the ten

I've been preoccupied with some new occupants. And some rearranging. And future plans. I've been wanting for a long time to get a 10 gallon tank for my betta Flash to live in, and I finally did it.

Observing the aquarium plants more I realize that the Java Fern and Anubias can do fine in lower light, in fact they grow so slowly that the faster growing algae coats them alarmingly. So I have moved all those plants into the new 10gal, am not planning to put a direct light source on there. I think (from how well the Java Moss does on its own) that these two kinds of plants will do fine in here without the extra equipment. No added nutrients either; just fish waste. I plan to add a nerite or ramshorn snail to help control the algae, but for now it's just got the two smallest Cherry Barb which I moved over.

Minimal setup. Besides the plants, with all the driftwood they're tied to, it's got running the small sponge filter which has sat collecting bacteria in the bigger tank for months now, and a heater too. I figure all those items would bring over enough beneficial bacteria that the tank is pretty much instantly cycled, and so far that seems to be the case. I've been checking every day and so far there is no ammonia or nitrite spike. The Barbs are a little shy, but look just fine.

It's a bare-bottom tank. I just want to try that out. My plan is for this tank to just house one betta and a snail or two, so there won't be a huge bio-load. And almost to my surprise I find that I like the way it looks, very elegant somehow. There is another, aesthetic reason I moved those certain plants over. I find that I prefer looking down on the Anubias then straight at them from the side. They're prettier that way!