So cute :3

I've had a betta before, but they're usually pretty aggressive fish, I though. Though considering I know next to nothing about fish and I was just looking after my mother's fish for a while I can't say for certain. Might want a second or third opinion on that :I

I've taken care of betta before. c: They flare up and get a little pissy with other fish, but he'd be by himself and I'd have a piece of black backing on the glass showing skoot's tank so he wouldn't overstress.
mostly thinking betta because a planted tank doesn't need a filter if it's working well and bettas don't like the ripples filters make.

Oh :D

I was under the impression they would be in the same tank- of course, I just woke up, so I wasn't thinking straight anyway- glad to see you care so much about your fish :3

Depends on the betta. I have a solo betta in a 10 gallon tank with about 7 neon tetras. Plenty of room to swim around. However. My betta does seem to enjoy swimming in where the water is pouring or through the bubbles.

We kept a betta in this same tank and he didn't necessarily mind the filter, but he was a bit of a neglected animal. (my roommate's pet and a whole other story...)
Because the lower right tank is planted and will be sand I want to avoid using a filter... besides, it's a carbon filter, which isn't good for live plants.

It's great how much dedication you're taking to your fish. ;w;

Well, working with them is just so different from my other critters. With the cats and rats, they need to play and I need to worry more about timeliness and making sure they're actively doing well. With fish, they're a lot more laid back. ;u; Not that I don't worry about his well-being, but it's much less stressful.
That and the routine of cleaning the tank and setting up the aquascape is calming on its own. -u-

That looks so fantastic! :D Skooten looks so happy :)

such a yawny fish. XD

You should make the bottom left one your icon. XD

I caught him mid-yawn XD

Oh my GOSH his colors are so pretty! Looks like he's got some Oranda in him (or he is one, love orandas)

He is an oranda! :D But most orandas have red heads and his is white so I didn't see his bubbles until he started growing. :3
Really hoping to get a black moor or a telescope to put with him~

Yeah, I have one named Sheni. :3 And a orange fantail named Mali.
I'm hopeing to get a black moor too! :D I love their big eyes.

Bloopbloop eyes >y< That's awesome~

Bettas and goldfish should not be housed together. Bettas are warm water fishes, goldfish like colder (aka no heater) water. Also, they eat entirely different diets, but the goldfish will eat the Betta's food. The goldfish will also be more likely to attack the Betta's fins, leading the the Betta attacking its fins.

I think people got the wrong idea. gonna edit my descrip. NOT housing the two together!!! The lower right is a new tank!

OOOOohhh...well that's fine then :)

Oh..clawed frogs...get HUGE and eat the hell outta fish when they grow big o.o

If I got one, I'd only have one. ;u; My mum used to keep them so she could give me advice. Either way I'm going to need to get a heater, though I don't know if they make any that small

Yup...you can find 25 watt heaters at pet stores:just turn them way low and watch the water levers since it will evaporate quickly. Probably can't find one that small at Petsmar , but at a mom n pop kind of store should have them. If not...there's always Amazon or Drfosterssmith.com

I think I'll order online then. I also had help finding a dimmer attachment for the lamp over skoot's tank so I can dim it down and not make the water so hot. Wish I could opt for LED but they're so expensive...

Yeah...they haven't caught on yet in the fish world LOL! We're still trying to use the rest of the worlds' supplies of old ballasted fluorescent bulbs.

I don't recall the size of your Betta's tank, but Amazon does have 10 watt heaters..altho they are the same price as bigger heaters for larger tanks. You'd want about 5 watts per gallon of tank capacity; i.e. a 50 watt heater for a 10 gal tank.

The tank I need heated is 1.5 so 10 watt might be too much. o^o; I wish I could just swap the lighting (impossible but I can dream!) because then the fish would have cool LED lighting and the betta could have the hot-as-hell fluors XD

They do have thermostats on them, so yo can plug it in, and turn it to its lowest point, then gradually turn it up..like a mark a day ..assuming each mark is a degree.

fluorescent lights shouldn't get too hot; they produce a lot less heat than incandescent (regular light bulbs). Moat of their heat is from the ballast, and that rises up thru the hood.

