# 10g divided male betta biotope



## PhilipPhish (Mar 6, 2011)

*10g divided male betta biotope* 
So I have 2 male bettas (Andy and Nez) that are in half gallon tanks right now.
I wanted to buy a 10 gallon, split it in half, add live plants, heating, filtration, dim lighting,ect.

But I was wondering, what if I did a biotope for them?

What kind of plants?
What sort of things are in their natural habitats? 
Floating plants or in-gravel plants?

I'd be very thankful to anyone who can help me!

~PhilipPhish

(This is a repost from the habitat/aquarium sub-forum)


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

They are found in slow moving waters of Southeast Asia.


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## homegrown terror (Aug 6, 2012)

one of our planted tanks is under dim lighting due to his regular light becoming electrically unsafe, and the wisteria and primrose in there seem to be doing just fine. i swear, those two plants can handle just about any kind of situation.

beyond that, if you want a dim-light murky effect in your tank, have you considered a bright light that's simply directed away from viewing, so the plants get high amounts of lighting but it looks dimmer to the viewer?


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

IAL releases Tannins.


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## PhilipPhish (Mar 6, 2011)

So a very slow filter? Or just baffle a 5G one?

Indian almond leaves make the tannis...Dim lighting? Is there a special kind of lightbuld I can buy?

What kind of live plants should I get? How should I plant and arrange them? What kind of substrate? Tank mates?


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Crinium Thialanthium.


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## registereduser (Jul 30, 2010)

ChoclateBetta said:


> Crinium Thialanthium.


I googled that and got nuthin' :lol:


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Crinum thaianum.


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## registereduser (Jul 30, 2010)

ChoclateBetta said:


> Crinum thaianum.


ah, onions! :lol:


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Water Onions. I buy the bulbs from the store and grow them.


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## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

Your lighting will determine what kinds of plants you can have. 

Not sure what plants are native to SE Asia but Anubias are good low light plants. They come in several varities. They don't get planted in gravel but attached to wood or rocks. The same for Java Fern and java moss.
Indian Almond Leaf - you most likely would need to get that from an ebay seller located in Asia. It does release tannins but it also turns the water amber colored - like in their natural habitat. I would do both floating and planted plants - dwarf lilly would be nice but it gets tall. I have to keep trimming the bigger leaf's off cause it blocks out too much light.

check out some of these - supposedly they are all low light
http://www.shop.plantedaquariumscentral.com/Low-Light-Plants_c17.htm


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## PhilipPhish (Mar 6, 2011)

Water onions?

Tikibirds- I'll definitely look at some of those.

Anyone else have some advice?


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

If you are going to do a biotope you would need to adjust your pH to be around that of the area you are trying to create. Best way would be peat in the filter and IAL. You could also get some stratum like Azoo Plant Grower Bed or Fluval's Stratum. Azoo's will be better as it has nutrients in it, you can get it for like $31 on MarineDepot, both will drop the pH with Azoo's lasting longer and being better overall.

I would do some searching on your own and find plants that grow in SouthEast Asia, which will be a bit harder as the most common biotope would be amazon since those plants are widely available.


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## repru04 (Jan 23, 2012)

Tree branches will darken your water if that's what you're wanting. I soak branches for a few weeks till they're water-logged then add them to my tank. The water is still dark and I'll have a few more wc ahead of me before it lightens up. But this only works if you have room for a container of water that'll fit the wood.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

IAL, Spagnum Moss, and Driftwood decrease PH. They also add Tannins.


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## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

Petco has mopani wood for pretty cheap. It's in the reptile section with the zoomed stuff. That will make the water amber colored and release tannins if you dont want to order indian almond leaves from Asia.











*Southeastern Asian Lowland Still Water.*



A tank for slow moving members of the subfamily Anabantoidea, other Labyrinth-fish, along with small barbs and danios and of course catfish.​
 








Allepey backwater, India 
Photo by: Raj Sivarajan 
  
Betta splendens​  
Hygrophila difformis​ 

 Your browser does not support the IFRAME tag.​ 
*Size* 

 A standard fifty-five gallon or the forty gallon would be fine. 
 *Setup* 









Typical setup. 



 On the bottom use a dark substrate with no sharp edges to a depth of at least two inches and mix in some Laterite to promote plant growth. Place driftwood and roots in the back area creating many hiding places. This tank should be heavily planted, here are some native species available: 
 


 Giant Hygrophila
Nitelia
Hydrilla
Water lilies
Cryptocoryne ciliata
Java moss
Limnocharis
Water lettuce
  ​ 


 You want to have very little water movement, with a slight circulation from one end to the other. With the large amount of live plants the lighting should be bright, at least two fluorescent full spectrum bulbs. 
 *Water requirements* 

 pH of 6.5 with a Carbonate hardness of around 4dCH and a total hardness of 10dH. Water temperature in the low eighties. 
 *Fish* 

 A school of Danios, two or three pairs of any of the varieties of the Dwarf Gouramies., a group of Koolie Loaches and some catfish from the family Pangasius. 
 

  
Dwarf Gourami.


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## Crowntail777 (Jan 5, 2013)

Nice


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