# elliebellie's 10g Rimless Betta Haven (Photo Heavy!)



## jeffvmd (Apr 16, 2010)

That is a bit of a close date to just start your tank now. 
Its only 11 days 'til your fish gets here.
Try to get some old filter media or mulm from an established tank to help speed up your cycling process.

plants? I thought there was gonna be a soccer field in there?:hihi:
Floaters will look nice.


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

Lol! you don't leave the training stuff in there 24/7, and when I aquascape I'll be sure to leave enough room for it 

I know I won't have the MTS done or the tank cycled by the time he gets here so I'm getting a 2.5g ready for him temporarily. it'll just be bare bottomed with a silk plant for ease of cleaning until the big tank is ready.










Edit: what is "mulm"?!


----------



## familyman03 (Jun 16, 2010)

mulm is the debri in the gravel of a well established tank. It will speed up your cycling process a lot


----------



## tuffgong (Apr 13, 2010)

You might want to do some research on compatibility between the betta and the frogs. I believe someone posted on here about how their Betta made quick work of the frogs.

Mulm is gunk full of the good nitrifying bacteria in your filter media and in your substrate. It's usually brown.


----------



## MissGreen08 (Jan 4, 2011)

I have kept ADFs and Bettas together, but you need to be careful about feeding. Bettas are typically greedy little buggers with their food, whereas ADFs eat slowly and typically stay on the bottom. You have to find a good balance between not overfeeding the Betta, but still getting food down to them.

I've found the long aquatic tweezers work well to hold bloodworms or brine shrimp for them to feed. Or a turkey baster and squirting them down there.

By the way, that is one GORGEOUS betta!


----------



## sejoy (Jan 18, 2011)

Yay, another betta fan ^.^
So jealous you got an import. He's so beautiful!


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

I have done lots of research on the betta/frog relationship and I'll be hand/tweezer feeding the frogs, But I'll have an extra tank set up just in case I need to get the frogs out ASAP, I have read it really all depends on your Betta's attitude, so we'll see!

I'm so happy to see so many betta keepers on here, it's very inspiring!

And thanks about the mulm! Do you think it's a good idea to go get some from a pet store? I have a friend who may have some in her tank but she is an hour away, will the bacteria last the car ride home?


If I put live plants in the tank during the cycling process, will it help, or slow it down?


----------



## familyman03 (Jun 16, 2010)

i would venture out for the hour and get it from a trusted source and not from a chain store especially. there are too many unkowns form a pet store


----------



## poppyseed (Feb 23, 2010)

One thing to note about bettas is a tendency to jump. I'm far too fearful, as an owner of a few bettas, to put one in a tank with no cover.


----------



## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

elliebellie said:


> I have a friend who may have some in her tank but she is an hour away, will the bacteria last the car ride home?


Get it from your friend. As long as you transport it in some of the aquairum water, it will be fine for the drive.


----------



## WaterLogged (Feb 2, 2011)

all these gorgeous bettas are making me want to set up a betta tank! That 10 gal looks awesome rimless!!!


----------



## sejoy (Jan 18, 2011)

> Get it from your friend. As long as you transport it in some of the aquairum water, it will be fine for the drive.


+1
Pet stores usually have a ton of diseases in their tanks. Just the other day I saw ick in 2 tanks. 

Also, as poppyseed pointed out, bettas really need a covered tank. Especially since you shelled out the extra cash for a more expensive one, I would recommend putting a piece of Plexiglas on top, preferably with some small holes drilled in the top. This will ensure the fish's safety, and won't mar the look of the rimless tank. =)


----------



## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

sejoy said:


> +1
> Pet stores usually have a ton of diseases in their tanks. Just the other day I saw ick in 2 tanks.
> 
> Also, as poppyseed pointed out, bettas really need a covered tank. Especially since you shelled out the extra cash for a more expensive one, I would recommend putting a piece of Plexiglas on top, preferably with some small holes drilled in the top. This will ensure the fish's safety, and won't mar the look of the rimless tank. =)


+1 to both comments. 

I got a plastic top cut for my 20l at Tap Plastic for $13. I just went in with the measurements and a diagram of where I needed cutout for hoses, cords, etc. I'm sure you have something similar where you live.