As for plants and Bettas, yes...should be OK to add them. Bettas swim near the surface most of the day. Lighting might be an issue tho, in a small bowl.

no NOT put anything in that tank. it is WAY to small for anything other than snails or shrimp.

bettas need at least 2.5 gal, but 5gal works best. And i would recommend a filter, with or without plants. you can get ones with a gentle flow, or pull a pantyhose around it.

i dont know much about ADF, but i do know that most people like at least 3gal per frog. I know your mom had them before, but i find parents and grandparents arent as good as caring for animals as they think, as they often go off outdated information. I dont meant to insult her, ive just dealt with it lots first hand. I would look up some care sheets either way

Bettas are technically warm water fish, despite being kept in bowls without a heater quite often. This isn't exactly detrimental to their health but it is not ideal. A goldfish on the other hand is a cold water fish and prefers temperatures lower than 74 degrees. If you are looking for tankmates i'm afraid you might be restricted to more goldfish. As for the frog, their ideal water temperature is above 75 degrees, which is obviously out of the goldfish's optimal range, so i might not go in that direction either. The only commonly available coldwater fish I know of that is not a goldfish is a White Cloud tetra or white cloud mountain minnow as it is sometimes called. The only real thing here is that white clouds are considerably more active than goldfish, and sometimes slower more chill fish get slightly stressed by more active tankmates. Still though, if you don't want more goldfish (and I might not given their propensity to be dirty) A school of about 5 white clouds (they are pretty small) would be your best option I think.

On the plants, having more plants can reduce algae because it fights for the nutrients algae needs to thrive. In addition reducing the amount of light will help quite a bit. It is important to remember though that algae is not a detriment to the health of a tank by itself, but rather a symptom of potential problems. excess nutrients are caused by overfeeding, or too many fish in the tank, so you might do some looking in that direction. Also, remember that goldfish like to snack on certain live plants. Sometimes that is not bad as it can be a nice variety to their diet, but you will be replacing plants more often of course.

Overall it sounds good to me! Glad to hear about your continuing success!

Oh, I think you were mistaken ;u; The betta and the goldfish are separate tanks! I'm not putting them together. XD And Skoot's tank is going to stay plastic for now. I don't have the money to redo his tank and he'd just eat them all up anyway.

If you wanna try to put live plants in Skoot's tank I'd pick darker, waxier looking leaves (Different kinds of swords would be a good way to start and are pretty cheap). They're typically a lot more fibrous and goldfish will take a nibble and decide they want to leave them alone. They help keep the water oxygenated as well so if he decides to spike the water with ammonia time to time you won't hafta worry so much about his ability to breathe.

Plants usually do extremely well in goldfish tanks because of the higher nitrate production compared to other fish, so you might not hafta use a fertilizer at all! I try to put as little 'extra stuff' in my tanks as possible.

If you wanted a plant he could eat you could try water wisteria. It doesn't have very high light requirements and does great in most temperatures. Skoot's waste would be enough fertilizer and it's good at helping with the algae too since it will use nutrients from the water that algae would use normally; helps eliminate by reducing it's ability to grow. More importantly to address your concern is it grows pretty fast so you can rotate the eaten stem with a 'good one' from the betta tank whenever you do your betta maintenance and it will regrow quickly!

Cool. :3 I probably won't plant skoot's tank until the betta one is up and running so I know more of what I'm doing (I learn by doing things myself, so a smaller tank is good for practice), but I'll keep this in mind~

Haha awwww! The bottom-left picture is always what I imagine when using this emote: o:

is cute ;w;

There is something fishy about this picture.

Ehhh!! He's so chubby! >W< I love the face on view!

He actually has a bubble head because he's an Oranda, but because it's white he looks like he has chubby cheeks >y<

D'awww >w< He's adorable!

Oh wow such a pretty boy! His colors are stunning and his tail is so full!
I love his eyes >.<

Live plants are pretty easy to take care of.
I have not seen that type that you linked.
But I do know that there are many easy types to get started on. Just have to make sure you have the right kinda light for them. And do not be scared to clip them when they need it.
Both my mother and father are/were experts on fish. So I know WAY more then I care to about underwater things.
If you have any questions shoot them my way! And if I can not answer I will ask my mum!

