10.7W per gallon! No CO2 injection? There is an algae bloom in your near future.
Have you thought about running it as a low light tank? CO2 might be too much effort for a 15g tank.
Not if the water lettuce has anything to say about it, I’ve had high light tanks before (4 WPG) with just water lettuce, and no algae problems
If I can find some Marimo Moss Balls, even better, as MMB’s are in fact algae, just a non invasive version
Latest update;
Decided to fire up my Fluval 204 canister filter, mainly for water movement and biological filtration, filter setup is AquaClear 70 sponge over intake snorkel as primary prefilter, fluval sponges in the initial intake zone inside the filter, then prefilter ceramic rings filter floss to polish the water and bio max rings for biological filtration
Water lettuce; taking over the tank, will have to throw some out this weekend
Other plants; added a Marimo moss ball, some fast growing stem plants, hair grass, dwarf chain and micro swords
New animal occupants;
2 golden Apple snails ( one already laid a clutch of eggs…)
3 corydoras Juli
1 emerald Cory
2 bronze cories (mislabeled as emerald cories)
And the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels are still ZERO, thanks to the water lettuce
Take a tour of the tank here
Now that the fish have had time to settle in, their true personalities are starting to show;
Betta Ray Bill; the classic “Bettatude” he owns everything in the tank, all other occupants are toys for his amusement**, anything put in the tank (like food, even food he shouldn’t like, like algae wafers), becomes his property
The Apple Snail Duo; not much personality there, they’re snails, the slightest motion in the tank terrifies them and gets them to either freeze in place, or close up
The Cory Juli duo; when they’re not eating, they’re surfing the outflow current from my Fluval 204 canister filter
The Green Cory; hangs out with the Bronzes, thinks he’s a bronze Cory
The Bronze Cories; while they may not be the most colorful or visually striking fish in the tank, I love these two, they have so much personality, and are constantly in motion, either scouring the substrate for food, surfing the current with the Julis, or even harassing Betta Ray Bill… Yes, you heard right, they have enough attitude to take on The Lord of the Tank, most of the time they end up coming up to Bill while he’s eating a sinking shrimp pellet, shoving him out of the way, and stealing the pellet!
They don’t take any crap from Bill, in fact, Bill seems to tread (fin?) lightly around them, if one is in his way as he’s weaving through the water lettuce roots, he won’t just flare and nip at them, no, he’ll flare, but then slowly open his mouth, and carefully, and timidly push them out of his way, giving them a timid, fishy shove…
He doesn’t do it to the Julis, the snails, or the Amano shrimp, he’ll flare and nip at them to get them to move, but not the Bronze Cories, he fins lightly around them
How’s the water lettuce doing? I just impulse bought a betta (I’ve had them before, never fear. Tank’s about 2 gallons, betta safe gravel, etc.) but the store had only plastic plants. So I’m off to find some plants for the little dude, and I like the sound of the water lettuce, if I can find a bunch that’s small enough for my mini-tank.
Well, I just pulled the two biggest plants and took them to a smaller shop, traded them for a tin of Betta flakes
I had to pull the big ones as they were taking over the tank, less than 24 hours later, their offspring/plantlets have doubled their root length, all roots have fine hairs and are hanging on the gravel/sand
I started with six plants on 4/17, and as of today 4/29, I have over 55! (Actually I lost count around 55) all offspring of the original six…
Under ideal circumstances (like in my tank), you can actually see up to three generations of WL on the same plant, you have the original plant, which will branch off 3-5 baby plants, and once the baby plants leaves reach about the size of a quarter, THEY start producing baby plants of their own, while still attached to the mother plant
They’re also a great indicator of water quality, the longer and hairier the roots are, the cleaner the water is, because the plants are hunting for nutrients, the shortest roots on my grown plants are easily 5-6", most are closer to 12" and are resting against the sand/gravel
Thanks! Uncle Sam* says thanks, too.
*He’s got a blue body with red fins with white tips. Very patriotic, and He Wants You (to bring more betta bites.)
He sounds like a great betta 
My nephew, logan, started an aquarium a week ago, his betta is a jaw droppingly stunning half moon, overall body color is black, with a “indiglo” blue iridescent wash, and iridescent blue rays on the fins, white tips on the ventrals
He’s a major bully too, terrorizing the Cory triplets in the tank, he’s the meanest betta I’ve seen yet…
I also started Logan’s tank off with one of the big water lettuces the day he set it up, that SINGLE plant has now developed FOURTEEN baby plants in about 10 days
If you want to keep WL in aquaria, the biggest requirement is light, LOTS of light, minimum of 3 watts per gallon, my 20L has 10.5 WPG, Logan’s tank has 5.5 WPG (55 watt CF aquarium fluorescent), and Logan’s been wanting to set up my spare Hagen CO2 injection ladder system as well
I’m planning on upgrading my Hagen 20L mini pressurized CO2 injection system to use a paintball tank, and pipe the CO2 directly into my Fluval 204
Nice tank, Mactech.
