# Sally M's Tanks et al.



## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

I'm going to start my thread here with an intro to my 3 tanks and hopefully updates as they all evolve. Oh yeah, make that 4 tanks - one more is arriving on Tuesday!

The first was my Fluval 2g. It is home to my first Betta Sushi. It has a gemstone gravel substrate (Oregon sunstone and clear quartz to be exact since my other hobby is cutting gemstones!) and has progressed from silk plants to live plants (from peachii!). His companions are a dark-footed purple mystery snail (the first one from peachii's dark ones) and two ghost shrimp which are hard to find. He had a Cobalt 10W heater (which is great! because it fits in the pump section of the tank and doesn't take up room in his swimming area) but it made the tank too hot, close to 85F. So he has now been downgraded to the Cobalt 5W (again great!) and the tank is about 77F. He also now has a floating Betta Log which I've tried to make neutrally bouyant because I don't like it all the way up at the top. It goes up and down so sometimes I add a stone and sometimes I take one away! I put a piece of cholla in (from RussellTheShihTzu) so maybe the shrimp will be happier.


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

*Next up, the NPT Fluval 5g*

Not a week later, my second tank arrived. It is a Fluval 5.6g. I decided to try a natural planted tank. Hmmm. Not sure about it yet. It is right next to my sink in the kitchen so it is convenient to water and draining! I used Miracle Gro with a cap of Fluorite Black Sand. I didn't rinse either one (should have!). It has been about two weeks and numerous water changes and it is still a mess every time! I think I will add some more sand and see if that helps keep the disturbance down. The water is never crystal clear yet and I think the plants are not doing that well because the water is so dark with every change. But they are growing and the tank is evolving. I'm not giving up yet!

It's inhabitants include Turquoise, a lovely doubletail male, 3 ghost shrimp (if they are still in there - I haven't found them lately!), 3 oto cats and a light-footed purple mystery snail courtesy of peachii, along with more of her plants! I'm thinking of moving Turq to the new tank for a while until the NPT behaves properly. He looks kinda dingy....but he has a nice heater and filter, some new cholla and a really small Great Wall of China. I was using a Cobalt 25W adjustable heater but have downgraded him to the 10W I took out of Sushi's tank because it fits in the pump compartment. His tank too stays around 77F now. BTW, both those heaters are actually listed for smaller tanks but do fine in the current bigger ones.


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

*Tank #3*

Of course, after I read about the great deal on the TruAqua tanks, I had to get one of their 14.5g ones! (And a 6.6g one but that comes this week!) I thought I'd try a sorority in this one. I have a Fluorite Black Sand substrate which I rinsed and that helped greatly. I added some silk plants, live plants, a couple fake logs and a 100W adjustable heater that was also on sale from TruAqua. Then it was time to go to the fish store. I don't have much access to LFS so it was a trip to Petco. I didn't really plan on buying everybody that day, I just wanted more sand, a few decorations, and some shrimp. They didn't have two out of three so I bought fish! 

I got the oto cats and Turq for the NPT and then I went on to stocking the 14.5g! I now have 6 glowlight tetras, 3 oto cats, and then the sorority sisters. Well maybe sisters. I decided to get betta babies that seemed to be females. The lady there had actually bred bettas several times so maybe she knew what she was talking about! (There bettas seemed fairly well cared for) I came home with six babies. Now comes the fun part! Watching them grow...
I have been doing frequent water changes to get rid of the growth stunting hormone that I've heard about and it has been a week. Everyone still looks good. I need more plants and places for them to hide, they are quibbling a little and one has a nipped fin (that either happened early on or before she came home with me. I am convinced at least two are definitely female, leaning towards female on two more and still unsure of the other two. Oddly, the three pairs seem to be several weeks different in ages so maybe that's why I can see male/female differences. I haven't named them yet but I have ideas....

Here's the tank and the first two babies. These two are the largest/oldest and both have obvious egg spots. They chase each other but there have been no additional fin injuries in the last week and they are not exclusively hostile!


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

*The next two babies*

The next two babies I am having trouble telling apart. They are the middle two in size and have very similar coloring. I also don't have an opinion on male or female for either of these so if anyone can tell, please let me know your opinions!


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

*And the two youngest*

The last two still have their horizontal stripes and are half the size of the largest two. Both have nice coloring stating to show up.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Nice tank and nice fishies!


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

*Uh oh*

I better start making some dividers for my tanks! Rumor has it that a lot of my girls are boys.....


