I got roasted SO HARD on a different sub for my tank. I went from a one gallon to a five gallon and dropped over $100. We are recent college graduates and are literally getting married in 5 days. We used amazon gift cards from our wedding shower to be able to afford this upgrade. People were so mad about the colored gravel and fake plants. I want to do better for my fish. I don’t love the gravel or fake plants, but everything I got decor wise was free. I have live plants in my Amazon cart and want to get them as soon as I can afford them. Is it really so bad for now? I was proud of the upgrade and now idk what to think.
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1g3gci9
Posted by leakpolk
8 Comments
We weren’t mad at you. I think you did a good job, I was just saying some cheap colored gravel is poorly painted and flakes off putting harmful chemicals into the water potentially stressing fish. But this is not always true. If my research is wrong, somebody correct me, this is from my own experience and what I’ve read online from various sources.
This tank is good for the betta and I’m sure they are much happier now, when you can, live plants would be a wonderful addition. My personal preference is replicating their natural habitat, however you may not want to, and that’s alright!
good that you got a bigger tank. i’m a big hater on artificial tanks, the fish will be 100x happier in a natural tank that resembles its natural environment. Once you have the money definitely get as many live plants as you can. Did you cycle the new tank? That’s the most important thing. If the tank is cycled, the fish will be fine for now, if not it will get sick and can die
Don’t stress! The gravel is just personal preference IMO. The issue with plastic plants is the can be sharp and snag betta’s fins. Live plants can be tricky though, depending on the plant, because then you have to worry about lighting and nutrients for the plants too.
Enjoy your wedding, your fish will be fine. If you notice your fish getting rips in its fins I would start swapping out plants for either live or soft/silk ones. It doesn’t have to be all at once.
Floaters like frogbit or red root floaters are easy to grow, help water quality, and bettas love them.
Honestly no it’s not that horrible, just be careful with the fake plants sometimes they can cut your fish, and I would recommend looking on Etsy for Live plants they’re cheaper, and I would definitely get some floating plants
Everyone’s mad on this sub. You could post a 1000 gallon tank and do everything right and people would STILL ask “are you sure that’s at least 5 gal bro?”. If people were as nice to others as they claim they are to fish this place would be a much more welcoming and fun place. I say your tank looks great and it’s a much better improvement than what he started with, don’t sweat it.
Your tank isn’t harming your fish and it was a great idea to upgrade its space. So in my eyes you’re doing a great thing. Just don’t listen to the haters. They will forget they were once a beginner too.
I think it is wonderful you are trying to make a better place for your fish and upgrade its tank. So many people think Bettas just need a small space and if it’s a little bigger than the cups in the pet store, then they have really done something. You went beyond that and want to make improvements for your fish. Sometimes people don’t know how to educate and just want to criticize instead of teach and explain. The previous posters explained about the plants and the possibility of the gravel leeching chemicals and in a positive way. Just keep an eye on the fins for tears and if it isn’t an issue then good. I think it’s great you are trying to improve your fish’s quality of life! Don’t let all the keyboard warriors get you down!!!
It’s not bad, it’s just there’s a lot of info out there that would have specified not to use the neon colored substrates and the pointy fake plants. I’m glad you spent the last of your change, but I personally don’t cheap out on living creatures.
I could potentially survive on Mars, but I wouldn’t thrive there.
You definitely show you care, but the research could be boosted a bit.