File :-(, x, )
The Shermanator
Hey, /An/. First time poster so please don't kill me just yet.

I've had a store-bought Betta (by the name of Mr. Betta) for roughly a year now and he's doing surprisingly well in a one-gallon acrylic tank with an airstone, some gravel, and a plastic plant. It's a good start for a Betta environment I hear, but there are a few things I want to change.

The top of the list is the plastic plant. I don't like it. It serves no function that's beneficial to the fish. To rectify this, I went down to my local Petsmart and asked for a hardy plant that can thrive in low-light conditions since my Aquarium is in a location where it gets very little natural light, and this sadly cannot be changed.

I was told that Egeria Densa makes a good beginner plant that requires no light and will flourish while providing many benefits to the contained environment. I bought a clump of it and some Plant Grow formula.

The fish has fallen in love with the plant(s) and was nipping at it and swishing in and around it. He has grown more colorful and was overall more active. Two weeks have passed, and the plant is dying and is already decaying. I removed it from the aquarium. I did a little research and fond out that the plant actually wants light according to Wikipedia.

Before I go back to Petsmart for a new plant, I would like to hear a few suggestions for a hardy plant that can survive low light conditions. I hate seeing my Betta without a plant to play around with, but I also want to make sure it's not going to die and decay within two weeks like this one did.
>> Anonymous
Those tanks at Petsmart should have tags on them that say what kind of lighting the plant requires. I always recommended Java Fern for betta setups. They're pretty cool, but don't bury them in your gravel. Weigh them down with something, or rubber band them to a large stone. Their roots will grow over and around it. They reproduce by making a bunch of tiny ferns on the underside of the leaves, which will eventually break off and become individual plants.
>> Anonymous
What kind of artificial lighting are you using?
>> The Shermanator
>>199936
Noted, thank you.

>>199937
I can find no data on the light, but it's built in to the hood of the aquarium. I was told that artificial light does not help plants and it was a better idea to just keep it off.

I should note that this is my first aquarium past a simple fish bowl with gravel and a Goldfish.
>> Anonymous
Why not spend some bucks for a small and cheap tank with a lamp?
A filter isn't bad either.
What do you do about clean water?
Also /k/.
>> The Shermanator
     File :-(, x)
This is a small cheap tank with a lamp.

I have the 1-gallon tank pictured. Light bulb is behind a clear plastic barrier under that hood.

The bottom of my tank is lined with river rocks. When I had the plastic plant, I performed a full water change weekly. With real plants, I have been doing a weekly half-tank water change with bottled drinking water and throwing in a Bowl-buddies Betta fizz tab.
>> Anonymous
Please be aware that when you use petsmart or pets at home to buy fish of plants you are taking quite a risk.

Unfortunatly most of the staff in those shops there don't know an aurful lot about fish and plants and also leave dead fish in the tank, they frequently sell fish or have fish for sale that have obvious fungal infections and water from one tank useully flows through all the others on the same shelf.

When I've told staf at my local one that the black moors had white spot on them and should have anti-fungal treatment and not be sold until it was cleared up I even had to explain to a group of their staff what whitespot was because they genuinely hadn't even heard of it or know how to treet it dispite the treetments being for sale in their shop.
>> le/x/bian
>>199974
depends what kind of a store you're going to and the people that work there. I work at a petsmart and everyone I work with takes the job very seriously, to the extent that if the store won't cover the costs of animal treatment we'll pay for it out of our own pockets. I also know petsmarts where the people don't know shit and don't care, so it all depends on the people working.
>> Anonymous
>>199991

Well thank goodness some stores are responcible.

