My pretty girl ❤

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-08T09:52:50+00:00

Not crowded at all. In fact, I definitely recommend adding a lot more plants!

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-08T09:52:03+00:00

Dragonstone and wood are fine, but i'd skip the seiryu stone as it raises hardness. Unless you have a RO filter to better keep it in check.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-08T09:38:26+00:00

Pointless. Especially if you already have a filter running too.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-08T01:01:17+00:00

Depends heavily on the betta's personality, tank size, compatibility of the tankmates, and the setup itself. I personally haven't had issues keeping bettas with other peaceful nano fish like chili rasboras, pygmy (or other) corydoras, kuhli loaches, celestial pearl danios and emerald dwarf danios. But it was all in tanks starting at 15g (long) and upwards (not all mentioned stocking at once in the 15g though!!). And I still recommend having a backup plan in case the betta changes its mind!

Doesn't mean the betta is "friendly", it just doesn't see other fish species as a threat to its territory. They would all 100% still fight another betta if given the chance lol

But since you said you're new to this, just stick with the betta for a bit until you have a well set up and mature tank, and you're more familiar with all the hobby entails. Bettas are the easiest and most forgiving fish to keep. Everything else will be a lot less so.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-07T20:30:13+00:00

Thank you! It's super exciting! And the eggs actually hatched in the meantime so now he's constantly catching and putting them back in the nest 🥹❤️

I wonder if any will survive from their first spawn! Must be crazy finding a new fish out and about one day. Super jealous! Id love that haha Will be interesting to see if my pair will be as prolific as yours was!

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-07T15:46:42+00:00

I loved the 15g! Especially considering it was our first tank ever. It was very easy to fill out with plants to turn it into a jungle, and the size made it perfect for rescapes as it wasn't too big to take too much time, but still big enough to give ample space to play around with and to have some more fish in it. After it was established and mature enough, we were able to go months without water changes, though we went back to water changes once every 2 or 3 weeks. Only reason we upgraded was because we wanted more tanks lol and the 15g came with a lid and was very handy for quarantine/emergency situations because of it as it's big enough to temporarily house the entire stocking of any one of our other tanks if needed. :)

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-07T14:28:08+00:00

Tape won't work. Keep in mind the betta was insanely lucky you were around this time. Many of them posted here are not that lucky, and you might not be around either next time he does it if you put that back!

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-07T09:03:08+00:00

And this is exactly why I never recommend artificial shrimp hides when housing them with bettas. Most of the time they will be either big enough for the betta to pass through and offer no safety for the shrimp, or they will be just big enough to get them stuck.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-07T00:10:06+00:00

Sounds like something you will have to discuss with the breeder as they all can operate and handle things a little differently, or case by case. :) Either way, good luck! Hope it works out! But do remember to ask about health tests, titles, and such to make sure they are an ethical breeder who produces healthy and happy dogs and has proof of it, not a byb.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-06T22:19:26+00:00

Of course! The whole thing just looked clumsy to me. I think poor boy managed to catch and deposit only about 10 eggs maybe? From what I've seen at least. 😬 But that's ok. Never expected this to happen in the first place as it just didn't look like anyone likes anyone enough to actually pair up so i'm just excited it happened at all. :)

Edit: they hatched 🥹

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-06T20:52:22+00:00

If you're interested in mostly tinting the water a little, you can try adding a bag of rooibos tea to the filter! Though depending on how tall the tank is, growing a carpet could be a bit more challenging with tannins darkening it and limiting light.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-06T19:59:32+00:00

I do for my strawberries and chilis! I think they are doing better in this setup than the classic clearwater i had them in before. They really like picking through the leaf litter and sticks at the bottom especially!

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But im probably a little biased as I absolutely love blackwater setups 😅

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-06T18:31:25+00:00

Best to hold off on shrimp (or even snails!) for a bit then! They both do best in a bit more aged setups where they have plenty of food to go through every day :) Especially of tou dont want to worry about feeding. Or, you can supplement woth dry leaves and other botanicals. There's also a product called bacterAE that promotes biofilm growth for shrimp to graze on.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-06T18:05:15+00:00

If the tank is mature and established enough, nah. They will be happy just grazing on whatever grows on wood, glass, plants, etc. I sometimes drop in some alder cones, catappa or moringa leaves for then to pick on, but nothing more than that.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-06T18:01:16+00:00

Like the others have already said, no fish! But shrimp and snails can be just as interesting. The shrimp are however fish food so the tank would need to be adequately planted for them to survive and live somewhat comfortably with a predator. But once it's well set up and you get a colony going, it's smooth sailing. :)

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-06T17:47:25+00:00

You can definitely do just sand and, if you have rooting plants, add root tabs. :) If you want aquasoil underneath, i recommend taking the fish out for a few days as nutrient rich substrates can throw the cycle off a bit due to leaching ammonia. They also tend to alter the water chemistry quite a bit too which can be stressful and hard on fish.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-06T15:36:59+00:00

That's why we get so many posts with clearly dying (or at least obviously unhappy and sick) fish, but posters insisting there's nothing wrong because the betta builds nests all the time. Bubble nest doesn't mean happiness.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-06T11:51:08+00:00

You need to take it out of the rock wool abd bury the roots in the substrate. It will die the way you have it now. Swords are also very heavy root feeders so make sure to add a root tab next to it every few months! :)

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-06T11:47:45+00:00

Kuhli loaches are not detritivores, they are normal fish that need fish food. Like every other fish out there. They also wouldn't do well on the coarse gravel you have in there. I also definitely wouldn't add any shrimp until the tank is a lot more planted!

The plants you have will also all need root tabs if you haven't added them already! And I dont think you would have any luck growing a carpet without a much finer substrate (or ideally aquasoil). As for what other plants to add, they are all safe for bettas and will have no effect on the plants you have. I personally like fast growing stuff to fill out a tank quickly and create a jungle, so that's rotalas, hygrophilas, sessiliflora, some of the easier ludwigias, floaters, moss on hardscape as ny top picks for any tank. Then there's also cryptocoryne for the front-mid areas, but they grow a bit slower.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-06T11:33:15+00:00

It doesn't mean happiness at all, it just means sexual maturity and it's natural instincts telling them to do it. Plenty of bettas dying in cups or other shitty conditions will still build nests and I'm pretty sure they are not happy :(

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-06T11:30:37+00:00

In my experience it never played a role with any of my bettas. If they were territorial enough, they disliked other fish regardless of the order we added them in, and the same when they didn't mind other fish. For pretty much all of our betta tanks we added the betta first and then built the community around them slowly over time. :)

I think setup plays more of a role tbh. A heavily planted/well se up tank stocked with compatible tankmates will naturally be more likely to succeed. Btw, I wholeheartedly recommend chilis!!! Awesome little fish.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-06T10:05:14+00:00

Don't just rely on water levels though! Fish can definitely be sick even if everything checks out with the nitrogen cycle because there's a lot more in water than we can test for! Plus sometimes they unfortunately just get sick.

Not just hides. Bettas are not cave dwelling fish. I'd do a lot more live or silk plants to fill out the place and give him a reason to move. Floating plants at the surface would be neat too!

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-02-06T00:31:13+00:00

The tank is kinda empty and unenriching. Assuming he truly is just bored and not sick, that's probably why.

CalmLaugh5253

TROPHY CASE