# 6 gal beta tank?



## harpospeaking (Nov 11, 2004)

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about starting up a planted tank to house a beta. The problem is, I live in a very bright studio apartment and I'm worried that all the sunlight will inevitably give me an algae problem. What can I do to counteract this? What kind of fish could I safely add to go with the beta?

The Eclipse 6 model looks like a nice start-up. With the lighting that comes in the kit, what kind of plants can I grow? I think it's 8W. Also, how often should I do water changes? Would this 6 gal tank be more maintenance than a 12 gal tank?

Thanks in advance,

Audrey


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## trenac (Feb 15, 2004)

Make sure not to put the tank in front of a window, only direct sunlight will cause algae not indirect light.

In a 6G tank I would keep only one Betta, if you want to keep more fish I would go with a 12G tank; a larger tank is easier to keep things in balance than a smaller tank is. 

Go with low light plants for your setup like: Anubias, Java fern/moss, Crypts. You may want to stick some Hornwort (fast grower) in to help soak up nutrients to help fight off algae. 

Water changes should be done weekly or bi-weekly.


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## Jintek (Oct 20, 2004)

I have the Eclipse 6 with a Betta & 2 African Dwarf Frogs (ADFs) in it. I've been having good fortunes with 3 Java ferns and a large strand of Hornwort floating at the top.

One thing to worry with regarding Bettas/ADFs & the Eclipse 6 is the filter outflow being too powerful. The currents, no matter what the water level is at, was far too much for my Betta & certainly my ADFs. A cheap fix I used, after finding a DIY article about it, was simply cutting a plastic soda bottle (the small ones sold in drink machines) lengthwise once and surrounding the filter outflow with it. It has really worked well once I figured out a stable way to attach it.

While the Java ferns have never looked completely healthy, they are growing baby plants and the Hornwort has taken off like crazy. I have to keep it pruned a lot so the ADFs can reach the surface without much difficulty.


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## misa212 (Nov 19, 2004)

Algae blooms are scary at first, but just keep doing water changes and you should be in the clear (ha!) soon. I had a green, hazy tank and did 30% water changes every day, plus blocked off the indirect sunlight that hit the tank every afternoon and voila : a clear tank.


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## supaoopa (Oct 25, 2004)

For a six gal you can add some bottom dwellers or even small shrimp to go with 1 betta. I had about 4 amano shrimp in with my betta and 1 otocinclus with no problems at all. A trio of pygmy corydoras would also be nice with one betta. 

When i first started my six gal i put in about 5 amazon sword looking plants :icon_redf (had no clue about plants at that time) and they did very well in my tank. They are probably the reason i have only had 2 specks of algae in the 2-3 months that i have had it running since they have grown fairly quickly in my tank (now just 3 in tank). Many will say that they get too big for a small six gal but i have not had any problems with them and prume the old leaves as needed so that the leaves don't get out of control. All the other plants i have in there have grown well but am not entirely sure what the exact names are for them. I have had success with 'banana' plants, java fern, and a mini sword type plant that looked almost like a tall grass when i purchased it. Heres a pic if someone can help identify exactly what type of plants i have in there. :icon_redf 










pic of the mini sword looking plants. 3 weeks with runners.


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