[PlentyCoup]

So the beginnings of this have mostly played put in Betta Journal but since its now developed into a full blown disaster it gets its own journal.
So wednesday go to pet to get cat food, loose battle with self and go look at the betta fish, usually nothing catches my eye.... not this time.

Saw this guy/gal (still up for debate) and had to fight the worst case of impulse buy in a long time. Despite my rantings on my betta journal i knew i was not equipped to add another fish to the zoo.
But i couldnt get the fish outta my head so i sent a photo to a friend of mine who had recently been keeping a eye out for a new betta and last i had heard she hadnt found one.
So she says yes awesome fish i will go take a look, and i think cool i dont get the fish but at least it will head to a good home....
8:30 pm door bell rings and my friend has ding-dong-ditched the damn fish on my front porch yelling Merry Christmas to me on the way back to her car........we are no longer friends i am returning her Christmas gift.......😬

So being a true irrational fish obsessed person i am trying everything in my power to make this work... over the rising tide of discontent and hell nos from the rest of the household.
I was going to him back because I was truly not at all equipped to deal with this but i feel guilty as hell after having his little fishy face watching me all day in the kitchen.....

😑😓

I managed to strike gold for something to actually house the fish in. So on the way to hobby lobby (hate that store) to check out their 12" bowl that was half off, i made a pit stop at my LFS to see if they had any ideas on male vs female plakat (they thought male but agreed that the thickness of the body resembled a females) and was asking for thoughts bowls vases etc and one of the guys goes and pulls this out from the back.

They had stocked like 4 or 5 different sizes but their wasnt much interest in them. This on is 8"diameter by 9" tall so roughly 2.5 gallons. Since it has been hanging around for so long and i am regular nuisance at their store I got it for $10 instead of the $25 it was marked at.
So now i have to actually set it up and find a place to put it.... which ia the worst part especially considering outlet placement in this house.

So i have a piece of drift wood laying around that amazingly fits.
Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Leaning towards the placement in photo 1 maybe. I think i will skip adding any rocks to this tank, just driftwood and plants.
I am not buying any new plants so i will just pull from my other tanks. I am thinking rotala caterpillar, crypt houdori for sure maybe crypt usteriana and some d.sag. I also have some lucky bamboo that needs a new home that i could stick in.

I am not planning on a filter just a mini heater (my LFS had one but i forgot to take a pic of it or get the price... fail on my part). Possibly some sort of clip on light..... but i would rather just see i can get everything to work from window light.... Which might not work because window placement combined with outlet placement is a pain.
Ill be using 50/50 mix of compost play sand again.

I am debating on soaking the dirt for a day to try and cut down on tannins a bit because i didnt soak the compost at all for my 36gal and it was a battle to get the water clear.

So what do we take away from this... DONT GIFT PETS UGH

 

[mistergreen]

Since it’s a smaller container, I’d stuff it with plants to the brim to create a stable ecosystem, so I’d leave out the wood since it gets in the way of plants. Although, a few twigs here and there would work.

 

[PlentyCoup]

Since it’s a smaller container, I’d stuff it with plants to the brim to create a stable ecosystem, so I’d leave out the wood since it gets in the way of plants. Although, a few twigs here and there would work.

I was concerned about that but thought i might be able to swing it because it is a pretty small piece of wood.
I know my LFS has some real small pieces that i could pick up. I only say this because Inali loves swimming around and hanging out under the piece in his tank.
I certainly thought that the position that the position that put the bigger end at the substrate was a no go and was a bit concerned about the reverse position would shade too much but then i thought that the handy shelf shape it makes might serve well to set the lucky bamboo on.

Have been debating on trimming off a piece of the knot weed for this jar but i think it would just get too large.

So that leaves these two crypts houdori and usteriana.

And rotala caterpillar from Inalis tank. I could maybe stick in a baby leopard val since those are all over in may other tank.... so again skip it cause it would get to large and just add in a few d. Sag. I am trying to think of any other plants that are in my other tanks that i could add in. I have the rotala h'ra but i dont think there is enough for me to add any to this tank. Swords are too large...

 

[PlentyCoup]

Just called my LFS because i neglected to check on anything else when i picked up the vase yesterday.
They have a Mariana mini heater for $19.78.....
Not sure if i should go with that or stick with another Eheim so find something else.
The eheim has to be ordered so thats a point against it and its more expensive last i checked.
If i go and pick that up ill look at their mini spider wood pieces and see of they have anything in a better size.
Shelf idea notwithstanding its going to be too large.... maybe just a single twisted stick.
I also have a possible location but its not near a window so that would mean looking for a clip on light. Nicrew has clip on lights that are 7in long.... i have no ideas for clip ons that are that circular shape i see on other setups.

 

[PlentyCoup]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BC6HLMY...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Was also looking at this heater as well as this heater.

https://www.amazon.com/AquaMiracle-...uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

Both of which gladly abuse prime shipping.

 

[mistergreen]

Either one is good. They should make more heaters with the controller outside the water. That extends the life of the thing x10.

 

[PlentyCoup]

Either one is good. They should make more heaters with the controller outside the water. That extends the life of the thing x10.

Lol why would they do something that extends the life of a product...
What was the brand of heater you used?
I like the size of the mini aquamirica, but not sure about longevity looks like a newer company on the market.
And then of course my LFS has the fluval mariana which was a bit large maybe...
Also saw that Nicrew had a heater issue was that it was not adjustable and was preset to 77° bettas prefer 78-80 i dont know how much a difference that 1 degree would make.

Also still debating on the drift wood piece. Thinking i might wing it with the piece i have because i wont be able to head over to my LFS again until tomorrow and i was hoping to get to planted tonight....

 

[mistergreen]

I think my heater is a Penn Plax.

