# Under the lake, 25 gallon cube tank (A Betta Sorority)



## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

This is a 25 gallon cube tank that I bought off Craigslist. It was set up as a saltwater tank.. 
This will be a low tech tank that hopefully will have a simple natural, but modern look.
The driftwood I will be using to scape the tank was found at a local lake. 

Its been about 6 years since I had a tank going and I miss how relaxing having an aquarium is. Im really excited to be starting up a new build and anyone who wants to tag along with my progress is welcome.:biggrin:


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

My hubby built this canopy for our tank. I think he did a great job. I will post pics of the paint job I gave it soon.


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## O-D (Jan 5, 2013)

Looks good so far...subscribed and looking forward to updates


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

O-D said:


> Looks good so far...subscribed and looking forward to updates


Thanks!

Here is some pictures of a lake that my family and I went to a couple weeks ago.. It had driftwood washed up in piles! I got enough pieces for my my 25 cube and my 5 gallon i'm also starting right now!


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

I got one bag of black sand from petco to go with some eco complete I already had. This stuff took over an hour to wash all the dust out! We had to put it in a pillowcase and just keep flushing water through it. I think the dust made up at least a pound of the overall weight..:icon_mad:


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

That's a nice selection of driftwood!


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

GMYukonon24s said:


> That's a nice selection of driftwood!


Thanks, it was a lot of fun just walking around looking for interesting pieces.


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## devilduck (May 9, 2012)

Your husband got great wood working skills! 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

Here is a pic of some of the pieces i'm going to use in the scape. I got to boil it all first and hopefully will have this tank set up by tonight.
Sorry the pics not to good.


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## xmas_one (Feb 5, 2010)

Looking good, any plans for what fish or plants?


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

devilduck said:


> Your husband got great wood working skills!
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4


Yea, he did a great job. It was a bit of trial and error since it was the first canopy he ever built, but it turned out great. I'll post some pics of it painted later today.


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

xmas_one said:


> Looking good, any plans for what fish or plants?


This is going to be a female Betta sorority tank. Thats one reason i'm going to be putting in more driftwood than I might typically want. They like their tanks to be heavily decorated and planted. 
On the plants, i'm going to be asking for suggestions, but right now I have a lot of Lysimachia nummularia, which I call creeping Jenny to go in.
The light that came with the tank is not going to work for plants so I have to replace it.


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

Well here is my scape and also my canopy all painted and in place.. I know it needs more plants, but they will have to wait till I upgrade my lights.


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## O-D (Jan 5, 2013)

What sort of light are you planning to get on there? CO2 or no?


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

O-D said:


> What sort of light are you planning to get on there? CO2 or no?


No CO2, to be honest i'm very confused about what lighting i'm going to need. I got a thread posted in the lighting forum asking for recommendations.
This is a low tech tank and I plan to grow easy low light plants in it. So I just need to figure out what bulbs I can get on my budget that will fit under my canopy and achieve a good low/medium PAR for this tank.


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

I have decided i'm going to do a re-scape, i'm just not satisfied with how it looks right now. I also have more plants to add so that should help. I'll post pictures when i'm finished.
When I get the scape right then I can finally start my fishless cycle.


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## cntsg (Nov 17, 2012)

annyann said:


> No CO2, to be honest i'm very confused about what lighting i'm going to need. I got a thread posted in the lighting forum asking for recommendations.
> This is a low tech tank and I plan to grow easy low light plants in it. So I just need to figure out what bulbs I can get on my budget that will fit under my canopy and achieve a good low/medium PAR for this tank.


I really like what you did with your drift wood selection. Lots of character there. I don't know what your budget is, but consider getting a Finnex fugeray or Finnex Ray2 LED light. They have a low profile, should fit inside your hood and put out plenty of light for what you want to do.


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

cntsg said:


> I really like what you did with your drift wood selection. Lots of character there. I don't know what your budget is, but consider getting a Finnex fugeray or Finnex Ray2 LED light. They have a low profile, should fit inside your hood and put out plenty of light for what you want to do.


Thanks, I will check into those lights but i'm on a fairly tight budget so that's holding me back from having a lot of choices.


