Betta Peace Lily Tank
Betta fish are a favorite among fish keepers who want only a small tank rather than a large community aquarium. Not only are these fish happy to be the solo ruler of their domain, they actually fare much better on their own, especially the territorial males.
Of course, their small tank requirements can be limiting for those who want to combine their love of bettas with the hobby of aquascaping. (You won’t be able to grow a variety of different plants unless you plan on keeping your lone betta in a huge tank.) And if you find yourself facing that conundrum, I have a solution for you: a betta peace lily tank.
Here’s what it entails and how to make one.
Buy a peace lily
Peace lilies are easy to find in most garden centers and places that sell plants. You’ll want one that’s already started in a pot rather than trying to grow one from seeds. These are easy to care for flowering plants.
Prep the plant
To add a peace lily to an aquarium, remove it from the pot and rinse all the dirt off the roots. You’ll want to be somewhat careful so that you don’t damage the roots. Next, you’ll need to trim back some of the roots with a pair of sharp scissors.
Dull scissors can cause trauma that’s harder for the plant to recover from. Ensuring you’ve got a good sharp pair of gardening shears helps make clean cuts.
The purpose of trimming the roots is to allow new roots to grow that are better suited to their underwater environment, as the aquarium peace lilies will not be rooted in soil.
Add the peace lilies to a glass bowl
To allow the roots to acclimate to an aquatic environment, you’ll want to add driftwood and water to a glass bowl, and then place the plants on top of the driftwood with the roots in the water. The wood allows the green parts of the plants to stay above the water.
You’ll now want to place the bowl back in a sunny spot or under grow lights and allow the roots to grow a bit before introducing the peace lily to the aquarium. You can also add a liquid fertilizer to the water at this point.
Here’s a closeup of what the trimmed roots look like, as well as about where the water level should be:
Transfer the peace lily to an aquarium
Once your plant is thriving, you can prepare an aquarium to add it to. At this point, you can really do whatever you want as far as the size and shape of the tank and what kind of materials to add.
Some suggestions for materials are small gravel, larger decorative rocks, and wood to again elevate the peace lily. Wood pieces give the plant roots something to grab onto so it doesn’t float around in the tank. Depending on how you arrange the design, you may also want to use silicone to glue down the rock or wood pieces.
Here are a few examples of finished peace lily aquariums:
Now all you need to do is add your betta fish. And of course you can use this peace lily aquascape idea for other fish as well. You can watch full tutorials for how to build the tanks shown above at the videos below:
Check out The Tye-Dyed Iguana in Fairview Heights for betta fish and other tropical fish.