 

[PlentyCoup]

For light been looking at either this Nicrew
https://www.amazon.com/NICREW-Aquarium-Clip-Light-Lighting/dp/B08QRB8ZWH/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?crid=1U4L1XCZ6FMDZ&keywords=nicrew+clip+on+aquarium+light&qid=1671315229&sprefix=nicrew+clip,aps,163&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExMlZUSVA4TUVaQllaJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwODY4MzE3S0JSUlVEOVJIVEs0JmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAxNjE0NTMyQTlVNTcxRUcwVDZQJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfcGhvbmVfc2VhcmNoX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Or this stand and light unit by Hiro aquatic... havent found PAR ratings and dont know if the height difference 10" vase vs 14" height of light. I like the bamboo base that it sits on.

Priceier though.... could probably just find a bamboo board from somewhere to use and i dont know if they are timer compatible... for the most part i know the Nicrew is.

 

[PlentyCoup]

I hate, hate, hate picking out lights.... or just about any equipment for that matter...

Now i am unsure if that particular Nicrew will work with the Kasa timer it it has one of the useless hard to use dimmer things that i think makes it so it wont work with a timer.... and of course i cant find any info about its compatibality with a timer expect with people who have tried it with the Nicrew timer.... maybe it would work with the kasa... i despise ordering things just to see if they will work or not.

This is another option but i am thinking it could possibly be too bright...
https://www.amazon.com/HIRO-AQUATIC...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

 

[mistergreen]

The spotlight looks nice. You can always raise the light or put a piece of electrical tape on the lens to block light.

 

[PlentyCoup]

The spotlight looks nice. You can always raise the light or put a piece of electrical tape on the lens to block light.

Lol yes it does... hopefully its Kasa compatible. $48 isnt bad but $17 for the Nicrew was a very nice price however i am about 90% sure its built in timer controller thing with conflict with the kasa. I have emailed Hiro to see what they say.
Also attempting to plant the vase tonight.
Boiled the piece of drift wood to try and speed up the sinking process and cut down on tannis released into this small space.

 

[PlentyCoup]

So got the vase planted up and when dry it looked like i would have enough plant coverage but now that water is added i am not so sure.
I added in
Cyrpt houdori, usteriana, and wendtii bronze, 3 d.sag plants, 2 leopard val runners, 4 rooted stems or rotala caterpillar and 1 stem of reneckii variegated.
The roots on the crypts were well everything really were pretty substantial.

I will probably regret adding the vals into such a small tank.
Also swung back to being worried the drift wood is going to shade things too much.

Dry layout.

Ignore the circle that the reflection of the range hood bulb.

So with the water it doesnt look like theres a whole lot in there....
I could go up to my LFS tomorrow to see what they have that i could add.
I basically took what was safely extra from both the 36 gal and the the other betta tank.

 

[PlentyCoup]

I can not catch a damn break. Holy hell work up this am at about 8 go into the kitchen and there is water all over the floor.
Someone had gotton on the counter and some how knocked the bettas cup off the counter.
Started looking for him, had no clue when this happened and i didnt see if on the floor. So i got a flash light and found him. He had slid under the stove just enough that no one could get him.
I was 100% sure that he would be dead when i pulled him out but he amazingly wiggled. So i grabbed a new container thankfully i had a jug of room temp treated water filled up the new container and got him in it.
The container is on the heating pad and the water is reading 78°.
He was swimming around when i put him in but seems to have some buoyancy issues. Right now he is laying on his side on the bottom of the bowl and breathing pretty labored.
I am debating on taking Inali out of his heated tank and transferring him temporally to this bowl and putting this fish in Inali's tank to give him the best possible chance of survival....
Or just stick him in his new home... i have not checked ammonia in it yet this am and was worried about the stress of putting him in a tank that will be experiencing some ammonia spikes.

 

[mistergreen]

You can put bettas together but you'll need a divider so they can't attack each other.
Cat proofing fish tanks sounds like a challenge.

 

[PlentyCoup]

You can put bettas together but you'll need a divider so they can't attack each other.
Cat proofing fish tanks sounds like a challenge.

I have never had a issue with the cats and the fish. The most they do is sit next to the tanks and watch them occasionally none of them have ever gone after the fish or knocked over a tank.
I do how ever have a major issue with cats and plants. What i think happened is that one the of the cats (98% sure i know which 🤬 is responsible). She got on the counter to go after the lucky bamboo and somehow knocked the container down in the process of trying to get the damn plants.
I fished Inali out and put him in the new jar because the ammonia was still reading 0ppm when i checked it.
I stuck the betta in Inalis tank but i am afraid it wont do any good. He is just laying at the bottom of the tank and going longer between gill movements..... i dont think he is going to recover..
So so mad about this.

 

[mistergreen]

aye, I've had a few bettas jump. Maybe having the bamboo plant out of glass bowl is a bad idea with the cats around.

 

[PlentyCoup]

aye, I've had a few bettas jump. Maybe having the bamboo plant out of glass bowl is a bad idea with the cats around.

He died sometime late this afternoon. So upset about this, he was cool looking fish and was already pretty friendly and interactive.

Yes i have scraped that idea, i had basically scraped it before i even put the bamboo in the tank.
It was still its original container and wasnt even in the tank when this disaster happened it had not been getting enough light were i had it and i was not even sure if it was viable.
I should have know better then to leave it on the counter.
Well i have a planted vase now and its getting finished set up come hell or high water.
Going to order the Hiro spotlight and a heater.

 

[mistergreen]

RIP betta.

 

[PlentyCoup]

So i am continuing with vase. Things are cloudy today. I am debating on doing a water change today or tomorrow as the amminia looks like it could be reading 0ppm or just slightly over.