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

what are the dimensions of the tank? and how tall is the hood above the top of the tank? What kind of lights are in the tank currently? I'd be glad to help with lighting if you can advise about those 3 questions...


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

I found your other thread with the info and posted there...
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=454177


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

rininger85 said:


> I found your other thread with the info and posted there...
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=454177


Thanks I appreciate your help. We made a trip to Lowe's yesterday and got what we needed for just about $20 bucks. 
We got a standard ceiling fixture, the kind that tee's out to hold two bulbs horizontally and a two pack of Sylvania CFL's that are 23 Watts and 6500K.
I posted a question in the lighting section asking what amount of light this should give me with my tank dimensions and acitydweller helped me figure out I should have a good medium light level.


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

annyann said:


> Thanks I appreciate your help. We made a trip to Lowe's yesterday and got what we needed for just about $20 bucks.
> We got a standard ceiling fixture, the kind that tee's out to hold two bulbs horizontally and a two pack of Sylvania CFL's that are 23 Watts and 6500K.
> I posted a question in the lighting section asking what amount of light this should give me with my tank dimensions and acitydweller helped me figure out I should have a good medium light level.


are you going to fashion some kind of reflector? I think this would be needed to direct the light where you want it.


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

carpalstunna said:


> are you going to fashion some kind of reflector? I think this would be needed to direct the light where you want it.


+1... what I think I'm going to do to add reflectors to my stock hood is go buy the stick-on replacement rearview mirror material from Wal-Mart / Meijer automotive department... they sell it to place on your external rearview mirrors in case they turn black or break or whatever, think its pretty inexpensive and will give a good reflective surface since its mirror finish...


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

rininger85 said:


> +1... what I think I'm going to do to add reflectors to my stock hood is go buy the stick-on replacement rearview mirror material from Wal-Mart / Meijer automotive department... they sell it to place on your external rearview mirrors in case they turn black or break or whatever, think its pretty inexpensive and will give a good reflective surface since its mirror finish...


That's a good idea, I'll check on that myself.


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

Okay so here are my lights. Right now i'm using the reflective side of aluminum foil as the reflective surface till I can check on getting some of that stick-on replacement rearview mirror material. I taped it to the underside of my canopy lid...roud:


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

I also did my re-scape yesterday and started my fishless cycle. I poured a quarter of a small container of cheap fish food in a nylon bag and i'm floating it in the tank. Here is a pic of the re-scape. Im thinking it will look good when everything grows in.


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

how did you mount your lights? is that a piece of acrylic that its mounted to? I'm debating on changing how mine mount in my hood because they currently have the stock plastic piece under them as a splash guard, but it gets kind of nasty from water splashing / evaporation then condensation on the top of the guard... so I want to remove the guard but then I'm afraid the water will splash up in to the light sockets and short the lights / start a fire, so might have to build a custom mount in the hood...


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## Kai808 (Jul 19, 2011)

Cool tank! Have you considered using foil baking pans(used to bake bread) as a reflector? They're cheap and work pretty good. If you do run into heat issue with that light, I would suggest drilling some vent holes into your hood and maybe install a computer fan.


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

rininger85 said:


> how did you mount your lights? is that a piece of acrylic that its mounted to? I'm debating on changing how mine mount in my hood because they currently have the stock plastic piece under them as a splash guard, but it gets kind of nasty from water splashing / evaporation then condensation on the top of the guard... so I want to remove the guard but then I'm afraid the water will splash up in to the light sockets and short the lights / start a fire, so might have to build a custom mount in the hood...


My tank has a glass lid and the lights are just sitting there on top of the glass. The fixture is not actually mounted at all. This doesn't look to nice, but the canopy covers it. Also my lid is tight fitting enough that there isn't any splashing. I will have to keep an eye on the fixture and look for any signs that condensation might be affecting it. For the last couple weeks the tank has been set up, there seems to be very little if any condensation accumulating under the canopy so far.
I have a five gallon tank that has the same light setup as yours, I would say you would need some kind of guard there in front of your light. I would want to have some type of guard on mine cause I would be worried, like you said it might short out or erode the fixture really quickly.


