Setting up a fish tank.

HermitCrabby_LHC · Post by **HermitCrabby_LHC** » Sat Jun 29, 2013 4:19 pm

With any live plants and other things in the tank you have to remember that bettas are actually tropical fish and perfer waters in the 72-79 range. And I didnt read the whole convo but wouldn'tthe betta try to eat the shrimp. One more thing, put a mirrow on the back. I dare you. Lol. Dont. your yourbetta must be super happy. Mine is in a little fish bowl. Might get a new tank though.

dylan644 · Post by **dylan644** » Sun Jun 30, 2013 4:44 am

Bettas actually need water that is more so from 78-82. Below 75 is too cold for them. He may or may not try to attack the shrimp. It depends on his temperment.

cricket · Post by **cricket** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:22 am

Hi Guys! Has anybody kept nerite snails in their planted tanks? We got some into the store today and they are really NEAT!I bought a yellowish brown with black stripes and the other one has reddish/brown stripes with solid black "baseball stitching" on the shell. Even the snail itself is pretty, black and brown striped. They were only $1.98 each on sale!What I have learned is that they are not suppose to eat plants ONLY algae,cannot reproduce in fresh water but some will still lay infertile eggs. And they can live for about 1 or 2 years. Hopefully this info is true and they keep their little chompers off my java fern! p.s. Crabs are on sale also!

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:40 am

@Cricket, I've kept snails in the past one was a Golden Mystery snail and the other was a common Nerite neither species of snail will live long unfortunately as their dietary needs are more aggressive than the pet store will tell you as they can't just live off of the algae growing in your tank alone they need to have their diet supplemented with algae wafers, fresh lettuce and in the case of the mystery snail food meant for bottom feeding fish like shrimp pellets and such.Even with a varied and stable diet neither one of my snails made it past the year and half mark growing to about the size of a golf ball then promptly dieing.When a snail dies it will cloud up the water depending on the size of the snail and the size of the aquarium and in certain circumstances can even kill your filtration like what happened to me.Your filter unit can't actually filter particles of shell and the turbine will eventually lock up and burn the motor out which I found out the hard way.lol

LisaM · Post by **LisaM** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:00 pm

I had two nerites that lived quite happily in a heavily planted tank for over 3 years. They never showed any signs of being interested in live plant matter, but I would sometimes see them munching on dead leaves or the zucchini I put in the tank for my gold nugget pleco. I must warn you though that if they are happy, they will lay MANY eggs - tiny single white dots all over the aquarium! They take several weeks to go away, and by then there are plenty more. You get used to it after awhile & it's a fair trade for the algae control & their cool looks, but get ready to answer the question "what are all those little white dots in there?" over & over again! Lol

Mikau132 · Post by **Mikau132** » Fri Jul 05, 2013 5:03 am

One thing that I've found with bettas is that they don't really like strong currents, so if anything, I wouldn't get a powerhead for your filter.

dylan644 · Post by **dylan644** » Fri Jul 05, 2013 5:10 am

I'll have to buffer it. Strong currents tend to push them away. I know. If Comet gets to close to it he gets pushed away.

dylan644 · Post by **dylan644** » Fri Jul 05, 2013 5:14 am

I do have a slight update on things, and it isn't too good. I think I'm going to have to completely put a hold on this. I was looking at moms tires the other day on her car and the inner threads of the tire are showing! Basically it's worn down to the inside of the tire! She has no tread on the inner part of the tire because of uneven wear because of the tires being balanced wrong. [The dealership didn't balance them right] She doesn't have $1,200 to up and spend right now hence why they weren't replaced when they actually needed to be. I think I'm going to try and alleviate some of the cost. I don't have it myself, but I may give her $200 and try and get my brother to give her the same so we can try to cut down the cost. We are still suppose to go on that trip so the tires have to be replaced by then... I feel like I'm in a crunch now.... :/

HermitCrabby_LHC · Post by **HermitCrabby_LHC** » Fri Jul 05, 2013 5:32 am

If your betta is happy then put it on hold. I dont know about you but a vacay and new tires are better than a five dollar fish. And I have a betta myself. And Im pretty sure your betta is happy.I hope the part about a five dollar fish and stuff wont offend you. But I would give up my Betta for family. No offense