Hi everyone! I’m new to the hobby and would really appreciate some advice 😊
For Christmas, I was gifted an aquarium that is intended to house a Betta in a couple of weeks (around the end of January).
Tank & Setup:
Tank size: 30 liters (~7.9 US gallons)
Current water volume:
10 liters (~2.6 gallons) of tap water
15 liters (~4.0 gallons) of water provided by the fish store (I believe it’s RO / osmosis water)
Total: ~25 liters (~6.6 gallons)
Substrate: ~5 kg (~11 lb) of black sand
Decor: stones, driftwood
Plant: 1 Cryptocoryne
Heater: yes, set to 27–28°C (81–82°F)
Water Treatments Added
Yesterday I set everything up and added:
Sera Bio Nitrivec: 10 ml for the full 25 L / 6.6 gal
Tetra AquaSafe: 10 ml for the 10 L / 2.6 gal of tap water
My Questions
After doing some reading, I now have a few doubts:
Did I do everything correctly so far?
Should I change or add anything (for example, more plants)?
Is the current filter suitable for a Betta?
I’m concerned the flow may be too strong and am considering switching to a hang-on-back or other low-flow option to make swimming easier and reduce stress.
Lighting: how many hours per day should the lights be on?
Any tips, corrections, or suggestions are more than welcome.
Thanks in advance for helping a beginner out! 🙏
https://i.redd.it/0sb6apzobycg1.jpeg
Posted by cabicosta
2 Comments
You don’t need your heater set that high, around 78F is sufficient. Personally, I always use sponge filters for bettas, so that’s what I recommend for a filter. As for plants, the more plants the better basically.
Most importantly, you need to understand the nitrogen cycle and get your tank cycling before you get your fish. You’ll need an API Master Test Kit to track levels. You’ll need to dose the tank with ammonia to start cycling. You can do this by adding ammonia directly, such as Dr. Tim’s Ammonium or by putting fish food in the tank and letting it break down. It’s faster to dose ammonia directly. You want to see a spike in ammonia while testing, which will then be converted to nitrites, and finally to nitrates. You don’t want to put a fish in until the beneficial bacteria in your tank can reliably process ammonia
Sponge filter is what I use with bettas personally. They are less likely to shred their fins and really low flow. The other commenter is righ with the 78F for your heater. & also water testing. If you want to speed up your cycle you can use something like Tetra SafeStart which I liked but it created a lot of biofilm at first before calming down.
More plants is always better. especially for bettas because they like to rest on the leaves.
In terms of lighting, I kept my light on for my betta about 8 hours a day. But YMMV especially if you start getting algae, and what your plants like.
When you get a test kit make sure to test all your params. pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrates. The ammonia you should test everyday until it is fully cycled. And then once you start seeing changes in your ammonia, I would start testing the nitrite and nitrates everyday.
& I don’t think you have a thermometer in there. I would get one just to be safe to make sure your heater is working properly, after you see stable temps for awhile you can take it out. But I always have one in my tanks with heaters in case the heater decides to break. Anyways, looks like you are doing a great job otherwise. Just wait for the cycle to go through and you should be ready to add a finned friend. There should be some graphics on this sub with more info on the nitrogen cycle. Or you can always google it.