----------



## IWANNAGOFAST (Jan 14, 2008)

I have betta splendens in my rimless, they don't jump out, but of course, better safe than sorry, I've had my fair share of other fish jump though.


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

poppyseed said:


> One thing to note about bettas is a tendency to jump. I'm far too fearful, as an owner of a few bettas, to put one in a tank with no cover.


Haha yeah they do jump, I forgot to mention that I will have a low water level on this tank, there will only be about 7 inches of water in it, leaving quite a distance to the top, the tank is 12" tall. Thanks for noting that!

Updates! ...sorta :icon_roll I didn't actually do anything with the tank but I did get some stuffs for it! :biggrin:

I went to Home Depot and got a hardware clamp lamp, for only $6, woot!
Removed the actual clamp part, I also bought some spray paint for the outside "shade" part.











I also got some CFL light bulbs! Yay!
It's 19 watts, 6500k.









And here it is above the tank (I'm just holding it up, lol)









Not much, but I'm super excited anyways!


----------



## .Mko. (Sep 23, 2010)

very very nice ! =)


----------



## .Mko. (Sep 23, 2010)

Steps for Hyperlink

1. Highlight what you want to hyperlink and copy it
2. Go to "edit signature"
3. Type out what you want the title of the hyperlink to be.
4. Highlight what you typed and click the "insert link tool" (Globe with a link on it)
5. Paste the URL you copied. 
6. Press okay and your good to go =)


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

.Mko. said:


> Steps for Hyperlink
> 
> 1. Highlight what you want to hyperlink and copy it
> 2. Go to "edit signature"
> ...


Thanks so much! :biggrin:


----------



## Cottagewitch (Oct 22, 2009)

Subscribed!  I'm looking forward to seeing how this progresses.


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

Well, I painted the lampshade and I LOVE it! The color looks a bit richer in person, but here you go! 










I also spread out my MTS on the shower curtain with a small heater over it, it's a bit thick so I have been stirring it up, I hope this won't hurt it :icon_conf










See my genius shoe border to keep the dirt in, lol!

My dad is going to help my suspend the lamp today, and I will post pictures soon! I just love pictures!!

I have sent an email to my transhipper, Linda Olsen, three days ago and I have not gotten a reply yet..I hope this is normal? But since this is my first fish ever I am quite nervous! 

Have you had any experiences with transhippers? Do tell!

Ella~


----------



## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

Julie Tran is very responsive. That's who I use (but she's only 40 minutes from me, and lets me pick up the fish).


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

That is beautiful what you did to the light!!!!!!! What a handsome betta.


----------



## Cottagewitch (Oct 22, 2009)

Well done with the light! I like that you dressed it up.


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

Ok Mars is coming around Thursday-Friday and I'm setting up his 2.5 temp tank.

Do you think it'll be ok if I put the water in, treat it, add IAL and let it sit until he gets here? The water won't go bad right? >.<


----------



## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

The water won't go bad. In fact, having it set up and running will be good, that way the pH will have time to level out.


----------



## familyman03 (Jun 16, 2010)

what is IAL ?


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

IAL stands for Indian Almond Leaves.

It's really cool stuff!


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

Alright so Mars is coming sometime today or tomorrow! I have been working on his 2g temp tank, and Since his name is Mars, I made a cute little background for fun in his 2g (the 10g will be quite serious I think) Maybe you can figure the design out? 

Here it is (IAL floating in the water)









For the small tank I made some silk plants. I know, not very classy on a planted tank forum, but I wanted him to have something to hide in and still make this tank as easy as possible to clean since I will probably be cleaning it around twice a week.

A little "plant" I made, it suctions to the bottom so there's no need for potentially sharp "rocks"



















And a leaf "hammock" I made, so he can sleep near the surface 











All set up and ready!


----------



## Kaie (Feb 23, 2011)

good work

where did you get the almond leaf?


----------



## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

You can buy IAL or ebay and aquabid. If you google it, you'll also find people selling it.


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

They are mostly from international sellers, but you can get it in the states from JoshsFrogs.com but the price per leaf is much higher...I got 20 leaves on ebay from a malaysain seller for $5 something, and only 5 leaves for the same price from Josh's, AND the leaves from malaysia were in in great condidtion, whereas Josh's leaves were not - torn/crushed leaves, not whole beautiful leaves.


