hey everyone I have always been afraid to post on socials because people can be so mean but i wanted some help to improve my tank for my betta, Kirby. He currently lives in a 15L filtered, heated 27C , half gravel, half sand tank. His filter is the dymax slim flo SF240. He has 3 amano shrimp friends and 1 bottom feeder which i’m not sure the breed i got him yesterday recommended by my pet store. He loves the wood and the floating plant. Please note i cannot afford a bigger tank at the moment as much as id love to because im struggling financially.
I do use prime and stability and i also add a small dose of sera liquid fertiliser that’s safe for shrimp every week as well as a weekly 30% water change. I check the parameters weekly as well and i took some of the water yesterday to the pet store to be checked and their result was the water is safe too. The food i give him is fluval bug bites which the shrimp eat too.
Here are my questions if anyone is willing to kindly inform me but please bear in mind my financial situation:
- is the fluval bug bites enough for the shrimp and little bottom feeder guy too? or do i need a different type of food
- my shrimp love to uproot my plants in fact one of my stem plants didn’t make it at all. I wanted to change to soil but im afraid it’ll crash the cycle. and i’ve heard fresh soil spikes ammonia, im terribly scared what do i do? do i stay with this set up?
- i have trouble cleaning the sand as u can see in the last photo without moving all the plants out and about.
- before kirby i had a betta named neptune that suffered from fin rot and was in a hospital tank before he was well enough to be in this tank. Unfortunately he developed a tumor and died from dropsy but i kept him in this tank so at least his last day was spent in his home. I then did a water change, tested the water before adding kirby but i am still afraid if it’s safe for him. What else must i do?
PS im aware im not a perfect keeper, ive done a lot of research and have used the help of AI but with different opinions and ideas im not sure what to do so please be kind!
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1t49ztb
Posted by Select_Meringue1810
3 Comments
PPS. the little 3d printed ring is under the filter because the filter kept pushing down my floating plants
fyi ive only kept caridina and neocaridina so my advice so im not an expert by any means
1. i assume you have the fluval bug bites betta formula version. this should be fine but consider getting algae wafers when you can. it’s good to have a variety of foods.
2. why the change to soil? if it’s to increase the depth of substrate to make it easier to plant, you can stick to the sand/gravel and just add a little bit more. if it’s a nutrient issue, you can use root tabs underneath. aquasoil can get pricer so maybe save the money for now and put it towards getting a large tank or more plants in the future?
3. use a turkey baster
4. i think it’s fine? the issues with a dead animal in a tank is spread of disease and ammonia spike. i assume you didn’t immediately add kirby before neptune so the ammonia spike shouldn’t have been a problem and it doesn’t sound like neptune died from a disease.
based on the photo, your bottom feeder looks like an albino corydora. they prefer groups of at least 6 or else they’ll get stressed. but tbh this tank is too small for anymore. if you can, i would suggest giving it away to someone who already has a shoal
you also shouldn’t need to use prime and stability anymore if your tank is already cycled.
also maybe consider getting a floating log for him so he can have a place to rest. i would typically recommend broad leaf plants but it might crowd your aquarium
The ‘bottom feeder’ is a corydora, they need a group of at least 6 of their own species and minimum 20 gallons (70-80 litres). The amano shrimp also need a bigger tank, and 20 litres is the minimum for a betta.
Pet stores lie, do not buy things on their recommendation.