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

*One of my little ones is feeling poorly*

:-(S/he is holding her fins in and not getting around much although she still is eating. I've got her now in a 1g QT, nice and warm, no company to add stress. I added some salts (both kinds) and hopefully s/he will perk up soon.


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

Had my first casualty today. Not the baby betta above but one of the oto cats in the NPT. Not sure why but it is quite possible that I injured him sometime while working on that tank. The water gets so mucky when I do anything in it that I can't even see the fishies. I could easily have set something down on him even though I try to go really slow. Sigh....


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I wouldn't use Aq salt and Epsom salts together.


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

Someone else told me the same thing so she is now in plain water. She is a little more active this morning. Maybe she's on the mend.


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## annyann (Oct 28, 2013)

Very nice tanks you have, I think its safe to say you have been bitten by the Betta bug lol! I have a sorority tank that has six females in it right now, I always love to read about sorority tanks! Im not sure if starting out with baby Bettas from Petco will work out, but I will be following along to see. =)


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

Thanks Annyann - it is not working out too well yet! The littlest one is still not feeling better and is in QT. Based on pictures and some educated guesses by folks here, I may have more boys than girls! So we shall see how it goes. And of course, in preparation for making more homes for males, I had to buy a couple more aquariums....

I think the fishies are taking the place of my wild birdies. I used to feed the outside birds all the time but this summer, I had a mama black bear and her two cubs come for snacks! So now, no more bird food....


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

I gave Turquoise some friends for a while! His tank backs up to the refrigerator so I've been rotating magnets into his view:lol:


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## annyann (Oct 28, 2013)

Wow that's amazing to have those bears come right up to your porch like that!! Be careful O.O when your outside. That baby bear was really cute though, we had two baby bears (I didn't get to see them, but my paw-in-law did) come walking through where we use to live. He didn't see mama bear.
Well when you get those tanks set up for your little boys, have you though about just getting several of the older females at Petco? Here at my local Petco and Petsmart even the older ones are still really young, about half-grown usually. I just added another to my tank and that put me up to 6 girls--I have only got one female so far that was to aggressive for sorority life. The most important thing to remember is to quarantine any new fish you buy.


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

When it all settles down and I know what I have and how it is going, if I need more girls, I will probably get bigger, definite ones! I do like mysteries though....


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

I've been rearranging tanks today. ;-)Turquoise is now in the AquaTop 6.6 gallon with his roomies, the two cats and a mystery snail. I'm not sure where the three shrimpies have gone so they may be in the Fluval 5g with the plants. I decided to move him and split the Fluval in half for two male bettas, since it is longer and thinner. I think they would have more swimming space, definitely more surface area. 

I'm pretty sure now that I've got 4 female babies and two males but that may change. One of the girls is the little tiny sick one. She's hanging in there. Growth rates are variable among the babies. The two biggest are growing at about the same pace. The two medium ones are the ones I think are the males and they are slow growing. Of the two smallest, the sick one is not growing much understandably but her counterpart, the other smallest has now passed the two boys in size. The two biggest girls occasionally fight but except for the one sick girl and one catfish death, everyone looks good. One of the purple mystery snails, the one in the NPT, is growing incredibly fast! The other one is in a smaller tank with fewer live plants is growing but not as quickly.

I also got some marimo moss balls today from a seller on eBay. OMG those things are really cool!! I need to get a smaller one for Sushi's tank because the ones I got are almost the size of tennis balls. He's in the Fluval 2g and they are too big for it. But while I was rearranging his decor, I did find the two ghost shrimpies in his tank and they are alive and well. I am getting some red cherry shrimpies tomorrow so I have to figure out where to put them. There is a limit to how many tanks you can order online and be delivered intact. That limit is four. The fifth one arrived yesterday but it was broken.:-( But its replacement will be here Monday!:lol:

I'll have to post new pictures soon


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

The tanks


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

Things are still changing! 

My sorority now has 3 girls in it. So 4/6 of the baby bettas from PetCo seem to be female. The last one is the one who is not feeling good.:-( So the sorority tank has the 3 girl bettas, 3 oto cats, 6 glowlight tetras and maybe a ghost shrimp (I haven't seen him lately). 

Sushi is still hanging out in his tank with the purple mystery snail (who's name is now Violet) and 2 ghost shrimp. They had disappeared but I found them alive and well.

Turquoise is now set up in the newest tank with his two pet oto cats and the other mystery snail.

The biggest recent changes come with the 5g NPT. The two baby bettas who I believe are boys are floating in containers and will soon get half each. I have a temporary divider in because I thought it was time to get them out of the sorority as I've noticed an increase in aggression now. I have also now found 2/3 ghost shrimp in there!

