26 gallon Betta utopia, need advice

[Prodigal Son]

Hello everyone!

I've been inspired by the mechanical simplicity of my 5gal nano-reef, which runs on nothing but a light and a powerhead, and I'd like to try something similar with my 26 gallon. I was planning on a betta harem (male and a few females) with lots of plants and aquaspacing for them to play in, and no filtration. There is a powerhead hooked to a spray bar with a sponge in the bottom of the tank to keep the water circulated about 10X per hour. There is also a heater and a 130wt pc light that is currently bulbed as a 50/50.

So far there is 2 bags of black florite, the spray bar system, a large Tibetan buddha, a piece of driftwood and a thicket of blood stargrass. There will be a moss wall on the back, though I could use some plant recomendations to fill it out. I wasn't planning on using CO2. Bushy plants like the stargrass are great as they give the bettas lots of places to hunt and hide out. Any thoughts?

A lotus would be very fitting with the theme of the tank, but can they really be kept in the aquarium? There is plenty of light. Any other recommendations for lily pads?

Will there be any problems with too little food for the plants as I fill things in? There will only be 3-4 small fish in this tank. Should I just feed a little extra to make sure there are nutrients in the water?

 

[Connor0729]

that sound good, but if you are worried about nutrients, just add 3 or 4 cory cats. they will prevent unattractive build-up of food on the substrate, and will also help out your plants.

 

[guppy]

Most lotus, even dwarf varieties are to large for a 26g, you might want to look into Frog Bits instead.

 

[Prodigal Son]

Thanks for the feedback! A few corys is a good idea. I need to find some MTS also, since I'm going to be counting on the substrate to house my biobed. Maybe a small vegitarian to keep the plants in check too. Sort of like keeping a goat in you yard. Any species come to mind that might work?

I'll look into Frog Bits, too. I don't want to have a glass top, so I want the lilies to provide shade and keep evaporation in check. I may add duckweed too, since it will make a complete cover and hide the betta's bubble nests from view. I bet they would like the top few inches of the tank being a rootball too.

 

[WyldFya]

There are a few problems with the way you have it setup. The biggest problem for you will be the lighting. First, the 50/50 lighting will not be productive to FW aquatic plant growth. Switch to 5000K-10,000K lighting to help the plants grow. 6500, 6700K are the optimum range for aquatic life. Next, with that much light, having duckweed will cut nearly all light to the lower plants. There isn't a need for that much light with the plants you listed, and plan to have so far. If you decide to maintain that lighting level, then you will need to inject co2, in order to prevent alga from overtaking the tank. It is doable, but it isn't easy.

 

[arowana man]

Hello everyone!

I've been inspired by the mechanical simplicity of my 5gal nano-reef, which runs on nothing but a light and a powerhead, and I'd like to try something similar with my 26 gallon. I was planning on a betta harem (male and a few females) with lots of plants and aquaspacing for them to play in, and no filtration. There is a powerhead hooked to a spray bar with a sponge in the bottom of the tank to keep the water circulated about 10X per hour. There is also a heater and a 130wt pc light that is currently bulbed as a 50/50.

So far there is 2 bags of black florite, the spray bar system, a large Tibetan buddha, a piece of driftwood and a thicket of blood stargrass. There will be a moss wall on the back, though I could use some plant recomendations to fill it out. I wasn't planning on using CO2. Bushy plants like the stargrass are great as they give the bettas lots of places to hunt and hide out. Any thoughts?

A lotus would be very fitting with the theme of the tank, but can they really be kept in the aquarium? There is plenty of light. Any other recommendations for lily pads?

Will there be any problems with too little food for the plants as I fill things in? There will only be 3-4 small fish in this tank. Should I just feed a little extra to make sure there are nutrients in the water?

try a tiawon lilly if you can find one.

 

[Prodigal Son]

There are a few problems with the way you have it setup. The biggest problem for you will be the lighting. First, the 50/50 lighting will not be productive to FW aquatic plant growth. Switch to 5000K-10,000K lighting to help the plants grow. 6500, 6700K are the optimum range for aquatic life. Next, with that much light, having duckweed will cut nearly all light to the lower plants. There isn't a need for that much light with the plants you listed, and plan to have so far. If you decide to maintain that lighting level, then you will need to inject co2, in order to prevent alga from overtaking the tank. It is doable, but it isn't easy.

The fixture is a 2x65wt, one true actinic and one 10,000K bulb. So far I've been alternating them rather than using them both. i.e. using the actinic for "dawn/dusk" (2 hours each) and an 8 hour "day." I haven't been using both at the same time. I know my day lamp isn't ideal, but is the difference enough to chuck a perfectly good bulb over?

I know the duckweed will shade the lower plantlife, but will this be an issue with stargrass and moss? Maybe a few anubias? I think the duckweed would look really nice as a solid green top since right now it is open top near a walkway.

 

[WyldFya]

If those are all the plant you intend to keep, do not use that fixture. The algae growth will be tremendous. As far as the actinic bulb goes... yes, chuck it. Every single dual fixture I had actinic bulbs, I replaced them all... all 6 of them.

 

[Prodigal Son]

I'm afraid I'm a bit confused. Why chuck the actinic when the fixture is already fairly overpowered? The actinic is on for two hours in the morning and evening, then off for the day cycle. I don't imagine it's doing all that much for the plants, but it contrasts nicely with the other tanks in the room when it's running. My reasons for liking it are purely aesthetic, it can be removed if needed. This fixture is from the tank's previous life.

 

[WyldFya]

The whole fixture isn't needed for the plants you plan to have. If you keep it you will constantly be battling algae of many types. Made even worse by the lack of co2. Actinic will not do much, but algae will grow under it, so you will be giving the algae a head start to grow on your plants.