----------



## Kaie (Feb 23, 2011)

thanks for the info.

They would look good at the bottom of my amazon tank.

Did you get your betta yet?


----------



## Kibblemania1414 (Feb 1, 2011)

i love it! keep us updated


----------



## familyman03 (Jun 16, 2010)

looking good


----------



## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

You can use oak leaves instead of IAL.


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

No Mars today...maybe tomorrow, I'll keep you updated


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

Change of plans! Mars will be shipped on Monday, and will probably get here sometime before wednesday next week! So do you think my water will still be fine that whole time?


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

MARS IS HERE!!! Yay! He is looking a tad pale from his trip but otherwise looking good! he is so cute!!! 

Here are some hastily snapped pics, please forgive the awful quality.





































Acclimating him now, he is so curious and he looked right at me!!! *heart melts into shoes*











I've had my water ready and waiting for about a week and it's quite dark from the IAL, the temp is 78.9 and I just put his bag in the tank about 15 minutes ago....how long do you usually acclimate your fishies?

~Ella


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

Well Mars has settled in and colored up quite well 

Here are some more pics, terrible quality I'm afraid :icon_conf

Hiding by the IAL









A little flare









And I caught him sleeping on his leaf hammock! 









He loves it, but I don't want any fake plants when I move him to the 10g, any suggestions on something I could use instead? It needs to be an inch-ish from the surface of the water, and be able to support his weight.

Thanks

~Ella


----------



## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

He'll adapt to whatever plants you have (my HM likes to cram himself in behind the heater and hang out on top of the suction cup connecter). Just give him something that will grow up to the top like a lily.


----------



## cervantesmx (Feb 16, 2011)

Your betta is beautiful! - I have not yet seen such a pretty betta


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

Haha Thanks cervantesmx, that's why I couldn't resist him!

Thanks Betta Maniac, sounds great!


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

Well my MTS is just pathetic, I just do not have the time for it so I am going to use it to fill all the holes my chihuahua has dug in the yard (he was sooo happy when the snow melted!) and I'm going to buy a MTS kit from TheCryptKeeper! Yay!! Then I will be that much closer to cycling it and getting some plants and fishies in there!


----------



## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

Another post made me think of floating plants. If you give Mars some penny wort, he can hang out and sleep in/on that. Mine love it. If you can't find it, I can send you some. It grows like CRAZY.


----------



## familyman03 (Jun 16, 2010)

How is Mars doing? How did everything turn out?


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

Mars is quite the firey redhead! Always flaring at my face when I come near the glass...The 2 gal I had him in cracked while i was cleaning it (my fault!) so I moved him to a 1 gal I had, so now twice as frequent water changes, oh well.

I'm still waiting for my dirt from TheCryptKeeper...

I purchased an Ottlight that is very cute and vintage looking so I won't be using my modded shop lamp, I'm putting it above my breakfast bar in the kitchen instead.



















Thanks for asking and getting me back on this forum, I was starting to neglect!


----------



## familyman03 (Jun 16, 2010)

Do you have any pictures of Mars now that he is settled in?


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

Betta Maniac said:


> Another post made me think of floating plants. If you give Mars some penny wort, he can hang out and sleep in/on that. Mine love it. If you can't find it, I can send you some. It grows like CRAZY.


I will most definitly take you up on that offer!! I looked at some stores around here and I haven't been able to find any healthy specimens :icon_conf




familyman03 said:


> Do you have any pictures of Mars now that he is settled in?


My photography really is gruesome, well actually it's my camera, I do have a couple pictures, but these were a few weeks ago, I should take some like now!

Here he is flaring a bit




























And this picture below is really washed out but he is flaring so well!










I will take some recent ones after his water change tomorrow. 

Goodnight!

~Ella


----------



## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

wow gorgeous Betta! 

I remember reading the beginning of this thread a few weeks ago but somehow I managed not to post! OOPS!