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

well I may just change it out to a custom built acrylic box instead of the stock splash guards because the stock splash guards are pretty thick too, I think I should be able to come up with a custom acrylic/Plexiglas guard that would be better than it is now and not as thick to not cause as large of a loss of light...


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

Kai808 said:


> Cool tank! Have you considered using foil baking pans(used to bake bread) as a reflector? They're cheap and work pretty good. If you do run into heat issue with that light, I would suggest drilling some vent holes into your hood and maybe install a computer fan.


Thanks! It is pretty cool . No I hadn't thought of using a foil baking pan for the reflector, that's a great idea. Right now the aluminum foil seems to be doing the job. My plants grew a notable amount today, the first day that the lights have been on the tank.


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

The tank is in the middle of cycling. Im cycling with fish food in a nylon bag. It's a mess, there is fungus sticking to everything in the tank, and the water is smelly. I posted pics and questions about this and have been told its sounds normal so far. 
I did a test this morning and the ammonia was at 0 and the nitrite at .25 I keep thinking it should go higher with the amount of fish food I have floating in there..


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

fish food will take a while to decompose if its just floating there... stick it in your filter so it gets high flow going over it and it will decompose much faster.


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

rininger85 said:


> fish food will take a while to decompose if its just floating there... stick it in your filter so it gets high flow going over it and it will decompose much faster.


That's a good idea, but it won't fit in my filter. I have it full of extra media. I did however move it under the overflow and hooked it in place with the thread that's holding the bag closed. Its now getting a lot of flow going over the bag. 
Today is the first day I had any readable nitrite in the tank, I wonder how long its going to take from this point on to finish the cycle...


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

the cycle really depends on how much food you feed the tank to cause the initial bacteria growth. The less food you feed the tank the lower your overall ammonia/nitrite readings will be when they peak, the less bacteria you'll have in your tank, the more likely you might cause a mini-cycle when you start stocking your tank.

The more food you initially feed, the more ammonia/nitrite you'll get to your peak, the more bacteria you'll have grow, and less likely to mini-cycle by adding fish once its done...

My goal is to get my ammonia level so it is maxed out as high as my API test kit can read (might be unnecessary and might cause the cycle to take longer, but then I'm confident I won't cause a mini-cycle later, and the quicker I can feel confident that I don't need to keep testing my water to keep an eye on it all - once my tank is cycled I don't test water parameters unless I think something is wrong, or I'm adding new stock, but even then you'd have to add quite a few fish at once, which I don't do...)

Doing it this way it usually takes two to three weeks, and I give it an extra week after ammonia and nitrite hit 0 just to be sure... 

You can add filter media from an already established tank to help speed this up (if you don't have another tank, I've heard of people getting used filter media from their LFS to help cycle tanks), but I haven't ever done that to see how much faster it speeds the cycle up... 

I've got other tanks set up that keep me occupied while my new tank cycles... plus with my current tank that I'm cycling I've been doing a lot of rearranging of the aquascape so haven't been anxious to move fish yet... (plus I am going to move fry from my 55, they aren't very big yet, so they can keep growing in my 55 a bit longer...) if you don't have other tanks I know its difficult to not get anxious because you want some sort of life form in your tank =) just keep looking around on here to pass the time!


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

I should have said the amount of food you feed, and the speed at which it decomposes - the flakes just sitting slowly decomposing would only cause a low build up of ammonia and bacteria might grow fast enough to clear it without ever spiking high, putting it in the high flow area will help it decompose faster so you see the spike in ammonia.

