# Max the Million's Garden



## LisArtist (Mar 2, 2014)

Hello! Meet Max the Million. He started out as Max, but we have added the Million to remind him he is a 1% betta fish - livin' large, while most of his brethren struggle in poverty. 

Meet Max's owners. I am Lisa. My husband is Rex. It is partially my fault we have a fish. For years now we have had a strict household policy that has served us well. "No pets, no plants, no children. Lock the door and go." Last winter I received a houseplant from a friend as a housewarming gift. With it came explicit instructions for keeping it alive. And dang, it lived and continues to thrive. It even earned a name. Yes, I have a houseplant named Lilly. Then came the Pinky Tuscaderos, three plants with pink in them. My husband picked them out. I am not entirely to blame. Then some air plants. What do you know, we are venturing into almost green thumb territory here!

Before getting Lilly, we took a trip to South Africa, where, after a wonderful safari, we got to see the aquaponics system that a friend maintains. He has a wonderful system of raising crops for his household in a looped system with tilipia. The family feeds the tilipia, the tilipia's habitat provides the plants with water and nutrients and the family gets to eat crops and the fish. We were fascinated.

When Back to the Roots started marketing a home aquaponics system called the aquafarm, we were curious. When my husband, who had a roommate with a betta fish in college, expressed extra interest, I put the tank on his wish list for birthday present ideas. Why not tinker with aquaponics as a small hobby for a while? I did some reading and took it off his wish list. It wasn't as easy as advertised. I remember Sea Monkeys. Fool me once.... But I told him I had added then removed it, and Rex again expressed interest. He fondly recalled the betta fish in his life. So I added it back onto the wish list.

And his sister bought it for his birthday. We did a little research, read the manual, and as is our nature, jumped right into this mess. Had we done more research, maybe we would have locked the door and gone back to South Africa. Nitrogen cycles, aquaponics, betta fish, test kits, finding safe ornaments, over thinking, under thinking, pulling out magnifiers to hunt for imaginary ich, studying fish poo, buying turkey basters, and logging our misadventures in a notebook (and now here). 

Like new parents we freak out and over analyze everything. If you wish to pull up a rocking chair and laugh with our friends at our exploits, please feel welcome. I figure if anyone wants to hear about our fish, it will be here, where I have already spent way too much time researching ideas to improve Max's lot in life and bantering with fellow aqua farmers.

Like all new parents, we need advice and reassurance and a place to tell you how our fish is unique. 

We are 1 month into this experiment and this stupid little fish has won over our hearts and pocketbooks. Here he is being entertained with the iPad. He wants one for himself so he can watch Fishdom aquariums all day long. 1%, I tell ya.


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## haveyouhadyourteayet (Jan 14, 2014)

Welcome to the forums!! Enjoy the ride!! 

Beautiful fish, btw!


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## LisArtist (Mar 2, 2014)

Thank you! The aquafarm comes with a $1 Petco coupon for a betta fish, which we did not use. Instead we got Max at PetLife, where he was marked as "rare" for $8. He was obviously born into a life of privilege.  

I have looked at all the betta types and determined I don't really know what he is, other than royal blue. I think his tail makes him a delta, but maybe it qualifies as a half-moon. At some point I will take a photo of him flaring and seek an educated answer.


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## haveyouhadyourteayet (Jan 14, 2014)

He looks like he might make it to half-moon... 
I'd say he's a royal blue butterfly (the white band at the end of his fins) delta or HM!

The 'butterfly' part made him expensive XD


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## Briz (Mar 22, 2013)

He is one lucky guy! I'm very pleased to see the heater in there, and he gets iPad entertainment?! Wow!


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## LisArtist (Mar 2, 2014)

haveyouhadyourteayet said:


> He looks like he might make it to half-moon...
> I'd say he's a royal blue butterfly (the white band at the end of his fins) delta or HM!
> 
> The 'butterfly' part made him expensive XD


Oh, thanks! We did not know the butterfly part!


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## LisArtist (Mar 2, 2014)

*Max's Garden Setting*

Although I've discussed Max's habitat in a few aquafarm forums, I'll tell you a bit about how we tried to merge the needs of a garden with the needs of an aquarium and specifically the needs of a betta fish.

