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Hi FP! Long time, no tank!

I've been out of the hobby for 13 years, and decided that now's the time to dive back in! We don't see much activity here, but I figure there's no harm in posting a log of the tank's progress, even if it's more for the sake of documentation/thinking-out-loud than anything. And if some of my favorite old ghosts of fishmas past happen to drop by and chime in, all the better!

So, on to the tank...

My wife saw a display of fancy bettas (half moons, twin tails, crown tails, etc) and decided she had to have one. I didn't object, just said that if we're going to do it we'd better do it right (ya know, so I can overcomplicate it, which is what I do best). I'll want to scape it, plant it, and pair the betta with something (probably some sort of shrimp). So we picked out a tank and some mopani driftwood, and got the driftwood soaking in a bucket for a month...

We settled on a 6.8G glass cube "Imagitarium" from Petco. I was looking for something a little different, with the clean/modern frameless look, and with some way to hide the filter/heater/etc. This fit the bill, but may need a few modifications.

The first thing I did was upgrade the sad little 40 GPH pump to a 200 GPH pump, but it's a bit too strong for a betta now. I'll probably split the output and add a second nozzle and see if that helps, or might just turn it down (it has an adjustable intake). I may eventually extend the overflows so they're lower, allowing me to drop the water level a few inches and have the driftwood poke above the surface, with some emersed plants growing on it.

I went with Samurai Soil from CaribSea, and found a nice piece of 'dragon stone' to put up front. Once the driftwood had leeched most of it's tannins out, we played with the arrangement for a while and settled on a layout.

The plan is to stock this fairly slowly over the next month or two, as the plants I'm looking for become available at my LFS, but we're ready for the betta as soon as we find the right one (I think we have decided on a halfmoon, either full metallic blue, or blue/white). I don't think there's really a way to or a need for a cycle on this tank. The planned stock is light enough for the plants to soak up any nitrogen, but I've still added some bottled nitrifying bacteria. I'm still doing 60-80% water changes every few days to keep the tannins down anyway, but I'll tone that down once we get the betta. I still think I'll add the shrimp later once the tank is more established and I'm not swapping so much water so often.

I'll post more once as the tank progresses, but for now, some pictures!

Front view, as it is right now


Left view, the day before we added the anubias nana


Top view, the day before we added the anubias nana. Note the overflow/filter area (I added a heater there last week)


Attaching anubias nana to driftwood


Closeup of attaching anubias nana by supergluing fishing line to the driftwood


Obligatory cat picture, the night we set up the tank. The cats provide some scale, as the tank is pretty small


If anyone happens to be around, I'm open to feedback and discussion!

-PW

Alright, I have a few updates all rolled into one post.

2/23/24: I added a bundle of wisteria in the back. It had been grown emersed and still has a bunch of it's old leaves. I'm letting it grow out a bit, then will trim off the old growth and plant the new growth across the back. I don't like how it covers the Anubias nana so much, but it's going to live there for now.




2/27/24: We've been ready to start stocking the tank for a while now (bottled nitrifying bacteria + plants = no worries about cycle), but have been waiting for the right betta to show up at either LFS or any of the other pet stores in town. I'm happy to report that the LFS got in exactly what I was looking for! So we bought the betta and four Neocaridina/cherry shrimp, of the RILI/striped variety.

We did the ol' drip acclimation for an hour or so and they settled right in! It turned out that my aforementioned 200GPH pump is way too much flow for the betta. So I swapped back for the ol' 70GPH pump and even that was too much. Turned down all the way to 40GPH, it's just right for the betta but not as much movement as I want overall. It'll have to do, I guess. Any more flow and the betta gets stuck in the overflow, so I might be able to add a few more slits to accommodate more flow at some point.








3/5/24: Picked up three more shrimp (one berried/gravid/pregnant) and some xmas moss. Also picked up some 'frogbit' (floating plant) at some point). Attached most of the moss to the right side of the driftwood, with some misc tufts on the rock and the left side of the driftwood. I'm pretty sure that most of the baby shrimp will get eaten, but hopefully some will find refuge in the plants/moss and in the filter section in back. Time will tell.

It doesn't look like I took any pictures after doing this, but see below.


3/8/24:
The cycle is definitely complete. I've been testing ammonia at 0ppm, nitrite at 0ppm, and nitrate at 10-20ppm for the last week or so. The driftwood has slowed way down on leeching tannins, and I'm only changing out about 1-2 gallons of water per week. I've been dosing Flourish for plant ferts, and I just got some "Shrimp Essentials" from Aqueon, so we'll see how that works. I think I'm mostly pretty happy with the amount of light, and I don't think I'll bother with CO2. Medium light and low tech will probably be fine on this tank.

Overall everything is going really well and the inhabitants are happy/well. I have a little bit of a few different kinds of algae, but the shrimp are doing a good job of keeping it in check.

