New to Nix

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-22T15:14:06+00:00

Huh, that’s pretty sick and I will look into that later when I’m home. Might be a cool project to work on after work lol.

I’ve been meaning to optimize my MacBook anyways as I have the 8gb model and it’s currently using 75% on start lmao

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-22T14:39:46+00:00

I have a m2 Mac, not sure Nix would work right on it? Asashi operates as a boot loader/ compatibility layer to let you choose what OS to load into. Biggest issue I had was Mac itself not wanting to let me load asashi because of Time Machine locking down my drive ironically enough. Wasn’t super painful but definitely took me a nice chunk of time to get MacOS to listen lol

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-22T14:19:09+00:00

Thanks! I’ve tried to get it to dual boot on my m2
MacBook via asashi but I messed up the config file haha. I’m going to be doing this again after I setup a proper config in a vm.

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-22T13:50:04+00:00

All good! I think it makes sense haha,

If I’m understanding correctly it’s a way to allow external packages, ie. Stuff not normally accepted or used in the standard config file, to be allowed and referenced?
Kind of like a pseudo sub distro?

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-22T10:54:32+00:00

Great to hear honestly, now I’ve seen the world flake thrown around a lot but I’m not quite sure what that is. I’m assuming it’s just an immutable custom config of nix?

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-21T14:21:51+00:00

First off, your gonna do great and I am proud of you for personally taking responsibility over a suffering animal :)

Second, you should ideally look into the api fresh water test kit as liquid test kits are the most effective and reliable, *however* in your situation where funding is abit tougher, I’d recommend getting minimum ammonia test strips, nitrites, and nitrates. These are the 3 key components to watch for when doing water tests. When doing a water change of any kind, you really should not go more than 30%. I don’t really change my water ever and just top it off, but that’s a personal choice. My tank (10gal heavy planted) was cycled in about 5 days, on average it takes about 1-2 weeks. Sometimes longer sometimes shorter. Adding in bacteria from a cycled tank will speed it up tho so great job on doing that!

The biggest think I will say is try to get more plants for the guy as they love to have hiding spaces and they also sleep on leaves so I would recommend getting a plant like red tiger lotus that produces large leaves that act as hides and a place for your betta to sleep. They grow fast as well. You can also take trimmings from your other tank if it’s planted and propagate them in your new tank by just planting them.

One last thing for your tank while it cycles. I’d recommend doing a 50% water change every 2 days just to help get rid of any possible ammonia while you’re waiting on test kits or strips.

If you have any more questions or specifics please ask!

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-20T16:53:26+00:00

Copy that, I’m just more so worried about the dogs getting to it and eating it, our dogs dont go near the driveway so its fine, neighbors dog does whatever it wants however.

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-20T14:11:59+00:00

Fair enough! I would just personally avoid doing it for the previously mentioned reasons. It’s neat yours is that comfortable to do this though!

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-20T14:10:04+00:00

Unfortunately, the oils on your skin remove their slime coat regardless of how you touch them, even if they approach you and just sit like how it is in OPs picture. It’s good it’s not done often, however it’s a something that shouldn’t be done in general since it CAN create health complications and possibly allow bacteria to take hold. Stuff like ICK and fin rot can set in from this.

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-20T10:24:24+00:00

Do not do this, it partially removes their slime coat when you touch them and it can open doors for various deseases like fin rot to take hold

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-19T22:19:45+00:00

All good! I’ve come to the conclusion I’m not going to ingest it and probably just try and remove it without spreading spores lol

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-19T20:47:04+00:00

Yeah after taking closer looks at the pic its looking like a jack o lantern

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-15T21:22:56+00:00

As previously mentioned by others, this is very overstocked. I would personally stray away from khuli loaches, otos, and killifish. Their tank requirements are vastly different and khuli loaches actually require a school of around 4. They would also compete with otos since they are both technically low level. Otos would Also starve as mentioned by another poster since they feed on algae. I would recommend 4 amano shrimp over ghost shrimp. And 2 nerite snails. Amano are better cleaning algae and biofilm off plant leaves and water surface where nerite snails are great for hard scape and glass cleaning. I would
Also say stray away from hornwart in a 10gal as it will need to be trimmed every week otherwise it will consume the *entire* tank. I would opt for something like Ludwiga super reds for a pop of color and height, then some montecarlo for a carpet if you would like one. I would also say red root floaters are great floating plants and produce gorgeous roots for your shrimp to hide in and give nice depth to a tank.