He has a little orange mustache too. >u<

And I do have a few questions that are just things that are debated and don't seem to have a good answer.
Will bettas tear up plants? Some say they will, some say they won't. -A-
And I'm pretty sure that if a tank is well planted then you don't necessarily need a filter, particularly for a low-polluter fish.
Lastly, I'm hoping just to do a small aquascape with the 1.5 gallon consisting of mostly mosses and low-light plants, so will liquid fertilizer be sufficient? I couldn't find any fancy substrate so I'm simply using aquarium sand.

It is just too cute.

1. All fish are different and it does depend on if you have a male of female. (Most people have males because they are the bright pretty ones.) Males will rip up plants. BUT when we had our store we did notice that only some of them would rip them up. So it may be a grey area because some do and some don't. I would not suggest a Betta for that kinda tank. Tetras do very well as well as small cats like Cory cats. (they also keep the tank clean!)

2. This is true! However goldfish are some of the dirtiest fish out there, even if they are fancy. Sorry bad joke. We have had a few clients that had live tanks and we always have a small overflow on them. It keep the water moving and there are good Bactria that live in filters. They promote a very healthy water in the tank. I would suggest a small 'bio wheel' set up. I am a bit out of the loop on the market right now since we no longer get the resellers catalog but if you like I can ask my mother what kind she would do.

3. As a rule of thumb it is always good to go bigger then smaller. But that does not mean a small tank will fail. You will be fine with a liquid fertilizer. If you can not find something in a near by store always look online <3 Also I noticed.. when I got into pet stores they know almost nothing about fish. Even the 'Expert' is stupid. I ask to catch my own fish ^^; It is less stress on the fish because I know what I am doing and who I want out of the tank rather then stabbing at them with a net for 5 mins and getting the wrong one.

Sorry for being long winded. I hope this helps though and shoot me a note if you need anything else. I have been forced to learn all this anyhow so I may as well use this useless info that fills most of my brain space. lol.

Another question, because this seems to have a lot of controversy...

The small tank is actually 2 gallons (just measured and did volume, but always assumed it was 1.5 before). It's housed a betta before and the betta seemed fine. But is 2 gallons too small for bettas?
I really don't have the money or surface area on my desk for anything larger and I don't want to just throw the tank away. I suppose I could put guppies in but I really love the personalities of bettas.
Thoughts?

No worries at all <3

Bigger is always better. BUT if he is alone it will be ok. Some people keep them in tiny little things but 2gal is just fine. Just watch that you do not over feed him and he will be very happy.
We fed ours 2 times a day in small portions and it worked very well.

Phew. I already bought the betta food and bloodworms because I was pretty set on a betta (the ADF was my mum's idea)
Skoot actually really likes bloodworms too. He gets them as an occasional treat and nibbles them from my fingers. XD

I was about to ask you if you have heard of bloodworms! They freaking love them haha.
It sounds you you got it down <3

Once you get it all set up and final post a pic! I would love to see!

right now the plants need to grow for a few weeks. Hope they take root.
Ugh, now I kinda feel like crap because the girl below is saying my tanks aren't big enough. Wish I could do better but I can't. -n-

The tanks are fine as long as you keep them up and know what you are doing.
You seem to have a very good grasp on it as it is and are willing to learn.

As far as the plants go, they will <3
They tend to grow slow at first then take off.

We had a client who had a very large live tank and we had to come every 2 weeks to thin it out for him. Not just dead leaves we had to take nice healthy leaves out in order to keep the tank healthy and clean.

OH! One thing to be watchful of is this.. *looks up a picture* http://www.petturtlesandmore.com/wp.....e/090501-2.jpg
When buying new plants if you see ANY of this in the tank DO NOT buy any plants. It is horrible and hard to get rid of. It chokes plants and takes over your tank.
And snails. It seems silly but if you see small snails also beware. They will take over your tank faster then you can blink and they are also very hard to get rid of. *nods*
The tank I keep talking about had both problems and had to start all over once because of snails.