What a great thread, and I loved your video, MacTech.
My first Betta was a Christmas gift-one of those god-awful fish and plant in a vase set-ups. I was intrigued by this lovely little fish and after I’d done some Googling on Christmas Day, was at the pet store early on the 26th to purchase a PROPER environment for him. Unfortunately he’d lost his color, no doubt to all the crap in that vase, but in his new home he was pretty happy and blew some amazing bubble nests.
The last betta was several years ago, but he was such a character! Junior would watch TV with us in the evenings-when we were on the couch he’d float at the end of his tank facing the TV. He liked to be petted-he’d swim to the top of his tank and let me gently stroke him with a finger for a minute or so.
He even went visiting. My boyfriend’s Mom lived a few hours away and was in poor health, so we’d go stay with her when we could. This was in the Chicago area, and during winter we were afraid of losing power and Junior freezing. So he had a small “travel tank” and he’d come along. It didn’t faze him a bit! He didn’t miss a meal and blew bubble nests even in his small tank. My BF’s mom really enjoyed her “grandfish”. 
It was so sad when he died. I miss that little guy.
A couple more videos…
part one of a squabble over an algae wafer
part two
The Golden Apple snail has latched on to an algae wafer and is holding it in her foot, but the Cories and Betta Ray Bill want it as well
He’s GORGEOUS. Aggressive as hell, but beautiful.
Heh, I didn’t see him when I came home tonight, all the others were present and fighting over the algae wafers, then I noticed some movement from the second apple snail egg cluster, it was hatching…
At that moment, I saw Bill, directly under it, gorging himself on the baby snails as they dropped into the water!
Bill, you greedy little fish…
There’s no way he can eat them all, I estimate at least 30 of the potentially 200 snails in this cluster got away, plus, the parents just laid egg cluster 3 this evening, biggest cluster of the three, at least 200 snails in it too
Hmm…I wonder if apple snails are safe for human consumption…
Another update…
Generation One of the Apple snails are about 1/8 to 1/4" in diameter, with a bright yellow shell and pale yellow-white foot, miniature versions of the adult breeding pair
The Cory crew are still endearingly amusing as they trundle about scouring the gravel for food, or go “surfing” in the current from the canister filter output hose
The Clown Pleco is still a lovable old grumpyfish, constantly shooing the Cories and Betta Ray Bill “off his lawn” ( a “cave” he’s claimed as his)
Bill still lords over the tank
But I think the funniest thing is when I feed them their evening meal, the Amano shrimp are always the first to grab the food and scurry off with their prize…
A Shrimp Pellet. (No, not made for shrimp, at least not directly, no, it’s made OF shrimp!)
Amusing little cannibals, they are, protecting that pellet of tasty goodness with a Gollum-like obsession…
“My Precious, we wills protect you fom the nasty fishieses!”…
“Solent Orange is made from SHRIMP!?!?”
Yay for the fishies! (And greedy shrimp.)
Uncle Sam got a name change early on; my daughter absolutely refused to agree to it. So he’s now Mr. Washington (first name George). He was a little freaked out until I got him a nice couple of plants and a fake plant for fluff, and a teeny tiny castle to lord over. So cheesy, I know. But he loves to play “Where Do I Fit?”, and the castle gives him a whole hole to swim in and out of! Once he had some hiding spaces, his white tipped fins turned fully red; I guess the white tips was a stress reaction, or maybe a maturity thing (I’m assuming the pet store fed them color enhancing bits, same as I use.)
Our cats, our stupid stupid cats who have more than once been found to be scared of minnows, have decided that Mr. Washington is the most fascinating thing they’ve ever seen. :smack: They haven’t tried to catch him, but they loooooove to stick their snouts in the top of his tank and drink the fishy flavored Kool-Aid. We’ve been through increasing levels of ugly modifications to the top of the tank, and the cats have unlocked each one. Now we’re reduced to duct tape on two opposing edges. They can still sip through the center hole, but he doesn’t seem to mind much as long as he has a plant in the corner to get away from them in.
Red Cherry Shrimp are not slow to devour a deceased tankmate.
“Hey, Fred, are you okay? Fred? Fred!
Harry! Fred is dead! Bring the grill!”
Earlier today I spotted a betta at Petco that I just fell in love with. I already have one, so in order to safely have them in the same tank, I built a divider to keep them apart but that allows for water circulation. The tank is ten gallons, so even though my original one had to downsize, they’re both still comfy. Neither of them have names
I had a beautiful beta once… Then one day the tank was empty. No sign of him. He was alone, so it wasn’t that. I took everything out and nothing. I can only imagine that he jumped out of the bowl and one of the dogs ate him?
I’d love to have another but the tank I have has 2 large goldfish and 2 mollies. I don’t think they would be ok?
You shouldn’t keep goldfish with tropicals. Goldfish are very messy, and they become quite large.
One of the small preformed outside pools would be cool. You could also have a lotus or water lily. 