I've got the sick one now floating in the sorority in a bowl because I need another heater for the QT tank. So that will have to do for a few days until I can get a new one.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Your tanks look very nice.


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

Thanks Dramaqueen


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

*Well, live and learn...*

And hopefully we all get to live!

Turquoise gave me a scare this morning! A little background. I bought a couple of the AquaTop tanks that are on clearance from TruAqua. They are really nice tanks and even better for the price. But they come with undergravel filters which I didn't want so I made my own filters. I took a vase shaped piece of plastic (from a straw dispenser), put sunstone gravel in the bottom for weight, then a piece of filter floss to block the entrance to the pump. I wrapped floss around the pump that came with the tanks and stuffed it in with its spout up. Then I put some random pieces of floss I had and a pack of Fluval's charcoal to boost the filtration potential. But I made the mistake of not putting the floss tight to the sides of the tube.

I made my rounds this morning when the electricity came back on and I was horrified to see Turquoise stuck in the filter! :shock: He wasn't stuck there because of the intake but he seems to like to slither through the tightest spots he can find! So he found a hole in between the floss and the plastic, squirmed in but couldn't squirm out. I frantically pulled out the floss and he swam free, looking pretty annoyed but unhurt!:roll:

So I have now remedied the filter so he can't get stuck again!


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

Oh my goodness scary but funny. Mine is so curious too.


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

They definitely have different personalities! My first one Sushi sits next to me, within arm's reach, and I've been sitting around a lot lately , for a whole month now and yet i put my finger to the tank and he bolts!:shock:, flares, gets all agitated. I put my hand down and he returns to staring at me.

Turq on the other hand has no such hangups. Comes right over, no fear.


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

Mine chases my hand trying to bite it. It's the only time he will jump out of the water. He's not very aggressive otherwise. He flares at others but if they don't charge him he tries to get them to chase. So mirror time has gotten sad. It won't chase him so he lays down.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Bad fishie for scaring you like that! lol


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

I have had an Oh S**t kind of week. Well it seems like a week but it may only be a couple days!:roll: 

It started with the shrimp I think. Everything was great until then. The day before the shrimp arrived, I got some Marimo Moss balls in the mail and they are just too cool! I was waiting impatiently for the red cherry shrimp to arrive. I had ordered from a guy on eBay who usually ships on Mondays but he was delayed. So I finally get my shrimpies on Saturday. They are a little chilly but 11/12 are active and still alive. I carefully dumped them into a cup and started warming them up, adding a little of my tap water to the cup to acclimate them, since tap water is what I use to fill my tanks. I gave them a little algae wafer while I read the note David the seller had included. He apologized for the delay and to compensate he sent me some of his very best RCS. I floated them in the tank to bring them up to temp and went to bed.

I got up in the morning and when the lights went on, I checked on everybody. Excited to see my little shrimpies I looked in and THEY WERE ALL DEAD! Nothing moving, dead as the proverbial little doornails. OMG, WTF, OMG! Then I had to email David to see why they had died. That was a very apologetic email, believe me. I think the guy may have had names for all of them!:blueworry: But he was very helpful and with his help, I narrowed down the cause of death to incredibly high pH of my tap water.

And the drama continues. I've spent two days turning my kitchen into a chemistry lab. You can see the details at my thread "I need a Water Chemist" http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=315058 Fortunately, Rick the water chemist stepped up and helped me out. So it comes down to add some source of carbonate to my tanks and some baking soda to keep it steady. Okay, I gather my cuttlebones and put one in each tank. I do a little surfing and find general info of 1 teaspoon for 5 gallons. This was before Rick's last post....:roll: I need more patience. So I figure I have 27 gallons worth of tanks, dissolve 3 teaspoons in a gravy shaker and put the appropriate proportion of the soda water into each tank. Then I see his link where I read and I quote _"Then drip the mixture slowly over the course of several hours"_

Oh S**T..:frustrated:

Now I wait...


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

Everybody is still alive!:redyay:

I'm rearranging again. Sushi now has a slightly bigger Fluval Spec. I was surprised how much bigger their 2.6g seems next to the 2g. The 2g tank will now be for the next batch of RCS because they will have perfection this time, NO dying! I'm juggling heaters too to match the tanks. I got a bigger brighter light for the NPT that is currently housing two little boys. They are in cups because they made swift work of my temporary divider. I hope the light will make the plants grow better. And sometime this week a new functional divider for the boys. I also need two more girls for the sorority since I have only 3 now in the big tank not including the little sick one. She's still hanging in there but not looking any better.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I'm sorry for the loss of your shrimp. Now that you found the problem hopefully the new bunch of shrimp will be fine.