No hairs on my plants! And no snails that I can see. c: Thanks for the warning.
They've got so many air bubbles on them now, it's awesome looking.

To add to that, if you buy from a pet store try to see if they have (healthy) plants in the tubes. Top Fin has a pretty good selection and (most) brands of tubed plants are guaranteed snail-free. Even working at a pet store that hand checks 'wet plants' before putting them in the tanks I won't buy anything pond grown... which is exactly what the wet plants are. You can't see snail eggs trapped in nooks and crannies.

I will say though if you ever get those kind of snails in Skoot's tank you won't see them for long; goldfish LOVE them!

If you get them in the betta tank you can get a small jar like those tiny jelly sampler jars and put a piece of cucumber in there overnight and they will flock to it~ Easy to pull it out and toss them in a stream or something.

The three types that I planted were in tubes/packets because all the wet plants they sold were waaay too big. >u< And great advice for the snail trap!

Pretty fishie.

That's a beautiful tank. :3

My mother has been taking care of an aquarium for about 7 years now and has had both a salt water and fresh water varieties. The fresh water ones are great to stick with. If you are having issues with algae you will want to consider getting a " sucker fish" and using an under gravel and skimmer filter wich will keep water from stagnating in one place to accumulate nitrogen and phosphorous compounds and urea from your fish's waste, which provides algae with the nutrients it needs to grow. Placing other live plants is a good way to get rid of some of these compounds however you will still want a decent filtration system with an activated carbon filter to remove what the plants don't. The high flow of water will also help keep your tank cool. Look into getting some led or fluorescent hood lamp to reduce the amount of infrared light that will elevate your tank temp. If you are going to use live plants be sure they have not been infested with snails otherwise you will find the show turbo playing in your aquarium. you may also want to get a tank heater if your water temp fluctuates too much toward the cold side. Happy fisherizing.

okay, if you dont mind me asking, i was looking through you last upload of him and i was wondering
if he is alone
how many gallons he is in

10. c:

also, I just measured the smaller tank and it's actually 2 gallons. I've had it a long time.

i still wouldnt risk it. bigger the better. bigger is with a filter also means less cleaning, which is better for you and the fish

and, you need a bigger tank for you goldfish.
10 is the minimum you should add onto a tank or each additional goldfish, but a single fish needs at least 20. so, 1 fish = 20, 2 = 30, ect.
and you will need more fish! goldfish NEED interaction with other goldfish. theyre just like rats, or hermit crabs. a lonely life is a short life for a goldfish, and 10 gal for 2+ would be a death sentence

I'm going to have to stop you with two simple words; I can't.
I stretched the very limits of what I could afford and place with the 10 gallon that I bought only a month ago. I'm trying to salvage the small tank because I don't want to throw it out. I wish I could create a fishy utopia but I really cannot.
So all this 'you need to' is really just making me feel like crap when I'm doing the very best I can.

have you considered a marimo moss ball? they're becoming popular. it would do fine in the small tank

but i mean hey, go ahead an torture a fish if you want. im not trying to make you feel like crap; im trying to help you not destroy the life of a fish. doing your best, or better than what most people will do(fucking bowls) doesnt mean you are supplying the fish with everything it needs to thrive

Right, so you accuse her of torturing her fish ... but you don't want to make her feel like crap. That makes SO much sense. =/

You're coming off as a pompous dick.

also; no guppies. they need schools, and schools need space. if you cant afford a bigger tank, you need to rehome the fish and put the tanks away until you can use them for something that will thrive in them
if i were you, i'd get a 30gal for your goldfish and store the other tanks

keeping the 2gal for quarantine is also an option for when you have more than 1 fish. i dont know why you'd think youd need to toss it if it wasnt in instant use

No storage space to put it so it has to be on my desk or I need to rehome it.

