I've been having really crappy luck since I last redid my tank a few weeks ago. First my betta died (fungus), my anubias started rotting (it's been pulled out) and finally today, my guppy died (bloat or parasites I think). I ask for a moment of silence to remember these poor, innocent lives.

On sunday/monday I'll be hopefully be able to get another anubias to replace the one I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose, and try planting the dwarf sag. again. From there I'm thinking about getting another betta, but I don't want anything flashy since I'm going for a natural looking tank. I was thinking about a female betta since they look a little less overbred, but I'm open to any other ideas. Right now I have 1 amano shrimp and a couple of MTS in my 1.5 gal tank. I'm just trying to get things settled before I go back to college in a month.

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Lead me not to temptation...I can make it there myself just fine, thank you

I think the reason you're having so many problems is because it's a 1.5 gallon tank, and adding other things just displaces more water, you're probably dealing with a gallon or less. Getting it cycled is close to impossible. Why don't you try getting a 5.5 gallon kit?

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My tank's been set up for 10 months, but I've only been having issues recently. I would love to get a larger tank, unfortunately my apartment has a 1-gallon fish tank limit, (silly, I know) so I'm already pushing the limit. The only reason I'm allowed to have it at all is because I alrady had this one sitting dry at home. I really don't recommend a tank this small for anyone, but it's all I can have at the moment so I'm trying to make it work.

I'm thinking most of my issues came from redoing the tank the first time, when I might have disturbed too much stuff and otherwise made life hard on my fish. Given that it's been a few weeks with frequent (40-70%, 1-2 per week) water changes due to the various issues going on, a mini cycle could have been happening. It's been about 3-4 weeks since I redid my tank, so hopefully things should be settling down. I don't know for certain though, since I don't test my water. My solution will be to hopefully add plants which would at least make the tank more livable for what I might put in there, which will probably be a betta.

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Lead me not to temptation...I can make it there myself just fine, thank you

What kind of filter do you have (if you have one?) just curious, if you're able to add more filter media like sponges, you might be able to cycle the tank more efficiently.

Also, try and get a small desk lamp that says daylight on it. Judging from your pics the hood of your 1.5 has an incandescent light. Or if you can fit a compact 11w Fluoroscope light bulb. I have a picture of it in my ten gallon gallery.

You should get an anubias again, but make sure you don't plant it at all, rhizome needs to be hitting water and light, you can anchor it to a rock. You can also cover gravel with Java moss and make a nice foreground. Then you should get some Anacharis to float ontop. If you get a betta male or female, leave it in there alone. Nothing else. Having more fish like a messy guppy will cause the tank to be unstable.

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I have a TOM Dive mini internal filter, which was made for tanks up to 5 gallons. I have been planning on getting a new bulb, but I'll probably just go with another cheap-whatever-it-is bulb since it's hard to beat a 2 for $2 deal, even if it's not the best for the plants. I am a jobless college student after all.

I never had the anubias buried, it was attached to a rock with the roots barely touching the gravel. I don't think I'll be adding any more plants, at least not until the ones I have and the anubias grow a bit more. I already have dwarf lilly, dwarf sag and going to be an anubias, so it's pretty well planted for its size.

I'm not trying to contradict you, and I appreciate the advice, but this was just a minor snag, and before this, things were going quite well. I've got a few ideas about how I'm going to work on things, I just need to actually be able to do them, that's all.

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Lead me not to temptation...I can make it there myself just fine, thank you

Go around campus, ask people for change, accumulate 14 dollars.. ($16 give or take with the tax) Find bulbs @ Walmart etc..

You could also go to a Walmart, take note of the employees in the pet area, and the time & date. Chances are the tanks are disgusting with dying fish. Complain online or in-store, you might get a gift card for your inconveniences.

Do what you think is best, of course or whatever works for you. Fish-keeping is different for everyone, as long as you take things into consideration is enough for that person on the other side of the screen. :p

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