the tank itself is on autopilot. i have an automatic feeder, its low tech so i dont trim, just rip out some moss to put in other tanks, and do the occasional water changes. as such, the tank is messy and overgrown. i could get it back in shape within 1-2 trims if i were willing. but im gonna do a complete rescape. its gonna be very very different, and im very excited...
as for the stock, im gonna use some of my salamander dragon HMs, mustard gas HMs, and 2 or 3 of these CT girls - at least one orchid and one devil.

VJM - im using some mineralized topsoil with knockoff aquasoil. i forget which brand. its probably depleted by now, or almost depleted, since the knockoffs dont last as long. there is a little mound of flourite on the bottom in the back as a cheap way to add to the slope.

gabysapha - i tried breeding them again with no luck. now im selling off a spawn of mustard gas halfmoons (if anyone wants to buy a group of females for a sorority...  or males, let me know).

Yervor - thank you! thats very kind. 
i use a 40w PC Current USA lamp, with the dual sunlight Current USA bulb (half 6700k, half 10000k). substrate is a knockoff aquasoil. the ADA aquasoil amazonia is my favorite, but for a low tech betta tank i figured no need. flora include fissidens fontanus moss, hygrophila tiger, cryptocoryne parva, microsorum pteporus needle leaf (used to contain some m. pteporus threadleaf too but i put it in another tank), and limnophila sessiliflora.


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

Vermino said:


> update your tank marko - long overdue! :red_mouth


dude, i had it open on my desktop and typing. :flick:

i will give you some pics later today, and a teaser of what is in store for the redo.


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## Vermino (Jun 14, 2012)

haha yeah I really want to see more of this tank because of the betta/RCS combo. an mini eco-system tank that can "auto-pilot" really intrigues me


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

ill be sure and get a pic of my cherries in there then.


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

ok here are the pics.

FTS-

















n. davidi 'red cherry' male on pellia- 









n. davidi 'red cherry' female in hygo - 









one of the orchid females glaring at me-









a large weird snail of unknown species that just appeared a few months ago-


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## iLOVEnanos (Jun 6, 2013)

Gorgeous tank and bettas! LOVE this!


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## Vermino (Jun 14, 2012)

@[email protected] said:


> n. davidi 'red cherry' female in hygo -


I loved this picture haha. "is it safe to go out yet?" good pic markos


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

just finished a total overhaul on the this. swapped out the 10 gallon for a 20 gallon extra high (same footprint but twice as tall) to make a paludarium. 
took me all day. but i got it done. and it looks great. kept one orchid and one devil, and added a bunch of halfmoon girls. virtually no aggression. the orchids fought much more last introduction.

draining the tank:









new tank with the substrate:









hardscape replaced:









planted:









the shrimp go back in first:









then the fish:










to all those who have been asking me where the monster petite was and what i did with it, there ya go. 
and ill get more shots tomorrow when the water clears.


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## Vermino (Jun 14, 2012)

im liking the tallness of that one. I hope you have enough PAR to grow but it's just low light plants right?


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

its 40watts. i think ill be fine. 
and yeah, the plants are:
anubias barteri 'petite'
cryptocoryne parva
fissidens fontanus
hygrophila 'tiger'
limnophila sessiliflora
microsorum pteporus 'needleleaf'


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

tank was still a little cloudy this morning when i took these pics. but all the girls have settled in fine. the shedevil and HMPK were duking it out for dominance, but nothing too bad. the shedevil was dethroned a few months ago by one of her sisters, but it looks like she got control of the tank back. or is second to the HMPK. cant tell yet. they both still flare at each other, but no longer hit each other.


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

its been a month and i think its time for an update.
all the girls are doing good, and no longer fight at all. rarely even see flaring. 
i can occasionally spot a shrimp or two, so they are doing fine as well. the just hide all the time for obvious reasons.

FTS:









above:









below:









marbled:









going up for air:









the black orchid lurks in the shadows:









basking in the light:









is it safe to come out?:

















you missed a pellet:









scrubbing the wood clean:









droplets on the ludwigia:


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

I just found this thread! Your tank is awesome, im in the process of setting up a 25 gallon cube tank which will be a Betta soririty. Please give us some up dates!!


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## Subtletanks91 (May 29, 2013)

Have to say your betas are beautiful, your tanks are amazing, that uknown snail looks like three that I have in my tank. There called white spot tylo.


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## Terminalance (Oct 31, 2013)

Do you ever encounter any major aggression issues from having females of differing spawns?


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

Sure would love an update!!!! Pretty please!!!!


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## Bercey (Jun 6, 2012)

Any updates on this tank?


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## Aquascape Depot (Feb 27, 2014)

I love that you incorporated Betta's with Red Cherry Shrimp Marko! :thumbsup:


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## sewoeno (Apr 12, 2014)

super amazing!!! love the shrimp photos. i'm going to convert my son's tank into a riparium this weekend!!!! i'm beyond excited.


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## AutumnSun (Jun 28, 2014)

This tank is awesome! Any updates? 
I'm curious about the cups with the emersed plants: where did you get the cups, and what kind of plants do you have in them/where did you get the plants?


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

those are some beautiful fish you have!


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## Julee (Aug 12, 2011)

Gorgeous ladies! Are you an IBC member?


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## bettamom34 (Apr 1, 2015)

*looking for a good breeder to buy from.*

Hi Marko. I saw your postings here and on ultimate. I was wondering if you were going to have any more available soon? If not, can you refer someone?


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