New Tank, New Fish And Newbie

Hi All

Me and my son [2!] are new to the aquarium business... and we've already made some rookie errors from what i've already read on the forum

1) Bought a Biorb Flow 30L (Too small.. amongst other issues?!) - We like it to be fair
2) Followed the Biorb advice; basically let the tank prep for 24-48hours before adding our betta below; didn't carry out any testing (anyone tell if it's male or female...? Either way my son has named it Lizzie!)

Asides from the above - Lizzie to me seems like a happy fish; swimming about freely and eating all of the food we offer (no bigger than her eye ball of course).

We're intending to introduce some ember tetras to the tank at the weekend - say 6 (OK according to the think fish community creator!). So I've carried out some testing with my newly arrived API Testing Kit:
pH: 7.8-8
Ammonia: 0.5ppm
Nitrate: 0.5ppm
Nitrate: 20-40ppm

Any thoughts on whether this is ok for the introduction of some tank buddies?

Thanks,

jM

Welcome

It generally takes 6-10 weeks to cycle a tank. Cycling a tank means preparing the filter (or, more specifically, the filter media) to be able to build up sufficient beneficial bacteria to be able to process fish waste adequately. This can be done by a fishless cycle (adding an ammonia source to mimic fish waste until such a time as the filter media becomes ready to process fish waste) or a fish-in cycle (the fish waste itself is the ammonia source - although this approach generally isn't recommended as it exposes the fish to harmful ammonia and nitrite during the cycling process and is therefore much less safe or ethical). You're doing the fish-in cycle, which also takes 6-10 weeks, so best to use this guide https://forums.thinkfish.co.uk/fishtank-filtration-and-cycling/fish-in-cycling-with-fish-how-to-do-it/

As for tank buddies, I wouldn't add any more other than what you already have. Even dimunitive species such as ember tetras require a tank 'footprint' minimum of 45cm x 30cm which, as far as I know (but please correct me if I'm wrong), the 30L bi-orb doesn't have - it has a 'widest' point rather than all aspects of the tank's height and thus fish's swimming room being 45cm x 30cm.

Hey Guys,

thanks for advice and comments.

I think rather than bringing the fish back I will increase the amount of water changes to try and keep Ammonia/Nitrite levels down?

...And probably hang fire on the additional embers. The Biorb Flow 30ltr is 31cm x 42cm (footprint) with curved corners on one side - do you think the embers will miss the 3cm?!

Cheers,

I agree with fcmf. Bettas are not community fish and are best kept on their own. Some will co-habit with shrimps, though many bettas will eat (or at the minimum, try to eat) them. Snails are another option - I've always kept a nerite snail with my bettas with no problems. Well, except for the one betta which flared at the snail whenever it was on the glass. He ignored it when it was on the bottom or decor. Presumably when it was on the glass it looked like an invader swimming in his territory.


Male bettas have been bred for aggression for hundreds of betta generations. Some are so aggressive that they'll attack anything that moves. And tank mates can also be a problem - even the most non-aggressive fish species can suddenly turn into fin nippers when faced with those long flowing fins.

In LFSs, fish are often placed in unsuitable tank set-ups (e.g. overcrowded, undersized, with unsuitable tankmates, in unsuitable hardness of water, etc) but this is only a short-term measure as the fish are likely to be bought imminently and hopefully put in suitable conditions by those who have done their research on the species' requirements - and, often, staff will adjust tank set-ups on a daily basis depending on what's happening.  For example, in the case of what you witnessed, it may be that the betta would have been ok with the neons as a short-term measure for a week or two (especially if he had entered their territory, as opposed to vice versa) or it may be that some of the neons had been consumed and therefore a tank re-arrangement was ultimately going to take place if he hadn't been sold when you bought him. 

There are some cases of fish and situations being different from the norm e.g. a docile species of fish being territorial, a fish living a much longer life than the anticipated life expectancy, some bettas that will tolerate tankmates (especially if they enter another fish's territory, rather than they enter his - and yours will now consider his) in the short- or even long-term, some fish that make it through a fish-in cycle seemingly unscathed, but, when it's clear what the risks are and what the advice is from 'bona fide' sources, a responsible fishkeeper really ought to do what is right by the fish as opposed to whatever they wish for themselves. I was really keen on guppies and platies when I first looked at tropical fish in the LFS, then did my research and realised that they required much harder water than I could give them, and it took me a good few weeks/months to come to terms with eliminating them as possibilities (and re-orient my thinking towards which soft-water species might appeal to me which itself took a while to do).