Skooten will get to be 6-10 inches long without the tail if he is just going to reside by himself. Just remember if he does get bigger he'll need a big enough tank to turn around in and swim. Goldfish as adorable as they might be are still carp that being stated he's not going to stay small and he will eat all your plants if you put them in there. I put orange slices from time to time and cucumbers slices in my tanks from time to time, mostly cucumber. The koi I own love oranges just make a big mess out of the tank with it. Glad to see the air stone. Just remember to get a tank vacuum it looks like a small hose with a elongated empty tube on the front of it. Make sure to partial every 1-2 weeks. All his urine will gather in the rocks. I saw a guy recommend a sucker fish aka a plecostomus. Remember one things about these bad boys they are catfish most get really big. A standard one get up 8-12 pounds and up to 2 feet long I had one in my pond that was 11years old before he died. If considering an algae eater get a dwarf or birstlenose they stay around 6-8 inches. Their top sail fins look amazing they also feel like sand paper and buzz out of water. You can keep other fish with your gold fish like Australian Rainbow fish, they are usually pretty gentle little boogers. You said you'd keep him by himself there is always the future to consider. Feeding fresh peas to gold fish or frozen no canned it has salt, will help with his/her digestion.

otocinculus are another option! They stay about 1.5 inches and do a pretty good job on cleaning up. At least until Scoot gets larger... >_>;;

Cool, I'll look those up!

I'm always so late to journals... haha
Yeah the Ottos are great! pound for pound they eat as much as the plecos so they do a good job with algae. They have a very thin slime coat though so you wanna try to watch your ammonia levels so they don't stress out. In general they'll be too big for Skoot to eat them as well.
Another option are commonly called Mystery Snails. They don't reproduce like the pond snails and they can handle spikes in water quality better than most fish. also they'll clean up extra food and fish waste in addition to algae.

The fish looks great sal~ and don't... worry about some of the uhhh comments.. because i'm not completely sure about some of them >_>

They're mean and poorly worded, but there is a bit of truth to it.
Sadly Sal's roomies didn't do a great job on researching pets and now Sal has to fix the mess from what I remember? I applaud Sal for stepping up and moving in the right direction, but the lack of space for future care may become a problem


Ideally, yes. Scooten will need a bigger tank. He'll be up to 6 inches, not counting that gorgeous tail. And he'll be building up a lot of waste. After a while it will be small and a lot of work to keep clean. There can also be some health issues that pop up with small tanks over time. He can end up with organ damage or not live as long as he could. A properly cared for goldfish lives up to 20 years.
It's like when people buy an iguana that can grow up to 6 feet long and keep it in a 40 gallon aquarium or even worse. Or the baby turtles in just a fish bowl. Sure it works for a while... but eventually problems happen.

I know that the space is an issue. I would love to get a bigger tank one day, but as a college student living in an apartment that's just the space we can afford, it aint happening anytime in the next year. Sooo now I'm left with the 'do I leave skoot in his tank alone or do I get him a friend that will eventually move with him to a bigger tank' issue.
As for those comments (I've now blocked the person because they had absolutely nothing nice to say) it was less what they were saying and how they were saying it. It eats at you when you're doing the best you can and then get torn down for it.
Because, y'know, I'm totally a fish torturer. -eyeroll- What a dick.

Yeah x_x as I said, you're doing what you can :) the fish will be fine, and yeah :v dickish indeed.

Honestly, he's so tiny right now that he will still take a bit of time to grow. And who knows, it may take him until next year to hit that 'I need an upgrade' size. And you know that eventually he will need to move up. That's the most important thing.

I've seen people complain to my face about how they know goldfish can be kept in bowls and those little tiny turtles aren't the same as the foot long monsters out in ponds. You've done your homework. When you can, make the right changes for your baby. I know it's tough right now! Trust me... I just recently upgraded my 2 geckos to a 34 gallon tank. Before that they were in a dinky little custom about the floor size of a 10 gallon but not as tall. They've been pushing around for space the last 2 months @_@;;

Really glad you blocked that person. Well-intended advice given in a shitty way, ceases to be advice and instead becomes harassment. =/

I mean, shit, "ideal" living circumstances for, say, a dog for example, would be a huuuuuuge enclosed yard, with tons of places with shade, soft bedding, oodles of toys, the most expensive holistic-brand pet foods, and plenty of other compatible dogs for companionship with as much human interaction as realistically possible. Does that automatically mean that anyone providing anything less than those circumstances are "torturing" their dogs...? Another example. Is a parent that isn't raising their child in a luxury mansion with all the best and most expensive toys/clothes/food, going to the best possible schools in the country ALSO "torturing" their child?