Loving the fancy desk lamp, i think the tank with the lamp will look awesome with the breakfast bar! roud: can't wait to see it all set up! :biggrin:


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

Karackle said:


> wow gorgeous Betta!
> 
> I remember reading the beginning of this thread a few weeks ago but somehow I managed not to post! OOPS!
> 
> Loving the fancy desk lamp, i think the tank with the lamp will look awesome with the breakfast bar! roud: can't wait to see it all set up! :biggrin:


Haha OOPS my self too! I guess I wasn't very clear but I meant that now that I bought the cute lamp I am npt going to put the red lamp over my fishtank, instead I will put it above the breakfast bar, and the fishtank will stay in my room, lol I think I just confused myself, I really must go to bed already! 

I really appreciate that you like my thread, and that you took the time to post here! I'm really inspired by your amazing tanks!


----------



## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

He's a real beauty.


----------



## boltp777 (Jan 16, 2009)

where'd you get mars from he's beautiful.... check out this youtube channel this guy always has nice bettas http://www.youtube.com/user/robinsonflima


----------



## AquaStudent (Jan 4, 2011)

Mars looks fantastic! I can't wait to see how this tank turns out. MTS sounds like really cool stuff. A couple of people on another site used Miracle Grow Organic Potting Mix as a base substrate and cap it with grave/sand so I'm trying that in my newest project. It's...erm interesting so far.

I'll keep checking back for updates. 

P.S. Mars is an excellent name for a betta.


----------



## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

hahaha oops! i think i might have read that wrong, but either way, the new lamp is very cute! :hihi:

and thanks! that's so nice of you to say! i'm blushing :redface::tongue:


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

boltp777 said:


> where'd you get mars from he's beautiful....


I got him from a guy whose aquabid user name was xmanbettas but he is some kind of olympic celebrity in thailand, who breeds bettas as a hobby, other than that I don't know much about him.



AquaStudent said:


> Mars looks fantastic! I can't wait to see how this tank turns out. MTS sounds like really cool stuff. A couple of people on another site used Miracle Grow Organic Potting Mix as a base substrate and cap it with grave/sand so I'm trying that in my newest project. It's...erm interesting so far.
> 
> I'll keep checking back for updates.
> 
> P.S. Mars is an excellent name for a betta.


Which tank are you trying that in? I would love to follow that! I wonder how it compares to MTS, I would think it's very similar?

I haven't heard anything from TheCryptKeeper, and I know that he has dry spells on the forum here, but he was online talking to me when I ordered, then I told him I would need a couple days to get the money, and then I lost him, he hasn't been online since :icon_conf

Hopefully he is doing ok.

I'm not REALLY in a rush, but I am excited about getting the tank going :bounce:

I will try to photograph Mars today, haha we'll see if that works out


----------



## AquaStudent (Jan 4, 2011)

ohh aquabid  I've been looking on there to fill my 5g although I just can't find the heart to pay all that money in shipping :/ But a betta as awesome looking as Mars would be...well...awesome!

I'm going to check out his auctions to see if he has any CTs. I'm a big fan of CTs 

My 5g is the one I'm doing dirt in. I think MTS would contain the better "minerals" because of the presetup stuff but I'm not sure. I just know dirt was pretty easy but I'm not liking how messy it is. If I could go back I probably would just do my Tahitian Moon Sand and root tabs because it's easier, even for a heavily planted tank.


----------



## elliebellie (Jan 28, 2011)

So I took a few pictures of Mars, my camera fails but I'm posting them anyways!

He made a bubblenest!! I am very excited, although it's not really that big of a deal, lol










So CUTE! 



















And an epically horrid video of Mars flaring (be prepared to squint A LOT)

http://s260.photobucket.com/albums/ii37/cinder_ella91/Betta%20Fish%20and%20other%20fishy-ness/?action=view&current=100_6199.mp4

Also, I am making a trip to Ohio on Monday and I am having a friend who lives nearby babysit Mars while I am gone, I am taking him to her house tonight and I hope that it won't be to stressful, I'm so worried about him!!

More updates when I get back!

~Ella


----------



## efaulks (Nov 11, 2010)

I love your betta and makes me want to start a betta tank, I also really liked the leaf hammock idea. Great Work, can't wait for more pictures!!!


----------



## laurenrocksth (Apr 2, 2011)

Beautiful betta. Can't wait for updates


----------



## AquaStudent (Jan 4, 2011)

Hey! How is Mars doing?


----------

