Cycling:
I'm going to do a Fishless cycle, adding filter media from my current filter to help get it started. It'll be good experience for me!
Substrate, rocks, and wood:
I'm using play sand as a substrate, $5 per 50lbs! I have to rinse all 100lbs of sand I have so it doesn't cloud the water, it will when I first add it, but it will settle in a few hours, to a day.
I'm using rocks I found outside around my house, and making them safe for my aquarium one at a time by pouring boiling water over them, testing the water for a few days and watching for major pH changes, then pouring a little bit of vinegar on each rock, if there are bubbles then there is chalk in the rocks, so they can't be used as they'll change the pH drastically, then after the "vinegar trick" I put them back in hot water to clean them.
For wood I'm going to find some Oak branches. To make them safe for my fish I'm going to debark them, let them dry, then pour boiling water over them, and leave them for a few days to leech the tannins out.
Plants:
I've decided to grow live plants in my new tank, I've never done this before, but buying enough fake plants for it sounds even worse than growing my own! I'm going to have green or purple Cabomba, Java Fern, Christmas Moss, some Anubius, and an Amazon Sword plant. It'll look awesome if it's anything like what I'm picturing in my head!
Fish:
My stocking list isn't very different, but I've lost three Platys, and I've change the other bottom dwelling fish I want.
1 Golden Gourami.
8 Platys (I'm going to bring the number back up to 8 with 3 blue ones!)
6+ Guppies (I'm going to add 4-6 females for a male:female ratio of either 1:2, or 1:3, 1:3 is better, so I'll probably go with that.)
2 L444 Plecos (I already have one, but I'd like to get a female also, maybe I'll get lucky and get some eggs!)
I'm aquascaping the tank, and I want the design to be a surprise, so no more details! Well, that's it for now, my tanks are all running well, and my fish are all healthy!
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Quick facts:
Bettas need at LEAST 3.5 Gallons of water, a filter, a heater, lights, and a thermometer!
Fish are not as easy to keep as most people think.
Guppies are also called "Millions Fish" because they have so many babies!
Bettas, and some other fish have an organ called the "Labyrinth" which allows them to breathe air.
What do you think about that?