Betta fish questions

[black_cat]

I wouldn't worry too much about the ph kh and gh levels of your water unless you do a dirted tank and plants or want to grow the super difficult plants. If you buy fish locally chances are they have already been acclimated to the local water. I say this because you start worrying about ph, you start messing with it maybe try chemicals and you start a chain reaction of ups and downs that can be fatal. Also the toxicity of ammonia can differ based on the ph levels. It's safer and easier to learn how to work with what you have IMO.

Now if you do a dirted tank it can soften hard water because of the wood that is usually in organic mixes. The wood releases tannins which softens the ph. Adding a cuttlebone (bird chew) to the water balanced that out naturally as the acidity in the water ate away the cuttlebone and as it dissolves it adds to the alkalinity. This was my way of preventing swings in ph. Other than that I never worried about ph as long as it was stable and I kept both hard water and soft water fish and never did anything differently per fish.

As far as expenses go. Look for used tank setups and make sure they are water proof before you take them. My very first aquarium was a 20g tall with lid, lights, filter, heater and I paid $5 for it used at a garage sale. I got pea gravel at the hardware store for $3-4 for a 50lb bag, black diamond blasting sand was I think $10 for a 50lb bag. $6 for a bag of organic dirt mix. $10 for a 3 pack of LED daylight bulbs. $8 for work lamps w/ clamps. And if all else fails.... Petco normally has a $1 per gallon sale every few months for 10 and 20 gallon tanks or half price for the 40 or 55 gallon tanks. I paid $45 for a 40g breeder. And another $40 for a fluval canister filter from a discount retail store.

I love the sponge filters for smaller tanks because they are inexpensive and it's good to have a backup. For the bigger tanks 20g or larger a canister or Hang on filter is better IMO. The only problem I have with canisters or HOB filters is that it can be more difficult to adjust the flow. For my canister filter I had to buy an extra bar extension so the outflow was evenly dispersed.

I wouldn't worry too much about the ph kh and gh levels of your water unless you do a dirted tank and plants or want to grow the super difficult plants. If you buy fish locally chances are they have already been acclimated to the local water. I say this because you start worrying about ph, you start messing with it maybe try chemicals and you start a chain reaction of ups and downs that can be fatal. Also the toxicity of ammonia can differ based on the ph levels. It's safer and easier to learn how to work with what you have IMO.
I thought that having water with the wrong ph, kh, and gh can kill the fish? I'd be getting the tank before the fish-plenty of time to screw around with the levels and make sure that I know how to make them correct and safe.
Now if you do a dirted tank it can soften hard water because of the wood that is usually in organic mixes. The wood releases tannins which softens the ph. Adding a cuttlebone (bird chew) to the water balanced that out naturally as the acidity in the water ate away the cuttlebone and as it dissolves it adds to the alkalinity. This was my way of preventing swings in ph. Other than that I never worried about ph as long as it was stable and I kept both hard water and soft water fish and never did anything differently per fish.

As far as expenses go. Look for used tank setups and make sure they are water proof before you take them. My very first aquarium was a 20g tall with lid, lights, filter, heater and I paid $5 for it used at a garage sale. I got pea gravel at the hardware store for $3-4 for a 50lb bag, black diamond blasting sand was I think $10 for a 50lb bag. $6 for a bag of organic dirt mix. $10 for a 3 pack of LED daylight bulbs. $8 for work lamps w/ clamps. And if all else fails.... Petco normally has a $1 per gallon sale every few months for 10 and 20 gallon tanks or half price for the 40 or 55 gallon tanks. I paid $45 for a 40g breeder. And another $40 for a fluval canister filter from a discount retail store.
I'm more comfortable buying things new, especially for my first time and the amount of time I have to save up.
I love the sponge filters for smaller tanks because they are inexpensive and it's good to have a backup. For the bigger tanks 20g or larger a canister or Hang on filter is better IMO. The only problem I have with canisters or HOB filters is that it can be more difficult to adjust the flow. For my canister filter I had to buy an extra bar extension so the outflow was evenly dispersed.
I don't know much about filters but from what I've seen I think that I'd like to use an HOB filter.

 

[SegiDream]

I wouldn't worry too much about the ph kh and gh levels of your water unless you do a dirted tank and plants or want to grow the super difficult plants. If you buy fish locally chances are they have already been acclimated to the local water. I say this because you start worrying about ph, you start messing with it maybe try chemicals and you start a chain reaction of ups and downs that can be fatal. Also the toxicity of ammonia can differ based on the ph levels. It's safer and easier to learn how to work with what you have IMO.
I thought that having water with the wrong ph, kh, and gh can kill the fish? I'd be getting the tank before the fish-plenty of time to screw around with the levels and make sure that I know how to make them correct and safe.

It can kill a fish if you buy it and there is a large difference in the pH and you don't acclimate it properly. Going from acidic to alkaline or alkaline to acidic, one way is worse I forget. Maybe going from alkaline to acidic water is worse but don't quote me on it. I've done both a slow acclimation and Rachel O Leary's method with the net, shipped and bought locally all without issues if done correctly.

When talking about what you want to do with the pH level in your tanks, that's a matter of personal preference. Some will argue that it's better for the lifespan of a fish to match it with their natural environment and so on. That's great if you want to do that. But I refer back to the reasons I previously listed in my other post. Understanding how to adapt your pH means building an understanding of how kh and gh work together to impact pH and how pH can affect the cycle and toxic ammonia. Absolutely 100% I believe that swings in pH are far more dangerous and deadly for a fish than a steady pH that is a little higher or lower than normal for the species.