Max lives in a 3 gallon Aquafarm made by Back to the Roots. They are a very responsive, eco-conscious, and farm-to-table sort of company. All my interactions with them have been positive. They are farmers first, not pet advocates like everyone here on this forum, although I think they are learning as they support their product. I give the company a poor grade for their instructions on the care of a betta. So many betta fish live in abject conditions as disposable pets for children. Their lots will be improved immensely if distracted parents choose this tank over a vase or bowl. Once the garden is established, water conditions will be improved comparatively, but the betta will still be cold and bored unless the owners enhance the aquarium environment. 

We started this aquarium with plans to farm it. We wanted to try aquaponics at the apartment scale. However, we are big softies and any animal in our care will get the best care we can give it. That is why we have deviated from the basic fish care instructions that came with the kit, and will continue to try to make this environment a great one for Max.

To that end, Max has a good heater, decorations chosen to entertain and comfort him, and we check his tank conditions daily while we learn this new hobby. We follow most aquarium rules for the health of our fish. 

Max has to deal with more sunlight than recommended. Plants need sunlight. To shade him, but allow the herb garden the light it needs, we have placed trimmings of our houseplant Lilly around three sides of the aquarium. The trimmings are in water vases, so Max gets to look at roots, stems and leaves. It is pretty to us humans, with a zen feeling to it. He seems to like it. And he gets some mottled sunlight a few hours a day while the herb garden gets more light. We have two nerite snails patrolling for algae. So far this seems to be working, but we are aware we might need to change the location of the aquafarm or add an aquarium background for Max's sake.

One of the main differences between typical aquariums and this aquaponic one is the filter. The herb garden and beneficial bacteria live in shale rocks on top of the tank. The pump pushes air down a tube which pushes water up into the plant tray and across the shale rocks. Another aqua farmer here in the forum modified her aquafarm to have a more typical aquarium water filtration system. We haven't done that, but are following the thread. 

On Sunday, we lost power for two hours and it affected our tank cycling. The BB living in the shale rocks did not fare well and we had a nitrite spike on Monday. The system looks like it is repairing itself after a 25% water change yesterday and gravel vacuuming - we seemed to have extra detritus perhaps due to the loss of the pump for a few hours. 

The water conditions with our initial cycling this month balanced out quickly. Today is Day 31. Nitrite and nitrate readings became measurable on Days 3 through 6, before the plants started removing the nitrates. We seeded 2 of the 5 and kickstarted the system with young plantings in the remaining 3 containers. The herbs were hungry! So, all in all, I feel good about the shale rock and the aquaponic method for establishing and moderating the nitrate cycle. Partial water changes and gravel cleaning is still needed. The plants drink half a gallon of water every 1-2 days, so I have to add water, even if I don't remove any of the water in the tank.


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## LisArtist (Mar 2, 2014)

*See that thing? I hate it!*

You don't have to be a Fish Whisperer to know how Max feels about lights in his aquarium. He HATES them. Whenever we check on him, he swims to the intruder light, stares at us, stares at the light, bites it, and stares at us. "See this thing? I hate it!," he tells us over and over and over again.

"But we want to see you," we try to explain. He'll have none of it. When the lights are on in the evening, he hides so we can't see him anyway. "I have told you over and over that I hate that thing," he says as he sulks in the far corner under silk leaves. We have spent $40 on lights for his tank. Max the Million doesn't care. 

Last night we gave up on seeing our dark fish after dark and I removed the current set of LED lights this morning. But I'm not quite done yet. I want to find a rectangular vase and submerge the Aqueon LED bubble wand, making an external illuminated bubble wall. Maybe I will add the H2show LED light as well, that Max hates. I am going to make a tank side lamp that bubbles. Take THAT fish! Pretty sure the response will be "See that thing? I hate it!"

P.S. That will mean $50 spent on lighting. I guess I'm not very bright.... Oooh, maybe I'll get the volcano!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

That is quite an impressive set up! I'm glad to hear that you're putting Max's needs first while also enjoying a product from the company you like & support. 

Some bettas are really silly about lighting. My VT doesn't like the room being dark and the tank light being on. He lets me know by flaring, and we've had a couple instances where he's blown out his fins >.<


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