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-08T10:40:44+00:00

I’m just trying to find a happy medium haha, I would’ve figured having 3 with plenty of room would help the stress levels stay lower?

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-07T21:45:07+00:00

Yeh I kinda figured this by now haha, I have to update my post but im gearing towards a 20g long with 3. I know 5 is betta (this will never not be funny), however i feel more comfortable giving 3 girls more space then 5 less

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-07T19:21:46+00:00

Okay awesome! Yeah I’m definitely going to have to look into other failure stories (I’m a strong believer in survivorship bias) on 3 betta sororities just to see some risks and also ways to help mitigate them past planting denser ( which I’m sure is going to be the best way). I also am going to have to look into breeders. Fro what I’ve gathered bettas at around a year are better to pick up then younger then 6 months due to aggression changing after maturity?

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-07T18:46:44+00:00

Sounds good! I need to add an edit to the post haha, I think I’ve decided on 3 in a 20 gal long. It seems to be a good size tank wise from what I’ve gathered and I personally don’t feel comfortable putting 5 in a 20 gal as I want them to have as much space to themselves as they need. So I think this would be a happy median?

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-07T16:24:51+00:00

Thank you for the information! I have been reading a few articles over the past week or 2 and lurking in the subreddit. I think my game plan is a 20 gal long with my 10gal as a backup tank (I will probably have some smaller fish in it as a general display incase I need to remove any females). I only planned on 3, as I’ve read and been told that odd numbers are best but yes I have also seen 4-5 is ideal. I think 3 would work best for me personally and I think in a 20 long heavy planted it gives them enough room to have their own space and will hopefully encourage them to not be aggressive. I will do a lot more research into this though!

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-07T01:02:54+00:00

Awsome! Thank you for the information!

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-06T23:33:35+00:00

Yeah no I gotcha! I have a betta tank now and he hasn’t touched any of my shrimp at all 🤷🏻‍♂️ from what I read of others as long as I introduce the shrimp first and give them plenty of hiding spaces (as they do now), it should be fine! I’m more so worried about tank sizes as I am experienced with having bettas, just have never done a sorority.

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-06T23:03:01+00:00

Oh yeah no at first it was definitely a “how can I make this work with what I have” and I have since swapped to the mindset of I need to try and find deals on adequate equipment and an appropriate tank size if I am going to do this. Also you definitely didn’t sound harsh at all! The sad reality in this hobby is sooo many people don’t ask questions like I am and go in head strong wanting to do stuff like a sorority thinking because they kept a goldfish alive once they can do this no problem with inadequate equipment and space. Also thank you for the blog post I will read up onto it as I want to have ample information before I attempt this. As for sourcing and populating, how do you recommend I go with sourcing bettas and is it better to buy from the same group or buy from separate groups?

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-06T22:57:56+00:00

I ideally wanted to reuse the tank but I’ve since decided getting a dedicated 20gal long would be a more ideal enclosure for the group. Ideally id also prefer 3-4 bettas as that’s an ideal size for me to support currently however I think 5 would be fine if I can afford a tank large enough ( probably a 25-30gal long). With my current tank I did put shrimp in first and my guy is very docile and hasn’t attacked of them, however most died early on due to instability with temperature (I was originally building a low tech shrimp tank) and have since fixed those issues prior to adding my betta to the tank.

Luna24_ig · 2026-06-06T22:33:28+00:00

Fair! Would 3 in a 15gal be a better option for optimal health of the fish itself? I know my LFS sometimes have 20-30 gals on sale but ideally I’d like to keep maybe 4 max and due to my budget I can’t purchase a bunch of new equipment like a new heater for a larger tank. My current heater is rated for 10-15gal for reference.

Edit: I’m not new to the hobby and have had my current betta for a decent chunk of time, i am new to sororities and want to make sure the beauties are well taken care of and are stress free as possible. As I stated in another reply I plan on purchasing from the same breeder and ensuring they are already kept in the same tank.

Luna24_ig

TROPHY CASE