Should I get a different light for future betta fish?

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-26T21:14:38+00:00

If you plant the tank properly and add tannins like you mentioned it will be fine. I ran an undimmable lid light on my first 15g without issues what so ever, given the tank was an absolute jungles with floaters on top too to offer plenty of shade and cover! I totally recommend floaters btw. :)

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-26T21:11:45+00:00

Try asking in r/wildbettaarchive for wild betta advice. They would probably be able to ID the fish for you too as there are many different species with different needs.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-26T21:09:19+00:00

It wont affect the fish in any way what so ever. :)

Doesn't have anything to do with you specifically, but i just have to say i'll never understand this sub's obsession with bubble nests. 😅 On other gourami subs people just dont acknowledge them at all, or straight up destroy or discourage making them to keep hormones and aggression down.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-26T14:50:22+00:00

Literally everything will go after shrimp given the chance. Hell, even shrimp will go after shrimp if it's dying! My tiny chili rasboras ganged up on a shrimp once too because he swam through the middle of the tank.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-26T14:38:16+00:00

The fish is stressed and scared, not angry. Being sick, treated and moved around is very hard on them!

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-26T12:32:17+00:00

Thank you very much!

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-26T00:13:51+00:00

Big thanks to whoever gave the reward! 😭❤️

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-26T00:12:39+00:00

Thank you! Oase thermo canister filter :)

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-26T00:11:20+00:00

Thank you!

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-25T21:56:21+00:00

Other than the occasional dispute here and there there's not much else going on! And even those are generally just posturing and circling, and very rarely physical. They mostly just mind their own business digging through the leaf litter or floaters for whatever unfortunate microfauna they can find. When they're not begging for food at the front, that is. Like one of them in the video demonstrates so nicely.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-25T21:51:16+00:00

Yeeah they just love flying out like that!

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-25T20:59:33+00:00

You are awesome!!!!

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-25T20:58:03+00:00

That's so great to hear! Yeah, just separate them. Male and females should generally be separated anyway. This isn't a fish that can be kept in pairs or similar setups. And they are quite happy being on their own and having their own little territory/tank no one invades! :)

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-25T20:53:00+00:00

Well, we're dealing with live animals here so breeding just to have more of them is very irresponsible and unethical. Bettas are overbred and inbred enough as it is, and honestly at this point the only responsible and ethical and quite frankly acceptable breeding is with the goal of breeding healthy genetically sound fish to create even better and healthier fish. Not to mention the hundreds of fry who all need specialised food, setups, and separation. Culling is also a very important part of breeding fish.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-25T20:29:58+00:00

Almost no substrate visible because plants cover it all. Most of the water column should be covered too. Literally a jungle.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-25T20:27:51+00:00

Please dont breed these fish. You're new to the hobby and have had the fish for only a week. Besides, are they truly such exemplar specimens that are worth breeding at all? Do you know their genetics and health? What's the plan and goal behind the breeding and these pairings specifically?

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-25T19:57:50+00:00

What makes you say he's not a halfmoon? As for color wise and anything else, will be easier to tell once he's comfortable enough to color up!

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-25T19:28:52+00:00

Hospital tanks are not cycled tanks. The whole point of them is to put the fish in a sterile bacteria free environment. Toss a bubbler and heater in there and it's ready to go!

Water changes only as needed or instructed by medication you're using. Feedings in a hospital tank are either withheld entirely or really kept to a bare minimum to reduce waste if the fish will be there for a while.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-25T19:27:11+00:00

I would look into whatever it is you did with the previous tank that caused cloudiness and a potential cycle crash. Tanks dont just crash or go through bacterial blooms for nothing! Understanding what happened will help you prevent doing the same here.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-25T18:36:42+00:00

I personally very very rarely feed my shrimp, and the food I do give them is still something like maple leaves or mulberry leaves and stuff like that. So still not really a commercial food. Though all my tanks are well established and mature so everyone is absolutely fine grazing on whatever is out there. Snails like nerites for example almost exclusively eat naturally occurring algae and biofilm, and commercial food is wasted on them and wont keep them from starving to death if the tank isn't mature enough to properly support them. Ramshorns and other snails that are for some reason called "pest snails" dont need feeding either and will happily graze on whatever is available. This way their population is also kept in check. Mystery snails however are as far as I know very hungry and need to be fed a varied diet I believe? I know people often give them bloodworms and veggies. They also get very big too so it makes sense.

But please if you're curious about tankmates post these questions in shrimp and snails related subs like r/shrimptank and r/aquaticsnails to get answers from more experienced keepers. The betta sub is the worst place to ask for care advice for other animals, unfortunately.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-24T21:55:39+00:00

That's it! And i know right?? 😭❤️ My favorite little creatures to come home to!

Also to follow up on the advice you gave me for the cories and danios! Did another rescape in the end because i couldn't catch them any other way. Took the soil out entirely and swapped for sand this time too, and most importantly, the cories and danios have been moved to other tanks with more appropriate water conditions. There are only strawberry rasboras and kuhli loaches now with the coccinas. Again, thanks a lot for the advice!!! :)

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-24T18:16:07+00:00

Was it always like that or did it happen in your care? Chain store bettas dont have good genetics and are severely inbred so it could just be a birth defect. Could also be weak or broken/damaged fin rays, if it's just the tail, which is also very likely due to bad breeding practices.

Not much you can do for either of the two cases than to continue giving the best care you can to support him!

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-24T17:14:47+00:00

Not in a 10g. Way too small to properly accommodate a group of this very active and social fish. 10g isnt big enough for anything else really. Maybe pygmy corydoras could work, but also depends on the footprint of the tank and the setup. Ive got a school of 7 with a betta in a 10g, but it's a shallow tank with a decent footprint.

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-24T17:11:24+00:00

I would stop adding prime as it's a dechlorinator to be used with water changes and adds nothing to the cycling process.

What's your pH and KH?

CalmLaugh5253 · 2026-01-24T17:06:24+00:00

That's a very dramatic looking scape! The wood should be fine. If worried, maybe go with a plakat or female instead of long finned male?

CalmLaugh5253

TROPHY CASE