Jane in Upton

Hi Ingrid!

Welcome! You've obviously got a great "mentor" in Betty!

I'm sure Twizzler loves his new digs, and I'm sorry to hear about your shrimp.

My one question is what sort of clamp on lamp you're using. Is it a "shop type" one with the large silver bowl shaped reflectors, or a desk clamp light, with the narrow tube style housing? Did you just move it out of the way of the photos, or is that where it is intended? My one concern is that the light looks less intense than when it was on the 1 gal bowl. Your hex is deeper, and the angled glass may reflect more light away from the tank - the bowl had that nice plane which seemed to let a lot of light through.

If you're using a clamp on "shop" style light, I'd move it closer. I've actually had a 10 gal with two of those over it (a "temporary" fix which is still going, LOL!) and it works pretty well. The aluminum bowl shaped relfector does a pretty good job.

Oh, and are you using a compact flourescent bulb? You can get a lot more usable light for less watts, and not go over the rating for those fixtures if you use a CF with a regular screw in base.

The new setup looks nice. And I'll second Jim's comment about the nice looking roots on your E. tennelus! Twizzler is really gorgeous, too.

Thanks for posting the pictures, and keep us updated as your new hex settles in!
-Jane

PS - I was perplexed with your 1 gallon bowl why the shrimp would be OK but the ramshorns dying. Unless they were worried to death by Twizzler's constant attentions?

bpimm

Nice looking tank Ingrid.


Jimbo, do you have a Goodwill locally? I have seen two or three of the little hex's at Goodwill while looking for other stuff. pretty cheap too.

Brian

Ingrid

Just an update on the hex: after being set up for a couple weeks the lovely brown algae is all over the place. I put some ramshorn snails in and they are making quite a feast of it. Good snails.

Hi Jane, it is a black clamp lamp with white on the inside. Rated for up to 250 watts (reptile bulbs and such). The bulb is a 12 watt spiral fluorescent. It's hanging about 2 or 3 inches above the top of the tank. I actually thought the bowl was getting too much light, and that's why the hygro didn't want to grow and the floating plants were getting toasted. There is definitely a lot of light reflecting off the hex walls, it makes it very difficult to photograph! How will I know if the plants are getting enough light?

I find this perplexing too. My best guess is that when the algae ran out, the snails didn't have anything to eat, whereas the shrimp happily dined on dying leaves. Or perhaps the shrimp out-competed the snails for food. I have a 10 gallon with just shrimp and ramshorns, and I've noticed the ramshorns aren't breeding like they did before the shrimp moved in.

Ingrid

Hi Biscayne, plants are so impressive, huh? I remember a while back I had a pothos plant with just a couple roots in a betta tank I had set up. I couldn't figure out for the life of me why I never saw nitrates in that tank until someone commented on the pothos doing the filtration. That really turned me on to plants in aquariums! I would love to see your betta bowl, I will go look for the thread.

Ingrid

Well, the snails are unhappy. They did a great job getting the brown algae off the walls of the tank and the plants themselves, but now they are laying on the bottom. I thought they were dead and took one out for a sniff test. It stuck an antenna out at me and smelled fine so I put him back in. I guess I'll take them home to another tank and see how they do. This is very odd to me. All the plants are looking good, as is the lovely Twizzler.

skincareaddicted

Ingrid, i like your setup a lot and your betta is very healthy looking. But i am wondering if the brightness of the lights in the first or second set up bother the betta? I notice that a lot of members here use bright lights for the plants but i am not sure if the fishes like that. They don't have eyelids right and wouldn't the light be quite blinding? especially for bettas whose ancestors lived in murkier water? (I am picturing myself as a betta or other kind of fish)

mistergreen

I wouldn't worry about the lights unless it frightens them.
Great looking betta.. He reminds me of my very first betta.

newbie314

Funny this was just posted.
I found my son's betta floating on top of the java moss. He was between the surface and the java moss. He didn't seem to care about the light, and doesn't seem jittery because of it.
He has quite a few floating duckweek and can hid under the moss (moss has gap between bottom of tank and bottom of moss) and the anacharis.

No worries as long as he has come where to hid.