Most of the shrimp were hanging out under/behind the driftwood when I took this pic. Note the growth of the wisteria! The water is a little darker than I'd like from tannins, but I don't want to step up water changes as I'm trying to keep nitrates up above 10ppm.


Betta and his shrimp friends (hanging out on the emersed wisteria leaves).



Future plans:
-A nerite snail to help keep algae in check. Otos would be awesome, but I'm not going to have enough space in this tank with the other things I have planned, so a nerite snail it is.
-Half a dozen or so pygmy corydoras. I've always wanted them but no one around here could ever get them in, and now one of the LFSes gets them in regularly. It might be pushing the stocking limits a hair, but the betta hangs out up top and the shrimp hang out in the plants/driftwood, so the cories will have bottom half of the tank mostly to themselves, and the plants keep nitrogen levels low.
-More plants, of course! Once I trim the wisteria and spread it around the back, it won't cover the driftwood as much. My LFS has ordered me some Anubias nana petite to add to the driftwood (and maybe the rock) and some Cryptocoryne parva to plant up front. I don't have enough light or CO2 for any true carpeting plants, but the crypt parva should get the job done.

Depending on supply/shipping from the LFS's suppliers, hopefully I'll get all of the above done by the end of the month, and I should have some baby shrimp by then too. I'll keep updating with more pictures as the tank progresses.

-PW

Quick update!

I picked up a small school of 7 full grown pygmy cory cats (Corydoras pygmaeus) yesterday, and they settled in quite well already. They hang out at the front of the tank a lot and seem pretty interested in the people that stop by to watch them wiggle.

I'll have to get some more pictures this weekend, particularly after I clean the tank and trim/replant the wisteria, but here's what I've got for now.

A closeup of most of the group hanging out on the driftwood


The tank as a whole, not the greatest picture (it's due for a gravel vac, plant trim and a bit of algae removal)


A closeup of the betta with his fins mostly extended. He's pretty active and it's hard to get a decent picture of him in the brief moments that he holds still.


We're definitely teetering on the edge of being overstocked, but there's plenty of cover and water parameters are always pristine. I've been doing about a 15% water change every day or two, and testing about 2-3x a week, mainly keeping an eye on nitrates (struggling to keep them above 5, these plants are hungry). The LFS had just gotten this shipment of cories in on Monday, so it's fair to expect maybe one or two to die off just from the stress of being shipped and moved twice (though my water parameters are super close to the LFS's). I'd be happy with a school of 5 or 6, and I'd consider it 'stocked.'

Side note: I believe the betta is picking off the shrimp when they molt. I can rarely find more than one or two at a time, and it might just be the same one or two that I'm finding all the time. There are plenty of hiding places in back, so I can't be sure. Time will tell.

I decided that the Wisteria had enough new 'immersed' growth that I could trim the old 'emersed' growth off the bottom and replant them around the back of the tank. I had five stalks of Wisteria and only enough room for three in the back, so I gave the other two to a friend (I also gave him the largest of the frogbit floaters, since their roots were dragging all the way down to the substrate). Also did a full set of water tests and a 30% water change (mainly to keep tannins down, still at 0.1 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm, nitrite, 5 ppm nitrate). And I picked up a pair of nerite snails to help keep the algae in check, and they're doing such a good job that my wife and I are joking about naming them Ryobi and Snapper (or some other lawnmower brand names).

By the time I took the full tank picture, it was late and the lights were still on, so the cories were hiding out in the back. I'll have to take another full picture another night (too much glare during the day for a good picture) when everyone is out and about.


The Wisteria is still a little small in back right now, but it grows quickly and will probably be at the surface again within a month or two.

The cories are doing well. They're very active, friendly/curious, and seem healthy. I haven't lost any yet, so maybe I'll end up with a school of 7. They like to hang out in a group, with some perched on something, and some hovering. They kind of hang in the water column and wiggle to stay in place.



Nerites (Ryobi and Snapper?)





I've been able to count up to three adult shrimp at a time (bought 7 and lost at least two, so the betta may have eaten two or there are two more hiding). The berried female was one who died, though she no longer had any eggs when I saw and removed the body (she had a unique identifying mark, so it was definitely her). A few days later we started seeing baby shrimp around the tank, so she either dropped the babies just before she died, they hatched/left after her death, or she died while releasing them (I don't think that's a thing with shrimp?). Either way, we have babies! They seem to be doing a good job of hiding, and hopefully at least a few of them make it to adulthood without becoming a betta snack (I'm keeping him well fed to hopefully save a few shrimp).

Excuse how blurry the baby picture is (it was the best of several), they're tiny. ~2mm substrate for scale.


