Here is how we started out (red faced at some big mistakes). We did a bunch of research and still stumbled into avoidable problems, so I hope this helps others.

Edit - We have salt and pepper cory (Corydoras habrosus)

Equip
Marineland Eclipse 3 gallon at LSF
Marina C-10 small heater at petsmart
Stick on thermometer petsmart

Fish - LSF
2- peppered salt and pepper cory cats
1 - betta
1 - snail

Other - LSF
Root wood
Java moss held on to root wood with zip tie
Other low light plant
natural sand/gravel

Chems
Prime (LSF)
Nutrafin cycle (Pet smart, see below)

Test Kit - Pet smart
Quick dip 7 tests

Food
Atison's betta food (LSF)
Live black worms kept in fridge
A few Atison's pellets crushed for cories.

Our water source
Austin, TX municipal tap water filtered using GE VOC smart filter similar to below.
GE FXUVC SmartWater Undersink Filter Replacement Cartridge - Buy Today at FridgeFilters.com
Slightly alk water, no detected chlorine (thanks to filter). No nitrates, ammonia, everything at ideal levels out of tap.

Picture


The story so far,

Very Quiet tank, great visibility.

Brought it home. I left fish in sealed bags and floated bags in pot of 78F water while tank was prepared.

Big Mistake 1. Put in gravel, heated water to 78F and started filling tank. What a cloudy mess. Didn't wash the gravel. Dump it into clean bucket and hose it down til water was clear. Put small bowl at bottom of tank on top of gravel, and poured water into it to prevent messing up gravel as it filled.

Filled 1/2 way added plants and wood, filled some more, added Prime, moved fish bags into water and they floated around from about 15 minutes, opened bags, added a bit of water at a time, another 10 minutes, then let them out, topped off tank.

Everything great for first three days.

Big mistake 2. One of cories showing large red area around gills, streaks on body. Other one had smaller area. Frantic search on internet pointed to ammonia poisoning.

Bought 7 test kit, ammonia strip goes from mustard yellow to dark green. Mine was medium dark green 5 mg/L. Really bad. Everything else at ideal levels. Did 80% water change, dropped it to 1 mg/L. Added more prime.

Next day, one cory was dead, other still red around gills. Ammonia slightly higher. More research, learned about ammonia, thought I would try Nutrafin Cycle. Added recommended amount and waited about 18 hrs.

In morning other cory looked a bit better, perky. Not as red around gills. Ammonia level 0.5 mg/L. 24 hrs after first dose, checked again - 0 mg/L. Added second dose.

Since then, 0 mg/L and cory looks recovered. All other parameters in good range according to test strip chart.

With small tank at start with lots of organic matter - it's now obvious how quickly ammonia can build up, not so obvious to newbie.

So we are on day seven and fish seem OK.

I read lots of thread's that said cycle product doesn't do anything, but seemed like it solved my new tank problem. It was not a subtle difference. It was like wham, no more ammonia! I saw one post that said be sure to shake cycle product. That is true, pour into measuring cup and it is "clearish". Shake and then pour into cup and it is "cloudyish". I marked bottle with black sharpie pen "SHAKE".

Time will tell. I plan 50% water change once a week. Might use 1/2 dose of prime since our water source has no detectable chlorine.

If tank parameters are stable for another couple of weeks we'll add another cory. Seems like good match with betta - cory very busy, betta mostly ignores him - he isn't big enough to move the gravel around, or get barbels stuck, sand would be better (if I had to do it again).

Oh - fluorescent light causes slight buzz, so I used a bit of packing foam around lid to dampen that - visible in top right of pic. Need to make an adjustment.

Anyway, hope someone finds this useful. Maybe another newbie.

Question-
The one plant seems to be developing brown patches on leaves... should roots be buried under gravel? Any recommendations for low light plants?

If the plant is a java fern,no dont plant it.The roots are more like anchors,and will attach itself to things such as driftwood.If the rhizome(the horizontal green stem like thing)is under the gravel the plant is slowly suffocating.

Beautiful tank,and the betta seems happy.I have the same tank,though my light is all screwed up.So,I took off my lid and filter and have a desk light over it.Ba'ul(the betta)seems happy with it.


I would be careful with adding any more fish.Its not the issue with the betta as many bettas will ignore cories,but in all honesty,you are overstocked as it is.I have my betta alone in mine and thought of possibly adding shrimp.Cories need at least ten gallons for a shoal of six,for the dwarfs and at least 20 for the regular sized ones.

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http://bountifulbettas.blogspot.com/

"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

Thanks so much for your reply and picture - I love your tank. What kind of shrimp are you thinking about? I guess they would have to be big enough to avoid becoming gourmet dining for the betta?

Also thanks for the tip on the plant. Most of roots are exposed, but I will figure out a way to keep it down so that most or all roots are exposed - maybe attach to small stone.