Not everyone can afford the best of everything for their children or the animals they care for, but a lot of them do the VERY best they can, with what they can obtain for them. I don't know what the FUCK this person expects from you, but whatever their expectations, they're HIGHLY unrealistic. Parenthood/animal care isn't an all or nothing situation. It's a process. Especially for people who don't have an abundant amount of wealth who are doing the best they can for the time being. Seriously, FUCK that person.

Basically, yes.
I shouldn't have let it get to me but I was kind of feeling like I was doing more than most people who buy a goldfish would have, particularly considering the conditions he was living with before. It was like opening the wound of 'I didn't do enough then' and telling me I still wasn't doing enough after how much effort I'd put to correct the situation.
Basically, beyond rude.
Besides that, the statement to rehome him threw me for a loop. They made it sound so easy to find a home for a goldfish that will treat it to their premium expectations. o^o;

I've come down on several employees about their bedside manner with customers. I firmly believe that no one walks into a pet store specifically to frustrate, injure or otherwise intentionally cause harm to an animal. I also believe the road to hell is paved with good intentions and sometimes things that seem common sense can actually be the worst possible decision.

You should never ever berate or talk down to someone about how they care for their pets. You don't know them or their situation. Working at a pet store for two weeks doesn't make you an expert, and even working at one for ten years doesn't give you authority to be on a high horse about it. The job is to educate not humiliate.

- He'll need a bigger tank eventually but it looks awesome for now. Just watch him: he'll tell you when he's getting uncomfortable.
- Don't get him a tank mate that isn't a tiny cleaner buddy until he can go to a bigger habitat. Don't feel guilty about this because it's in his best interest (and the tank mate's as well)
- Giving him things to do now and then like eating the worms from your fingers builds a trust bond so he won't freak out as bad when you hafta start doing more cleaning as he gets bigger.

I sometimes wish I could work at a petstore because I want people to do what's best and more often than not the employees already working there give really bad advice...
The only thing that keeps me from doing that are the people with small kids who let them do whatever and frighten the animals... or hell, the ignorant people who call animals the wrong names and insult them. -A-;;; I actually saw a couple standing right in front of the chinchilla section and say 'that aint a chinchiller. It's an ugly rat'. My urge to correct them was so strong XD

I'm going to look at these sucker fish people mentioned above. c:

I have an older couple that specifically comes to see me at my store after they saw me explain to a woman that she wouldn't be welcome back if her kids kept beating on the glass~

Oh oh oh! I'm fish obsessed. :D I love my betta, Gallifrey. Also, I think you said the smaller tank is 2 gallons? That's plenty! :) It's the 1G and smaller tanks you REALLY have to watch out for. Usually they recommend 2.5, but I don't think the extra half gallon will matter too much. ( I don't know much about Skoot though, so I can't tell you anything about his tank D: ) Also, you could probably put the African Dwarf Frog and Betta together, as long as you don't put anything else in the tank.

I just upgraded Gallifrey to a 5 gallon tank and I love it so much! I ALSO just started with live plants too! I bought super easy-to-take-care-of plants. The ones I had recommended to me online and in store were Anubias, Java Fern, and Java Moss. I also have a moss ball that I've had for ages and hasn't died yet, but I don't really count it as a "plant"... I've heard mixed things about Anacharis too, but I think I want to get some eventually. With the plants, the general gist I've gotten is: if it has a rhizome, bury the roots, not the rhizome (otherwise it'll die). If it's a stem plant, stick it in the gravel. For my Anubias, I tied it to a piece of Mopani wood I ordered online and it looks really nice!