Maybe I can put it this way. Buying a fish that is more suitable to the pH of your current water is more advisable than trying to change your pH. However many fish are bred on fish farms like in Florida and sold here in the US and have thrived in water parameters that are not always what their wild counterparts live in and I don't see much problem say keeping neon tetras or cpd in harder water because they have been bred and raised in captivity for generations. Now if you are buying exotic fish that were harvested from the wild and shipped here then yes you probably want to be aware of the pH they are used to and adapt if necessary or don't buy them. I hope that makes sense.

Also I would like to add that knowing your ph kh gh is also good to know if you're trying to pick out a species of dwarf shrimp.

I recommend looking up dustin's fish tanks and rachel o'leary on youtube. They've got a lot of great videos that go into a lot of detail and explanations for this kind of stuff. This guy seems to have a good explanation..

 

[NatJ]

I've seen some conflicting stuff-it seems like algae is kinda regarded as bad, or a sign that you aren't cleaning your aquarium enough? Is there a way to prevent it, or if I want to grow live plants will I just have to deal?

Algae is a nuisance when it covers the leaves of the plants you want to grow, and when it covers the glass so you cannot see your fish.

Some people seem to have more trouble with algae than others, and I think it probably depends on lots of factors like the water conditions (pH, temperature, amount of nutrients, etc), how much light, whether any fish or snails are eating it, and I don't know what else.

I don't know a whole lot about algae control, because I finally decided to just accept it as the easiest of all plants to grow. I occasionally wipe it off the inside of the glass so I can see into the tank, and let it grow everywhere else.

 

[yakitori]

I had mine in a planted 1 gallon, I changed out the water.... whenever I could be bothered. You want to change to water out with a planted tank mainly to lower the TDS build up. As for how much space a betta really need, it really depends on what kind of betta you get but short tailed ones like plakats will appreciate a filter and more space to whiz around. I never had algae problems..

Imo Betta essentials would be a heater, some hiding spots, clean water and good animal protein based food. To grow plants you will need a light ( I used a desk lamp for the longest time)

I miss my tanks, I want to start another one, but having chickens among other home improvements needing my attention, I haven't found time

This is my betta, Kuro. I raised him from a teeny tiny Petco baby betta. Unfortunately he developed a tumor eventually and passed away at 2 years old...

I wish his fins were always this nice, he ended up biting them, and they always grew back funny.



This was the tank... I forgot why I had an oto in there, somehow I ended up with one lonely oto, and put it in with my betta as a temporary measure... (Not recommended!)
I was really into planted tanks back then, and often changed out the plants.

 

[SegiDream]

I miss my tanks, I want to start another one, but having chickens among other home improvements needing my attention, I haven't found time

This is my betta, Kuro. I raised him from a teeny tiny Petco baby betta. Unfortunately he developed a tumor eventually and passed away at 2 years old...

I wish his fins were always this nice, he ended up biting them, and they always grew back funny.

View attachment 2378453

This was the tank... I forgot why I had an oto in there, somehow I ended up with one lonely oto, and put it in with my betta as a temporary measure... (Not recommended!)
I was really into planted tanks back then, and often changed out the plants.

View attachment 2378468

I miss mine too. All this talk of fish almost wants me to get the 40g back up and running. There's just something about small fish in a big planted tank that is very satisfying to watch.

Can we show off tanks a little? This was my 10g with cpd, sparkling gourami, and cherry shrimp that I let loose in there and never could catch them all before I added gourami. They stayed in hiding all the time but they did really good actually.

And my 3g shrimp tank...

And then my 20g before the plants really filled in.

And the 40g when it was fairly new too..

 

[yakitori]

I miss mine too. All this talk of fish almost wants me to get the 40g back up and running. There's just something about small fish in a big planted tank that is very satisfying to watch.

Can we show off tanks a little? This was my 10g with cpd, sparkling gourami, and cherry shrimp that I let loose in there and never could catch them all before I added gourami. They stayed in hiding all the time but they did really good actually.
View attachment 2378516

And my 3g shrimp tank...
View attachment 2378517

And then my 20g before the plants really filled in.
View attachment 2378521

And the 40g when it was fairly new too..
View attachment 2378523

Very pretty tanks!

I never had a tank bigger than a 3 gallon, so to create the illusion of a bigger tank I got smaller plants and smaller fish. I miss that 3 gallon tank, I had a bunch of shrimps and pygmy cories in there too! I used to remember all the names of my plants, but now all that knowledge has vanished to goodness knows where

 

[HappyClucker7]

I wouldn't worry too much about the ph kh and gh levels of your water unless you do a dirted tank and plants or want to grow the super difficult plants. If you buy fish locally chances are they have already been acclimated to the local water. I say this because you start worrying about ph, you start messing with it maybe try chemicals and you start a chain reaction of ups and downs that can be fatal. Also the toxicity of ammonia can differ based on the ph levels. It's safer and easier to learn how to work with what you have IMO.

I agree that ph is not the most important thing. Fish can adjust to different ph levels. Hardness is a totally different matter though. Keeping soft water fish in hard water and vice versa has been shown to dramatically decrease the fish's life span.
Since bettas are soft water fish, they need to be in soft water. If they are in hard water, minerals will build up in their intestines and eventually kill them.

 

[yakitori]

minerals will build up in their intestines and eventually kill them.

Curious about this, because I've never heard of it before. do you perhaps have a link to a study on this or something? would love to read it.

 

[HappyClucker7]

Curious about this, because I've never heard of it before. do you perhaps have a link to a study on this or something? would love to read it.

I'll see if I can find one.

 

[yakitori]

I'll see if I can find one.

Thanks!