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

I hope so too dramaqueen. If they die, I am not emailing the seller again!

I think that it is time for names for the babies. May I present my little gems!

Lapis Lazuli, Quartz, Sapphire
Zircon, Tourmaline, Emerald
Opal (who is still hanging in there), Ruby


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

You got beautiful fish!


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## Survivor2013 (Dec 2, 2013)

Wow it looks like you've had a lot of tank drama.


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

Well, I just started with aquariums about 6 weeks ago! Now I have 5 set up!:shock: And I keep changing my mind, rearranging, finding out I have well water problems, and still learning all the intricacies of fishies!

My current obsession.....


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

The 8 little ones are all the baby bettas from Petco and I'm excited to see how they turn out and what they will look like as adults!Although while I was in Petco yesterday, they certainly had some very nice looking adult males!


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

So I'm still having water quality issues but nobody else has died! I did lots of water tests today, pretending I'm back in chem lap! And after a week and a half in the salt spa tub, little Opal is getting better!! She may yet get to join the sorority. Sushi seems to like his new, larger digs and is blowing a bubble nest. I wonder how far they can see. His tank is about 10 feet from the sorority tank. I gave them some frozen food today and they sucked down the red bloodworms like they were eating spaghetti!:lol:


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

lol. I'm glad Opal is better.


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

First off, I'd like to say thanks for reading to those of you who are here!:-D In many ways I write this for myself so that I can remember what I've done and when. Not to mention, it is almost someone to talk to instead of just the pets!

My tanks are progressing and evolving. Opal is feeling much better and is now floating in a breeder square thingie that has slots for the tank water to go through. She is a feisty one! I added the two new girls, Emerald and Ruby, to the sorority and I'm watching the pecking order being established. Quartz is definitely the queen at the moment. The two new girls are almost as big as my two biggest and Opal is by far the smallest. But she is fighting for her rank even in the enclosure! 

I bought more plants from peachii but they are stuck in the postal system somewhere. Sent out on Tuesday, I'm still waiting for any update outside of TN where she mails from! And here it is Friday.....:roll: Postmaster: It is Christmas time....

I'm also waiting for a new live batch of shrimp but I'm not sure those have even been shipped yet. Even though a mailing label was created on Monday. The guy is probably debating whether to send them to me.... after what happened to Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen.

But everyone seems happy for the most part. Especially the snails Violet and Pansy...they just smile all the time....


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

I finally made a divider that Sapphire or Lapis has yet to breach :welldone: I used the craft mesh which was supposedly clear but is actually white.:-? Doesn't blend well. I was hoping to integrate plants into the divider but now I'm not sure. The two males are almost as small as Opal. Maybe it's like people - boys have a sudden growth spurt and then they are off! 

I cut one of the marimo moss balls in half so I could put one in with Sushi. I'm really liking the moss balls! I wonder if I can grow them in my outdoor water garden....It doesn't freeze solid here very often and they grow in Japan and Iceland. Hmmm....that'd be kinda cool...


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

Opal is swimming with the big girls now! Quartz is being a dominatrix so she's in the holding tank now, not able to get anyone. The glowlights gave Opal a hazing at first but now they are behaving. The tank is a bit calmer when Quartz behaves. 

Does anyone know if the boys grow slower than the girls? Mine are definitely much smaller and not growing as fast as the girls have.


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

The Dominatrix, still the biggest and baddest, may be too much for a sorority so I'll have to keep a close eye on her. She chases and nips but no one has lost a chunk of fin yet. Li'l Opal is right in there. I've watched a lot of behavior lately and I like the yin yang of pecking order establishment. The two girls square off head to tail both curved towards each other. And then they float up to the top, slowly spinning in curve. Not sure how one is determined to be the winner. Opal squared off with Emerald but Opal left with vertical bars so I think she lost. I threw an extra fake plant in there since my real ones are STILL delayed by the post office. Haven't moved at all as far as I can tell. 'Tis the season....Oh well, just call me Ms. Scrooge....


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I hope you get your real plants soon. I guess its the time ofyear and there are so many packages being sent.


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

Crossing my fingers for tomorrow!!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Fingers and toes crossed. Lol


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

I finally got the plants and worked on rearranging my tanks again! Does that ever end?:lol: I'm thinking not. Sadly, the week it took the post office to get it to me was not kind to the snails and they are dead - except of course the pond snail I just found this morning!:evil: But I think a majority of the plants survived even if a few leaves melted. I mucked up the tanks putting them in again so the filters are working overtime.

