Water Parameters have remained the same... no new rise of NO2 so far... Or my tests are really wrong and broken, but the shrimp seemed rather fine...

Their colours come out really great... Another one molted... Spooky scary shrimp skeleton...

And I have to admit, I did a rash and maybe careless thing yesterday...

I couldn’t withstand the temptation when I arrived at the main station yesterday...

So I bought two otocinclus vittatus (doesn’t have the little triangle in the eye so not otocinclus affinis) ... because fuck it...

They are adorable...

I heard they are very sensitive... and they were kind of going crazy and then into hiding for a bit when I set them in... but they have calmed down now... hanging on plants and the glass...

I’ve also put an old brown oak leaf in the tank for now since it’s good for the water quality and the shrimp have already started showing interest in it...

And a tiny piece of red bell pepper... for colour reasons...

Anyway... I’ll see how the oto’s will fare... probably will get a third one... I had actually thought about getting some hara jerdoni... but the otos are algae eater while the hara is a carnivore (looks cooler though) So I’m not sure yet...

If the otos survive well, I’ll keep them, get a third and then have no food competition for the african dwarf frogs I’d like to put in too... until the betta comes in but that is still some way to go...

However I will need an aquatic (swimming) plant for the ADFs...

*wibbles impatiently and excited*

Hi there ^^

Yeah I figured already and ordered liquid NO2 and NH3+NH4 tests earlier (since these seem the most important), they only arrived 2hours ago (postal clerk ringing me out of bed )I’m currently running them and will of course post that later ^^

So yesterday was my bday and thanks to Ashee, Operation “getta betta” is now Go! (that’s a working title... “I want to hype myself up entirely about buying an aquarium and meticulously preparing it in several steps over the course of several days, weeks even, to eventually buy a betta that will be beautiful and called Trevor and I shall love it and maybe get him a lady that I will name Levil later but I don’t know yet” seemed to be a bit too long of a name...)

Anyway...

So Yesterday as a present for me, the generous and most patient Ashee went to buy a Tetra NanoCube 30l (that isn’t actually a cube, but a rectangle, but will be referred to as cube from now on) with me and also of course substrate and beautiful black gravel and a thermometer and several high growing and low growing plants (that I had googled before but I couldn’t tell all the green in the basin apart so we had to talk with the sales person still) and a foam matt to put under the aquarium...

And then we brought it too my place...

Where I put the plants in a bucket of water... and while I was at Ashee's I read the instructions of the NanoCube... And later that evening I put the cube in the bathroom on some sheets of newspaper and filled it with water to check it for leaks. It's been like this over night and so far the paper is "as dry as a mummy's scrotum" ( Prof. Abronsius- DotV Broadway Act 1/ 08)

Today I bought a 50 strip pack of 6type watertests (pH, KH, GH, NO2, NO3, Cl2) and will test the water once I set the aquarium up with plants (since Leipzig has a GH of around 14-15 which is a little high for bettas, so I gotta figure something about that... maybe collect rainwater). Before that though, I have to drain it again... and also wash the gravel so the aquarium wont be so full of dust. I also still have to read the instructions of the Tetra EasyCrystal filter before...

In the future I will probably buy one or two more plants and if I manage to find one, a very small mangrove root. And then also an aquarium heater... When the climate has settled and the water parameters are constant, I will get some mini shrimps and/or african dwarf frogs (I know the ADFs eat shrimp, I might go with some ghost shrimp)... and then some mini catfish... and then... eventually the betta...

I'll post progress with pictures (also for my own entertainment)... If any current aquarist/betta breeders want to drop comments/tips, I'd be much obliged ^^