Another thing I've seen people do for entertainment was keep a journal of pictures of their test results - pretty colors! lol


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

rininger85 said:


> I should have said the amount of food you feed, and the speed at which it decomposes - the flakes just sitting slowly decomposing would only cause a low build up of ammonia and bacteria might grow fast enough to clear it without ever spiking high, putting it in the high flow area will help it decompose faster so you see the spike in ammonia.
> 
> Another thing I've seen people do for entertainment was keep a journal of pictures of their test results - pretty colors! lol


I tried to find pure ammonia around here, but didn't have any luck. I got two bottles of the wrong kind so I gave up on it and had to go with using fish food. Im trying to get a large amount of bacteria growing like you, but it is a lot slower getting the ammonia level up. I plan to make this tank a female Betta sorority so im going to be adding 6 to 8 girls at once and don't want a mini cycle.. After they settle in I'll slowly add a small school of tetras of some kind and some corys for the bottom.
I do already have one other tank, and you said something that I hadn't thought about for some reason?? I could put one of the filters from my five gallon in this tank and hurry things along. I run to filters in my 5 gallon so that should work out huh?
Im hoping that moving the food bag under the overflow will get more ammonia coming in the tank so I can avoid a mini cycle later. I'll test again tomorrow and see if there has been any change. You know there has been no ammonia at all detected since I started the cycle. I was surprised to see the nitrite show up today (my colors have been boring till today)LOL..


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

tomorrow will be 1 week since my last water param check... I was at 4.0ppm ammonia, 0.25ppm nitrite on the 16th, tonight I'm at 0.5ppm ammonia, 1.0ppm nitrite... I'll have to test in another day or two to see if the nitrite is on its way up or down, but the ammonia I would expect will be cleared up by the end of the week, the nitrite if its on its way down will be gone by the end of the week too I would guess, if its on its way up it might take a little longer... but just to give you an idea on the progression time line.

moving the filter from the other tank conceptually should automatically cycle your tank, assuming its been running with that media for a while to build up enough bacteria (of course if you are going to a bigger tank it may still need more bacteria), if you have nitrites then there was ammonia in the tank already, you may have just missed it since the food wasn't rotting fast enough to see a high spike in ammonia...


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

rininger85 said:


> tomorrow will be 1 week since my last water param check... I was at 4.0ppm ammonia, 0.25ppm nitrite on the 16th, tonight I'm at 0.5ppm ammonia, 1.0ppm nitrite... I'll have to test in another day or two to see if the nitrite is on its way up or down, but the ammonia I would expect will be cleared up by the end of the week, the nitrite if its on its way down will be gone by the end of the week too I would guess, if its on its way up it might take a little longer... but just to give you an idea on the progression time line.
> 
> moving the filter from the other tank conceptually should automatically cycle your tank, assuming its been running with that media for a while to build up enough bacteria (of course if you are going to a bigger tank it may still need more bacteria), if you have nitrites then there was ammonia in the tank already, you may have just missed it since the food wasn't rotting fast enough to see a high spike in ammonia...


Yea I probably missed the ammonia cause I haven't tested every day. I did test again this morning to see if moving the bag of fish food under the intake would make a spike in ammonia, but it tested the same as yesterday. 0 ammonia, and .25 nitrite. I decided to test my PH to and it's at 7.5 the same as when I set the tank up.
I think what i'm going to do is just wait it out and let the tank cycle on its own without adding the filter media from my 5 gallon. This is my thoughts on that. When the tank is all cycled and clean, just before I add my Betta girls, I will add the other filter media, I'm thinking that if I wait it will be like adding extra bacteria not just helping it reach the max it would of reached on its own, maybe that way since i'm doing it with fish food and its not going to build as big of bio-load capacity of bacteria, I can still avoid a mini cycle when I add my girls.. I dont know if that makes sense or not...
Thanks for the time line, that makes me think in a week from yesterday my nitrite maybe around .5 like yours is now. Dont you have to keep adding ammonia all the way through the process?


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

its good to keep adding a food source, I jump started mine with the shrimp to get the ammonia level high fast, then once I removed it I started feeding flakes that will slowly decay. I haven't ran a nitrate test yet to see how its doing, but just like ammonia, plants will eat the nitrate so may not be able to read nitrates either... at this point I'll let the ammonia/nitrite hit zero, then let the tank sit for a week while staying at zero then add a few fish.


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

here is a pic of my five gallon tank. It has a male twin tail Betta and about 10 ghost shrimp in it.
This tank has golden Pothos. and Creeping Jenny growing in it..