In the 3 stores I've visited the mammal care has been fine but the fish care was always bad. You get that in some non chain petstores too but in a big chain where there are usualy a lot more tanks they should really make all staf have basic animal care training for all sorts the animals they are expected to sell and a test at the end of it or no job, infact sod just doing that for chain stores all petshop staff should have to pass it.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
What is the temperature in the tank? If you dont know then whatis the temperature in the room? Does it stay stable?
What kind of light is in the tank? What kind of lightbulb?
Yeah, that plant you had does require medium light. Anubias species, as well as java fern and java moss gan withstand very low light conditions, vallisneria and cryptocoryne species need litle bit more light.
The fish would not eat java ferb or anubias plants - the leefs are way to strong, keep that in mind.
You might want to check out http://www.tropica.com/default.asp - they have a nice plants catalog in there. Hit "advanced search", choose "low light" requirements and easy in difficulty column and there you go.
>> Anonymous
>>199974
You see like noted above it really depends on the PetsMart you go to. I'm the lead Pet Care Specialist, I do my damned to make sure anything that is living to its fullest. Meaning I don't send a Black Moor home in a 1 gallon fish bowl, or it doesn't go home till the appropriate tank is minimally established.
It really depends on the store you goto, some associates really don't give a shit, where as others do. Everyone on my staff knows, what they are doing, and what each animal needs are.
If they don't they get fired.
We have very strict policies that make sure we take care of every animals needs.

It's not best to go bash a place of business till you go and see how it actually works. Yes, there are some that have horrible pet care, and under knowledge staff. But, over all most petsmarts Pet Care Staff(The ones that actually take care of the animals not the stockers or cashiers) know what they are doing.
You'd be surprised what some Corporate chain pet store associates actually know.
And with systems as big as some of them are, its hard to keep tanks looking nice, and free of dead fish 24/7 without a full staff.
>> Anonymous
>>200016
There actually is training, five 100 page books of training, then some hands on training. Then a test you have to get %80+ and cannot fail 3 times...
>> Anonymous
Anubias would grow in a sewer. Duckweed grows even when you actively try to kill it.

Be careful with using fertilizer. I don't use any in my tank (and it all grows obscenely fast due to high light anyway) because most of the time, it'll cause algae growth unless you very carefully monitor everything. I don't like monitoring iron levels, and I doubt you do either.

In order to get really nice, green plant growth, you'll need either a fluorescent or halogen light. Incandescent (like I assume your tank came with) just won't work. You'll need to research how much wattage, kelvin blah blah your tank needs (I skipped that step and just got what people on a planted tank forum told me to).

But if all you want is just a single plant to keep your fish happy, anubias should be fine. Hornwort tends to be hardy as well.
>> Anonymous
>>200147

Store bitch in 0050. What store you in?
>> Anonymous
>>200157
1007
or
LOOT
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
>>200160
>>200157

Maybe one of you PetsMart fags can tell me why they put a State Line and Tackle or whatever the fuck that horse shit is in a store that is in an urban area, surrounded by swamps? We don't have horses. Also, why is Banfield so shitty? Is it normal to hire people with Downs to take care of the birds/rats/etc, or is the one at my store an anomaly?
>> le/x/bian
>>200178
We don't decide corporate's retarded decisions. We SHOULD have an equine area in our store, being a fairly new store in the midwest with plenty of horse farms around in our urban area. But god knows why they decided not to give us one.

Also, why the fuck does Banfield suck so much? I couldn't tell you, ours is shit too. I never recommend people to it even though I'm technically supposed to, being the pet trainer and all.
>> Anonymous
>>200184
They took State Line out of ours, even though it was an area with lots of horses.

Our Banfield is alright, but not that good. Especially with 20+ dead cats that are always in the freezer.
>> Anonymous
>>200178

Store 50 here... Yeah, same as the others, I don't fucking know. Our store is in the top 20 across the nation, and we're super-high-volume of stock going in and out of the store, 24-7 ... But we're a tiny store. Just right in the middle of the best area.

You'd think they'd add on to our store to put SLT in, but no. All the stores nearby used to have STL, but I believe they were removed... I don't know why.

Banfield does suck. Even if you got suckered into going there right when you first get your pet, wtf you going to do if, say, your cat develops a disease? Banfield is "preventative care only", surgeries only covering minor sutures, and spay/neuter services. Suddenly you'll have to pay just as much to go to a different fucking vet with competent specialists.