My next obstacle is a new batch of shrimp arrives tomorrow or the next day.


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

*Rundown of occupants*

As of Dec. 17, 2013 for my records:

2g - No one
2.6g - Sushi, Violet the Mystery Snail, had 2 cleaner shrimp but one jumped (found him on the table today) and the last one relocated to 5g
5g - Lapis and Sapphire, remaining cleaner shrimp up to 4, had 3 oto cats, one died, two relocated to 6.6g
6.6g - Turquoise and Pansy the Mystery Snail, 2 oto cats
14g - Zircon, Quartz, Ruby, Emerald, Opal and Tourmaline, possibly one cleaner shrimp, 3 oto cats
Known fatalities so far: one oto cat, 2 cleaner shrimp, 12 red cherry shrimp, DOA purple mystery snail, 6 baby ramshorns, one Malaysian Trumpet snail

Next I'll do plant inventory....someday....


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I'm sorry about the snails.


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

The sun hits the sorority for a little while in the mornings this time of year. I sat and watched the girls in the sunlight and they are just glowing little rainbows! Really lovely, colors just constantly changing. Just after turning on lights this morning, they were paler and I had a chance to see the two ones who may be boys and I am once again leaning towards all girls. Here's crossing my fingers....

Unfortunately, I think the new shrimp are delayed in shipping. I hope they survive the mailing and I swore to the guy I would NOT kill them this time! My plan is to add them to the water one at a time.

As for my water chemistry, I have discovered that a really small amount of club soda instantly lowers the pH of my tap water! Now if only my crushed coral would arrive so I can work on buffering the tanks.....


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

I think I will change Zircon's name - she is now known as Crystal! Zircon sounded to much like a superhero or something.....


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

I am really dejected today. I bought another batch of shrimpies to replace the ones I killed. They were mailed on Monday. I hoped to get them on Wed. then Thurs, then Fri, then Sat. Nope. Didn't get them until today, opened the package and they are all dead. No bright little Christmas cheery things in the little tank waiting for them. Nope, just fits my mood...Last week dead snails, this week dead shrimp.

On a good note no one else is dead and I'm getting another aquarium today. That probably puts the nail in my travelling coffin. I don't know what I'm going to do when I get the urge to take a month long trip to somewhere.....


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

Been rearranging the tanks again. So now the occupants are: 
2g - Sapphire
2.6g - Sushi
5g - Lapis, Violet and Pansy the snails, at least one cleaner shrimp
6.6g 1 - Turq, 2 oto cats
6.6g 2 - No one yet, needs decor
14g - Crystal, Quartz, Ruby, Emerald, Opal and Tourmaline, possibly one cleaner shrimp, 3 oto cats, 6 glowlight tetras

Also been working on a java moss wall in the new tank. I thought I would split it to accommodate Sapphire and Lapis but I didn't like it. So now I think it will be home to one male. The question is which one. Should I move Sushi into bigger digs or does he like it right next to me in a 2.6g? The other choice are both little guys right now. The other one gets either the 2g or the 5g, depending I suppose on whether the next batch of shrimp will actually live! If they don't, I'm giving up!

I tried to put a couple oto cats in the 5g with Lapis and the two snails. For some reason they spent all their time in one bottom corner of the tank and hardly ever left it. S I put them back in the sorority. I swear that the snails are eating new growth off the plants. I know they aren't supposed to but they are. I wonder if it can be a nutrient thing. I'm going to get some Flourish to add micro nutrients since my water is very soft.

The evolution of the tanks:


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

*Tanks are looking good!*

I rearrange pretty much every day! I clip, I move, I add, I watch! I just now added the latest batch of red cherry shrimp that arrived alive and will hopefully be alive in the morning!:-D I also put in some Nerite snails and Malaysian Trumpet snails whom I may never see again. The girls are getting on fairly well, the boys growing their long fins. The tanks are clearing up nicely with the addition of Purigen and the plants are doing fairly well with Flourish and Excel. Life is good!:lol:


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## isochronism (Nov 24, 2012)

Hi Sally, Flourish has small traces of Copper. There may be enough to be very harmful for your Shrimp. I had stopped using it since I now have some Cherry Shrimp as well. I will research for a good fertilizer that is void of Copper. Good Luck!


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## Sally M (Nov 14, 2013)

Thanks iso I will be careful. They are in only one tank right now so I may skip it until they are bigger. All 10 could fit on my pinkie's fingernail! My ghost shrimp have survived but they are bigger.


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