# Natural Tank for a beginner!



## Betthoven (Jul 16, 2017)

I plan on assembling a naturally planted tank over the next few weeks. I have spent tons of time on here reading and learning about betta fish and am so excited to get one. (I absolutely love gardening too!) I am a beginner but have the time and desire to make a nice natural tank along with the upkeep required. Then only think I have purchased so far is my 3 gallon tank. (I understand will need to upgrade some things for it.) I was hoping to provide my shopping list below for critiques. Any advice you may have is welcome as I have only purchased the tank. 

My Tank
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008CA7W7E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I LOVE the front carpet plant in this photo. 
https://bettasmart.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/naturally-planted-tank.jpg

My shopping list:
Beta Fish 
Food for fish 
Heater 
Thermometer 
Filter?
small diameter gravel/sand for the cap
Desk lamp with a Daylight 6500k bulb
tank vacuum/siphon to change water
Sachem Excel (CO2 supplement)
organic potting soil 
plants TBD (I have not read much about actual plant types yet.)

THANK YOU for everything! So happy to have found this forum.


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## ryry2012 (Mar 31, 2015)

Welcome to the forum!


The plant in the picture is glosso. It's more advanced plant that needs high light. I don't think your light is high enough. High light also means you have to run CO2, not Excel. Excel is CO2 substitute, but not exactly same. Due to the reasons I just mentioned, I've never tried glosso. It looks really nice though.


You'll need a filter for sure. An adjustable heater is recommended.


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## Kadington (Apr 14, 2016)

Natural tanks are possible, but are hard to start up. Typically they don't add fish until after the tank has matured for 4-6 months. Inverts are actually the first thing they add and normally the soil in these tanks is a heavy high nutrient rich soil as to promote the dense plant growth that is needed to sustain fish without a filter. The plants that are all easy to grow but with more of a focus on fast growing plants like Anacharis and chainsword. Though slower plants like Anubias and Java fern are common in these set up their slow growing nature can only help so much as the fast growing plants are the ones that do the bulk of 'filtering'. Another thing to note is that these systems must maintain a fine balance and anything new added should be done with careful though, that why the inverts are always added first. As they are more hardy then the fish and a good test animal as you work to get the water quality perfect. 

The best thing about them are that once they are going, they just go!!


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## Betthoven (Jul 16, 2017)

Hmmm. I am really interested in doing a natural tank but want to do it the right way. Might even need a bigger size. I will probably get the fish for now along with a proper setup (rocks on the bottom.) I can mature a natural tank on the side! This all sounds so fun! 

I plan to put my betta on my desk but he will need to come home with me over vacations and long weekends. I am a high school teacher that shares an office. Our school color is blue and he will be named Betthoven since I teach orchestra. He won't be in the actual classroom so he won't risk any danger from teenagers. I'm beyond excited and love this forum already!


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## Kadington (Apr 14, 2016)

Also remember that a natural aquarium is always under-stocked but betta do very well in them. Scuds are another thing people with planted tanks use. They are small inverts that really help plants, but are a tasty snack to most fish, another reason why people wait to add fish last to a planted tank. 

If you are doing the transfer thing, I'd suggest having two tanks. One in your office and one at your home. That way you only have to scoop your betta up into a cup and seal it and don't have to worry about all the problems that come with moving a tank. Once you get home Float him for a half an hour and then release him.


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