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

nice, I love the blue in the betta... I had one that looked similar, depending on how the light hit it, it showed up with blues, greens, reds etc. was a really pretty fish... but died when my tank crashed after I changed my substrate to start planting it =(

I was housing him with my guppies/mollies/corys without any problems... was news to me! I hadn't realized bettas aren't aggressive towards other fish, only towards their own kind... got it from a friends wedding - they had fish in about 1 gallon containers as center pieces... took it home and put it in my 55 and never saw a happier betta before to have so much room to stretch =)


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

I decided to try to speed things along with the cycle and I went ahead and added the filter floss from my five gallon yesterday morning. I checked this morning and the nitrite is still at .25...Hmmm I thought the established media would have made some kind of a difference by now..


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

rininger85 said:


> tomorrow will be 1 week since my last water param check... I was at 4.0ppm ammonia, 0.25ppm nitrite on the 16th, tonight I'm at 0.5ppm ammonia, 1.0ppm nitrite... I'll have to test in another day or two to see if the nitrite is on its way up or down, but the ammonia I would expect will be cleared up by the end of the week, the nitrite if its on its way down will be gone by the end of the week too I would guess, if its on its way up it might take a little longer... but just to give you an idea on the progression time line.
> 
> moving the filter from the other tank conceptually should automatically cycle your tank, assuming its been running with that media for a while to build up enough bacteria (of course if you are going to a bigger tank it may still need more bacteria), if you have nitrites then there was ammonia in the tank already, you may have just missed it since the food wasn't rotting fast enough to see a high spike in ammonia...


I was wondering if you tested your tank again? Hows it going with your nitrite?
I did put my filter floss from my 5 gallon in my cube tank, I think three days ago, I have since tested the tank everyday and the nitrite is still at .25 The filter floss seems to have made no difference in hurrying the cycling process. I am being impatient, I know, but the darn tank is so smelly with the fish food floating in it. 
I also already have my Betta girls, 6 of them :icon_mrgr They are all in quarantine with their tanks side by side so they can see each other. They have been eating mostly live and frozen food with also good quality Betta pellets, there colors are so vivid and they are gorgeous! I'll post pics of them soon.


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

I haven't tested my tank lately, but I ended up doing about a 100% water change so I could move the tank to work yesterday, so my numbers will be next to nothing now that I put all fresh water in... so it won't be a good comparison now... 

I'm planning to feed my tank another week now that its set up at work then add my fish next week if everything looks good on Friday of this week...


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

rininger85 said:


> I haven't tested my tank lately, but I ended up doing about a 100% water change so I could move the tank to work yesterday, so my numbers will be next to nothing now that I put all fresh water in... so it won't be a good comparison now...
> 
> I'm planning to feed my tank another week now that its set up at work then add my fish next week if everything looks good on Friday of this week...


Oh okay, well I hope it finishes the cycle so you can add your fish. Baby Mollies and Guppies right?
I couldn't stand the smell of my tank anymore so I did a water change and threw out the bag of rotten fish food. I added more, but this time in my filter. Even though I did an 80% water change yesterday, my nitrites are still close to .25 but at least the tank doesn't stink now..roud:


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

Here is an update.. My plants are starting to really green up, I added more creeping Jenny yesterday while I was cleaning the tank and I've also added three tiny Java Ferns and more Golden Pothos. I put in a few more pieces of driftwood to. Im hoping the Java Fern will grow thick and kinda give a two story look to the tank or maybe an underwater tree look.. Im getting some algae, but theres nothing I can do about it right now until the cycle finishes.


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

have you tested lately? I just tested my work tank and I think my ammonia is gone, but still sitting at about 0.5ppm nitrite. Will test again on Friday and see if its going to be ready to bring fish in on Monday or not. I've had a lot of people stopping by looking at the tank so far this week, but no fish in it yet!


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

rininger85 said:


> have you tested lately? I just tested my work tank and I think my ammonia is gone, but still sitting at about 0.5ppm nitrite. Will test again on Friday and see if its going to be ready to bring fish in on Monday or not. I've had a lot of people stopping by looking at the tank so far this week, but no fish in it yet!


Yea, I bet most folks don't understand that you need to wait before you add the fish. It will be looking good though when you do add your fish.
I just tested my tank and it's still the same, no ammonia and .25 of nitrite.