Ill start with some ghost shrimp.Ba'ul is very timid.Some bettas will live just fine with shrimp,and others wont.We will see.If hes ok with them then some cherries are next.

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http://bountifulbettas.blogspot.com/

"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

Kara,

First off, welcome to the forum. Second off, I would strongly suggest you read the following article and maybe do some more research on what is called the aquarium nitrogen cycle:

The Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle

It explains why you had an ammonia spike and why you had to add Prime and Nutrafin Cycle. I'm sorry for the loss of your fish, but many of us old hands at the hobby have a trail of fish ghosts following us around. I feel like I have more than my fair share, sadly.

The moss is dying because it either doesn't have enough light or nutrients, in my opinion. Consider getting some API LeafZone plant food or some Flourish Excel and dosing your tank. Also, I would look into a better light bulb for your light fixture that is built to be more plant-friendly.

I would keep on those water changes for sure. Glad to hear you're doing them.

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

Thank you very much for the info gtm - as clarification to my post, the brown patches are on the "leafy" plant (i can't remember the kind other than "low light"). Java moss seems quite happy with what looks like new growth.

Just an update - betta and cory are doing very well so far (hopefully I haven't jinxed us).

I am surprised by how fast the betta has grown and how impressive the fins are.

Neither fish seems the slightest bit afraid of siphon for water change or when put hand in. Very interesting tank. I think our two plants are java fern and java moss.

Catfish is very active - constantly combing over gravel, drift wood, plucking small bits of food out of java moss.

The tip about removing java fern from gravel was good one from majerah1 as I think it is looking better with some new growth.

We put in some black worms when we set up the tank and every now and then we see them out of gravel (usually young ones) and the betta snaps them up.

Water conditions seem very stable - however, I still use a small amount of Cycle product with each water change.

Added two cherry shrimp one week ago. One has just molted. Both seem fine so far. Plants growing quickly (almost twice size in photo) and provide plenty of cover for shrimp. So far betta is not acting aggressive toward shrimp or catfish. Seems like compatible situation. Surprised how fast shrimp can swim.

Need to be careful of catfish when using gravel cleaner siphon as he follows right behind it munching on bits stirred up! I punched a few holes in the plastic tube used as cleaner to reduce vacuum pressure just in case...

Also notice white nematode worms sometimes get stirred up when cleaning gravel - maybe they were introduced with plants. Tiny white filaments, they swim in 'S' shape which Betta notices and takes full advantage.

I cut a slit in the filter pack and can rinse it out with cold water and add my own charcoal. I figure it might be good idea to try to preserve the beneficial bacterial in the filter mesh. Plus the things are $3.50 a piece at pet shop.

Another update - a couple of weeks ago I noticed shrimp parts at bottom of tank. Then, again just the other day :-(

Our betta has discovered that cherry shrimp make a healthy and nutritious snack! That would explain his sudden interest poking around the java moss.

When I change the water, I clean gravel with siphon which stirs up stuff and the shrimp would come out and feast. The betta soon figured out that was a good time to grab a shrimp dinner.

Too bad, they were fun to watch. They discovered the catfish was harmless so I think the shrimp got used to having run of tank without fear.

The betta still spends a lot of time staring at the java moss, the benevolent provider of shrimp.

In meantime, our A/C failed and water temp increased and had to turn light off. After growing so much that I had to trim it back, the change has taken toll on java moss - higher water temp and little light.

Things are normal again so hoping java moss recovers.

Java moss recovered, but it appears we are having an explosion of snails that are eating the java moss. We are resorting to the blanched lettuce in the small glass jar (it definitely works) to try to get them under control. Otherwise, tank and fish still healthy.

Well, we made it through year one, with healthy fish. We always use a bit of nutrafin cycle at each water change. For a while we switched to one of the tetra products, but (coincidence or not) I noticed the aquarium acrylic getting a slimy film on it. Scrubbing it off was difficult and created a slight haze. After switching back, no more problems.

The plants are getting quite large. After I trimmed the java moss, it died back a bit and I thought it might not recover, however it has since come back bigger and stronger than ever and I'll have to keep trimming it. Haven't figured out how to do it without making a big mess in the tank.

We have constant problem with snails. I had to take out the drift wood and boil it to kill the eggs all over it.

We just started feeding the betta fish mosquito larva collected outside. I am a bit nervous that we may introduce something bad into the tank. I am going to ask a question about this as new topic.

It took the betta a while to recognize the larva as food, but now he gobbles them down.

The catfish is always busy and seems to enjoy combing and filtering through the junk that gets stirred up during water change.

A few months back i bought a new filter pack for the bio-wheel. I cut a slit in it and refill it with bulk charcoal. When it looks ready, I rinse it out with water and refill it.

The tank does a good job, water crystal clear.

Glad to hear things are going well!

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