Random adult shrimp


The the only real problem with the tank that I have yet to solve is the protein scum that's forming on the surface daily. It's also in my bucket of conditioned/heated/aerated water. We'd noticed it in the cat's water dish shortly after we built the house but didn't think much of it, was just a good excuse to get a cat water fountain anyway and that solved the problem. But any water that sits in the house for more than about 24 hours gets this protein scum on the surface, so it's gotta be something in the water supply. I'll have to ask the neighbors and perhaps the city (or maybe the local subreddit). I might end up spending a few hundred bucks and putting a 'whole home' water filter right where the water comes into the house (just after the lawn sprinkler and hose tee off).

Here's what the surface of the water looks like after I skim 95% of it off.


Other than the surface protein thing, I think the tank is 'done/complete' and I just need to wait for plants to fill in. The tank is definitely 'fully stocked' at this point, so I don't plan on buying any more critters. I kind of want some foreground plants, but there really isn't a lot of space and it would block the little tunnel under the driftwood (left side) that the cories and betta like to swim thru. In hindsight, I think the Anubias nana in the middle is too big, and I wish I'd held out for an Anubias nana petite instead, but I'm not taking the driftwood out to superglue a new one on, so it stays for now. I wish I had a little more water flow to foosh detritus to the filter/overflow intake, but this is the max the betta can handle so it is what it is. So I have a few minor regrets or bits of self-criticism, but they're learning experiences for the next tank.

That's all for now!

-PW

...12 hours later...

We do have at least four adult shrimp remaining, that all came out and posed nicely for a picture! Though the cories were still hanging out in the Wisteria in back...



Note that there's also a little ramshorn snail on one of the Anubias leaves. They came as tiny hitchhikers on the Wisteria, and I've generally been squishing them and giving them to the betta as a treat, but this one appears to have eluded the squishing. I may let him live, he's doing a good job of eating algae.

-PW

I've seen a lot of growth in general over the last week, particularly with the baby shrimp, the wisteria, the xmas moss, and the frogbit. The frogbit is out of control (I've been giving some to a friend, but I should give them more again), but I'm definitely looking forward to the next month or so of growth for the rest.

Even with a bit of overfeeding and dropping extra food right into the filter for the shrimp, the plants are soaking up all of the nitrogen. There's zero ammonia or nitrite of course, but nitrates are consistently testing right on the edge of nonexistent, probably 3 to 5 ppm.

I think I mentioned this above, but I've been dosing Flourish Excel and Aqueon Shrimp Essentials for a while now. I've also been using little packets of Chemi-pure Green (carbon and ion exchange resin), though I'm not sure if they make much of a difference. I picked up some activated carbon this week and added 70 grams in a mesh bag yesterday, we'll see if that helps clear up the tannins a bit.

Here's a current full tank picture. The nerites have missed one anubias leaf that has algae on it, but other than that they've done a good job.


View from the top, note the frogbit on the surface


The baby shrimp have been eating lots and growing quickly. They're becoming more bold and spending more time out in the open. At this size the betta doesn't seem interested in eating them, but he definitely was last week. I've counted as many as 13 baby shrimp out/visible at one time, but I'm sure there are more hanging out under/behind the driftwood and in the filter.



The betta crashing a shrimp party


One of the cats interrupting the betta's crashing of the shrimp party


That's all for now

-PW

It's only been a few days, but there's been more growth than expected (), and I added another plant!

I picked up an "African Water Fern" Bolbitis heudelotii difformis, and tucked the rhizome into a hole in the dragonstone, and it's kind of coming up between the dragonstone and the mopani driftwood. You can see it in the full tank shot.



Also note the growth on the wisteria, the frogbit (and this is after I gave more of them away, but they grew back quickly), the moss, and the baby shrimp!

Shrimp closeups!





At this point the betta has basically no interest in trying to eat the baby shrimp. I'm going to give it another week or so (for some additional growth) and start trying to move more of the baby shrimp out of the filter and into the main part of the tank.

The cories are doing great but aren't the most photogenic. I normally take pictures just after the sun goes down (so there's no glare on the glass), but that seems to be about the time that they start settling down/retreating for the evening. I'll keep trying to get good pictures of them.

I'll leave you with a bonus picture of the betta being a dork under the driftwood

The wisteria and christmas moss are definitely filling out, and the baby shrimp are getting bigger. I haven't moved any of the baby shrimp from the filter yet, but probably will start to do that this week.

The wisteria is basically at the surface now, so I'll have to do some trimming and rearranging this week as well. I gave away about half of the frogbit and have been keeping the roots trimmed back, but it's still spreading like mad.



With all of the rapid plant growth, nitrates have officially reached zero, and I'm paranoid about getting BGA. I've been dropping extra food directly into the filter so it can decompose without letting the fish overeat (the baby shrimp do eventually get most of it) to add some extra nitrogen, but it's not helping much. Back in the day, I'd have just 'fertilized' the tank with water from non-planted tanks, but I don't have any other tanks yet. So I ordered some Flourish Nitrogen and will start dosing that this week.

Other than that, all is going well