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

My tank is finally cycled!! I tested it this morning and the Nitrite was undetectable!:bounce:
I want be home for a full day till probably Monday, so that's when I will be able to add my Betta girls!


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## CheyLillymama22 (Jun 9, 2013)

Is pothos fully aquatic? I know it enjoys wet feet, but I am pretty sure it will rot fully submerged


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

CheyLillymama22 said:


> Is pothos fully aquatic? I know it enjoys wet feet, but I am pretty sure it will rot fully submerged



I thought the same thing, but I keep researching and found a few people that grew it fully submerged, so I decided to give it a try. 
Its doing really well for me so far. What I did was take some cuttings and let them root floating on top of the water. Once they grew there "water roots" I planted them in my substrate. They now have several leaves on them, the leaves that grow submerged are a miniature versions of the normal size. I really like the way they look so far. I'll keep this thread updated on how they do in the future and get some pics posted of how they look fully submerged when they grow in a little more. I have a variegated type and the common golden Potho growing in two tanks, both are doing equally well.


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

Here is a quick update! I added all my girls to the tank two days ago. I had to remove my biggest blue girl because she was a bully and quickly started tearing chunks out of the other girls fins. She will not be added back. My other five girls have done awesome, and there is very little aggression amongst them and there colors are great. On the first day there was some stress strips on one of my girls, but now she looks fine. They all seem to have settled in nicely. I also have three Platies in the tank because they are good "dither fish" and munch some algae to.
The pics are of the girls in there bowls before they were added to the tank. Pics of them in the tank will be added soon.:red_mouth


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

pretty colors... will look amazing with them all together I'm sure =)...


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

rininger85 said:


> pretty colors... will look amazing with them all together I'm sure =)...


Thanks! It really does look awesome with them all together, I want to add maybe 3 to 5 more and some type of algae eating fish, I would like to get a bristlenose pleco, but i'm not sure if it will uproot my plants or not, I may get some Oto's instead.


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

Well it's been about 1 month since I posted an update, so here we go!
I'm up to 8 female Bettas now. I just added two more today with no problems. I did try to add "Big Blue" back again one more time. (She was one of my first girls I bought and she had to be removed because she was to aggressive). She was still to aggressive...
I have also been battling Staghorn algae, and it's getting better, but is still not completely gone.
Here are some updated pics of my tank. My plants are growing in pretty well, I just added some Wisteria about two weeks ago.
Sorry in advance for the poor pics, my camera is crappy.

Front view







Right side view







Left side view







[/ATTACH]


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

I wanted to update so here goes! It's been about four months I guess since I started this tank.
My tank is doing great, no problems. I did have a bought with stag-horn algae, but it's gone now. I have two new female Betta that I have added. I traded in my three plates cause they were messy fish.. Here are some updated pictures. 
I took these pics while sitting on the floor looking up at my tank.:hihi:


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

Re-scape..


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

Looking good Anny!


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

Menace said:


> Looking good Anny!


Thanks Menace!


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## rustbucket (Oct 15, 2011)

Love it. 
No room for a betta girl tank so I thought I'd add a small group to the large community, unfortunately I started with 2 in the qt tank with lots of deco but  1 betta plus 1 betta = 1 betta. 

I just decided to stay with the one girl and now she has a great time chasing the cherry barbs from her corner, so I think she's happy 

Did you get an algae eater yet? Bn plecs, can dig, but so far mine just dig at the base of the wood. They are pretty great all round fish. I have a lot so they prob dig more because of that. Otos are awesome little fish as well though, a school of 5 or 6 would look nice.


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

rustbucket said:


> Love it.
> No room for a betta girl tank so I thought I'd add a small group to the large community, unfortunately I started with 2 in the qt tank with lots of deco but  1 betta plus 1 betta = 1 betta.
> 
> I just decided to stay with the one girl and now she has a great time chasing the cherry barbs from her corner, so I think she's happy
> ...


