I have had my aquarium for a month now, i wanted to know if im doing anything wrong.?

the setup is:

2.5 gal tank (no ruler but something like 12x5x7)

whisper internal filter/air pump (1-3gal)

25w incandescent bulb on lightstrip

small black gravel

java fern

small castle

two lily bulbs from walmart, has mold on it, has been 1 week

1 male betta

4 ghost shrimp



i do 50% percent water changes every saturday using tap water and tetra aquasafe. i have not vaccumed the gravel, nor replaced the filter cartridge. plz dont start yelling at me. my reason is because i have read a lot about beneficial bacteria and how they live on the filter, my concern was that if i replace the filter there would not be any BB to remove the ammonia.



ps. not as important, but the java fern is obviously taller than the tank. i just folded the leaves so that they touch the water. is that bad?

I have had my aquarium for a month now, i wanted to know if im doing anything wrong.?
You don't have to replace the the filter medium very often but a rinse under luke warm water every so often is helpful. You should probably vacuum the gavel once a week as you are doing your 50% water change. The shrimp will get most of the food that falls to the bottom of the tank but ammonia could be a problem if you let too much rot in the gravel. I wouldn't put anything else in the tank or you would run the risk of overcrowding. You should include a picture because it sounds like you have a quaint little setup.
Reply:i think it would be extrememly difficult to maintain a cycle i that size tank. I would ditch the filter and do 100% weekly water changes. The tank is small, there are probably already alot of wastes accumulated in the gravel. your betta will end up with fin rot. Maybe if you get a 5gallon it would be easier to maintain a cycle.



and dont know how the hell you could vaccum the gravel of that size tank, but go ahead and try, do it fast. as for the filter carthrides, you kne the plastic thing that the bag is attatched to (the "skeleton" of the carthridged), dont change the whole carthridge. Remove the cottony bag part, and the carbon. then put a new cottony bag thingy on the plastic part and fill it up with another little bag of carbon. That way the bacterial stays in the plastic part (some would still stay in the actual filer). They sell those and they are unassembled filter carthridges, i prefer those.
Reply:A 2.5 gallon tank won't maintain a cycle so you might as well treat it as a bowl and change all the water about every 4 days. A betta really requires a 5 gallon tank with a proper filter and a heater to be healthy.



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