I know you've said you've had a betta in the past, but if you have any questions I'd be happy to answer them. :D Or if you just want to fish nerd out... Because I do that a lot. I've been gushing over Gallifrey for days... Here's my new tank! :D http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums.....sNewHome-1.png

Your tank looks awesome! I'm glad you commented because I was starting to feel really crappy about my tanks after the comments above. 'rehome them bcuz ur torturing them' is a shitty perspective. Glad to hear someone who actually has a betta speak up.
Do you have any pics of Gallifrey? I'd love to see. c:
I know I need to wait for my plants to root and to get a heater/thermometer before getting the fish, so no pics for a while here. I'll look up your plant recommendations though!
Do you think I'll need a filter if I do water changes? It's sand on the bottom and I have a carbon filter that's pretty bulky. I read that the carbon isn't good for the plants either.

This is Gallifrey: http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums.....Gallifrey2.jpg :) One of the better pictures I have of him anyways, taken in his old 3 gallon tank. His fins don't look as nice anymore, he's a tail-biter and they never quite grow back the same way--that was from when we FIRST got him.

You're definitely right about the heater/thermometer. ( I have the Hydor Theo 25w when you go looking! I love it and it's adjustable ) I don't know about the plants needing to root though, honestly... It might have been a bad idea, but I just stuck my anubias & moss ball straight into the tank with Gallifrey. I've heard it's a good idea to quarantine them for a week or two before adding the fish, though. Good idea, but not a life-or-death necessity.

And as long as you change the water plenty, you'll be fine. For a tank that size you're probably supposed to do one partial and one full change every week... In gallifrey's tank, I only ever did 1 full change every week. I eventually switched to 1 partial and 1 full every two weeks (after a week I'd do a 50%, then after another week a full, then after another week a 50% again) and that always seemed fine for him. Eventually the tank will cycle and you won't need to do the changes so much because the plants will take care of the ammonia/waste.

I don't know how the carbon effects the plants, but a lot of places I've read say that carbon filters will take tannins out of the water that come from driftwood I had put in... I haven't heard anything about it hurting the plants. Pretty much the only thing I was told was "make sure the plants have enough nitrogen to eat." I just tested my water levels tonight and there were plenty of nitrates in my tank, so I assume my anubias should have everything it needs. So far the plant looks good, but it's only been about 5 days so far! My filter is brand new, so if the carbon is going to hurt the plant, I'll definitely find out.

keep me in the loop! And he's a beautiful babbu. -u-
Silly question, but... a full water change? Like, replacing all the water in the tank? o^o I've never heard of someone doing that. I only ever do a third out, but if I dont mind being frequent about it.

Really? I've always heard with bettas to do full (100%) water changes! But yeah, the "full" change means taking all of the water out. Usually for Gallifrey I put him in the little cup he came in and spend about 45 minutes prepping and changing out the water completely, then put him back in (I always make sure the water I put in there is the right temperature first... I usually use my thermometer to make sure it comes out of the faucet at the right temperature so it doesn't shock him) and let him go about his business. He actually HATES partial changes, which is why I was avoiding them with the old tank. Not sure how he'll take them in the new one yet!

I think it may depend on rather or not you want to cycle your tank though. If you're going to cycle it, full water changes probably will hurt the bacteria, so several partial changes a week is probably better.

I will say too, I use the heck out of bettafish.com :D They're very nice on the forum there, so I always go there with questions/concerns. ( Like the first time Gallifrey bit his tail! )

Blub blub

That is one beautiful goldie! Is the live-plant tank for the goldie or for you will-be aquatics? Cause, don't be surprised if the goldie eats the plants x3 Some love to nom on plants, others leave em alone. (I tried having those moss balls with them, but they ended up in pieces haha! So my tropical tank ended up having like 20 small moss balls out of it hahaha)

I've actually had a betta in a tank with a few dwarf frogs before. They tend to leave eachother alone. It's just feeding that's the tricky part :P I always distracted the betta on one side at the top with bloodworms and put sinking pellets on the other side for the frogs and hope the betta didn't sniff em out (bellies got huge when they did haha) I sure miss having dwarfs! They were interesting to have.

If I do get plants for skoot's tank they'll be a different kind. right now I don't have the money ;u;
and I think I'll just go with a betta because of the size of the tank -u-

I just love watching them eat and make their bubble-nests x3

Woow, really nice Sal! Great setup! Happy fish =D