Thanks rustbucket, (I like your name). 
Yeah putting just two females together can be just as bad as two males together. Sorry you lost one. I had one girl who was just to aggressive for sorority life. But the seven I have now get along fine. I plan to add at least two more when I luck across some really pretty ones.
I did just get a BN pleco, just this weekend actually. So far she has done a great job, my tank is looking cleaner already. She hasnt done any digging that I've noticed. Do you have males and females?


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## Niyona (Feb 20, 2010)

Beautiful tank! I've been seeing a lot of posts with betta sororities! I think I may have to start one of my own!


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

Niyona said:


> Beautiful tank! I've been seeing a lot of posts with betta sororities! I think I may have to start one of my own!


Thank you! I really enjoy my sorority tank. Betta fish are so pretty, with a rainbow of colors and fin types to choose from. There smart and interesting to.


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## rustbucket (Oct 15, 2011)

if you have a female then I doubt you'll have much trouble, even one male alone would probably be okay. I have a mix of males and females and not enough caves, so breeding males especially like to dig. My own fault really, but I don't mind it too much.


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## Aplomado (Feb 20, 2013)

That is a really nice looking cube!

Thanks for the plants and wood.


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

Aplomado said:


> That is a really nice looking cube!
> 
> Thanks for the plants and wood.


_Thank you_ for the AWESOME Cherry shrimp and all the neat plants. I'll be posting some pics very soon! :biggrin:


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

I've made a few changes to my tank. 
I added a few new plants (thanks Aplomado!) My favorite being the floating Frogbit and Salvia. I had to do a mini re-scape because I had to rob some plants from my cube for my five gallon tank which is now my Cherry shrimp tank, another thanks going to Aplomado for the adorable Cherry shrimp.
I also added a BN Pleco.
Anyway here is what it looks like now.

Looking a little bare from all the plant robbing.







Side view







BN Pleco







New Ivory and yellow Mystery snails







New floating plants







I cant remember what this plant is called, but it's a new favorite.
[censored]


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

Here are a few pics of the new Cherry shrimp in my five gallon tank. The tanks kinda scraggly looking, but the shrimp don't mind.


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## Aplomado (Feb 20, 2013)

Very nice!

I am glad some are already carrying eggs. Hope you have dozens soon!

The reddish stem plant is red ludwigia (Ludwigia natans).


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

Okay!! I'm just a few days shy of having my sorority up and running for 5 months now! I was sure it's been longer than that, but no, just 5 months.

I have some new girls that I just got a couple weeks ago. Pet smart was having a 99 cent sale and I got 4 new girls, the white crown tail was 2.99
One of the 99 cent girls I got was a yellow Vail tail. I had a hard time getting her to start eating, it took me a week to get her to start taking even live food! She is doing great now, eating with the rest of the girls (all girls added after quarantining of course).
I now have 12 females. I haven't lost any girls in all the time I have had the tank set up. My oldest girls are very large now, with long fins and vivid colors. I think my tank almost looks like a saltwater tank because of how colorful my Betta girls are. 
I been planing to buy Eco Complete to add in with my black sand, but my budget hasn't allowed for the up grade yet. The plants I have are all doing pretty well in the plain sand, but I'll make that upgrade sooner or later. I also want to add a few Cryptos and some Anubias.

My tank right now







New yellow girl







New yellow girl with new white crown tail







Pretty Big Red







Lily







Dot and Big Blue









​


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

is that a cobra in there too? lol he looks out of place... breeding guppies for betta food? =)


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

rininger85 said:


> is that a cobra in there too? lol he looks out of place... breeding guppies for betta food? =)


Yes it is a cobra guppy! How do guppies end up in every tank lol?!
Just joking, I have four guppies in the tank, there colorful and blend in with the Betta pretty well.


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

I like my guppies... I'm buying all different colors to let them cross breed... I have a really cool looking "fire cobra" in my work tank right now that has the normal cobra tail but the outer edge of the tail is a nice bright orange. Seeing what else they can come up with =) Last night I bought some cremecicle mollies to cross with my dalmation mollies...


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Tanks are looking great. Good job!


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

rininger85 said:


> I like my guppies... I'm buying all different colors to let them cross breed... I have a really cool looking "fire cobra" in my work tank right now that has the normal cobra tail but the outer edge of the tail is a nice bright orange. Seeing what else they can come up with =) Last night I bought some cremecicle mollies to cross with my dalmation mollies...


Oh wow that "fire cobra" sounds pretty. I like guppies too, just like with Bettas you can have a rainbow of colors with guppies. I hope that one will reproduce his colors for you.


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

BruceF said:


> Tanks are looking great. Good job!


Thank you!!


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

pic of my "fire cobra" on the left. Not the best pic because anytime I'm near the tank my guppies go crazy thinking they are being fed... I have two or three of these fire cobras at home too, outer edges of the tail nice red with the black dots and yellow centers of the tails then the body is the yellow cobra color, kind of reflective looking.


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

rininger85 said:


> pic of my "fire cobra" on the left. Not the best pic because anytime I'm near the tank my guppies go crazy thinking they are being fed... I have two or three of these fire cobras at home too, outer edges of the tail nice red with the black dots and yellow centers of the tails then the body is the yellow cobra color, kind of reflective looking.


That is a nice looking guppy, very nice color and pattern. I'm always looking at guppies and Bettas when ever I go to a LFS. I don't think I have ever seen a guppy quite like that. I hope you get some babies off him. The plants in your tank look great, is that your 55?


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

annyann said:


> That is a nice looking guppy, very nice color and pattern. I'm always looking at guppies and Bettas when ever I go to a LFS. I don't think I have ever seen a guppy quite like that. I hope you get some babies off him. The plants in your tank look great, is that your 55?


its my 10 gal work tank. I sold my 55 and downgraded to a 40B to make room for a 40B salty tank. So I have two 40B's side by side, fresh and salt at home.


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

I just had to post this picture of my Salvia! Way pass due to thin it out, but it grows like crazy!


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

I have that same problem with dwarf baby tears in my tanks. I started out with just a little bit of dwarf baby tears in my tank and it spread nicely, but I didn't trim it like I should have and it got too lengthy and pulled up out of the substrate and it grows like a weed when floating on the surface. I have to clean my tank out weekly or its completely covered. I have just a little bit of dwarf baby tears left planted that I'm thinking I might rip out because I am tired of cleaning the floaters out since they grow so fast...


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## annyann (Aug 31, 2013)

Oh my gosh! I didn't even know that dwarf baby tears could double as a floating plant. That's really neat.


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

annyann said:


> Oh my gosh! I didn't even know that dwarf baby tears could double as a floating plant. That's really neat.


its actually quite annoying =) I have been taking clippings from my other plants in my work tank to try and get my home tank going better and I managed to transport some floating dwarf baby tears there... now both of my planted tanks are covered in them... I'm going to have to give in one of these days and do a massive cleaning to get them all out... but I get tired of cleaning them out before I get them all usually...


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## ThatGuyWithTheFish (Apr 29, 2012)

That's duckweed.


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## Lilyth88 (Jun 30, 2014)

rininger85 said:


> its actually quite annoying =) I have been taking clippings from my other plants in my work tank to try and get my home tank going better and I managed to transport some floating dwarf baby tears there... now both of my planted tanks are covered in them... I'm going to have to give in one of these days and do a massive cleaning to get them all out... but I get tired of cleaning them out before I get them all usually...


That's actually duckweed.


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

ThatGuyWithTheFish said:


> That's duckweed.





Lilyth88 said:


> That's actually duckweed.


 
sorry, but no. It is dwarf baby tears. They were growing in the substrate but I never trimmed them so they got too big for their roots and broke off from the substrate and grow floating.


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## mythin (Jun 26, 2009)

rininger85 said:


> sorry, but no. It is dwarf baby tears. They were growing in the substrate but I never trimmed them so they got too big for their roots and broke off from the substrate and grow floating.


If you're talking about the floating plant with 3 leaves, thats duckweed aka lemna minor,










http://www.commanster.eu/commanster/Plants/Flowers/SpFlowers/Lemna.minor.html

When floating, it can look similar to HC, but like the other 2 people said, what you have pictured is duckweed.

seems like a fairly common mistake too: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f24/what-do-i-do-with-all-this-hc-cuba-167486.html


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