Celebrating Diversity and Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth with Betta Botanicals' 2024 Pride Pack

Posted on Jun 30, 2024 By Benjamin Peterson

2024 Aquarium Botanical Pride Pack Fundraiser

At Betta Botanicals, diversity, love, and pride are more than just words; they embody the values that we hold most dear and that define everything that makes life special. We believe that everyone deserves a welcoming, loving world, and supporting LGBTQ+ youth is a mission that Betta Botanicals and its owner, Benjamin Peterson, are fully committed to.

A compostable bag of leaves, seed pods, bark, and substrate for aquariums and vivariums at Betta Botanicals.

Introducing the 2024 Pride Pack for Aquariums & Vivariums

In honor of Pride 2024, we are excited to celebrate and support our LGBTQ+ community with a diverse, specially curated botanical package! This unique variety pack helps to build your ecosystem and supports a cause close to our hearts. A percentage of each purchase will be donated to The Trevor Project, a critical organization dedicated to helping prevent LGBTQIA+ suicide. By purchasing this pack, you’re joining the Betta Botanicals 'Trevor Community' to affirm and celebrate the lives of LGBTQIA+ youth! If you are brand new to the world of botanicals, biotopes, and blackwater aquariums, please read through our other blog resources as botanical elements are considered part of the bio-load of the aquarium and should be treated as such.

What's Inside the Aquarium & Vivarium Pride Pack?

This special variety pack features some of our favorite botanicals along with some brand-new items you can only get in this pack. Here’s what you can expect:

Tree Fern Fiber: A new product that enhances the substrate, providing a natural habitat for beneficial bacteria and microfauna.
Cinnamon Bark: Adds a unique look and beneficial properties to your aquarium.
Thai Cutch Tree Bark: A fluffy bark that introduces red tannins and textures.
Guava Leaves: Known for their antibacterial properties and appealing look.
Longan Leaves: A unique leaf that adds diversity to your botanical collection.
Coconut Flower Sticks: Another new product from the coconut palm adding a low amount of tannins to this pack.
Terminalia Catappa Leaves: Known for their medicinal benefits and tannin release.
Banana Bark: Adds a unique aesthetic and slow-releasing tannins, ideal for shrimp!
Flat Sterculia: Provides hiding spots and releases beneficial compounds.
Melastoma Root Pieces: Adds a natural textured look to the substrate and slowly becomes encrusted with biofilms.

A flat lay of brown leaves, seed pods, and roots for aquariums and vivariums at Betta Botanicals.

Each botanical in this pack has been chosen to celebrate the beauty of diversity with a global selection of colors and textures.

What Are the Durability and Tannin Levels

Durability: 5/5
Tannin Levels: 5/5
Tannin Color: Brown to Amber
Suitable For: This pack can be used with all types of Bettas, Gouramis, Goldfish, Tetras, etc., including other pets such as Axolotls, Dart Frogs, etc.

Key Benefits of our Botanical Variety Pack:

Provides natural caves and hiding spots for your aquatic life, this pack is also suited for use in vivariums with isopods, amphibians, and reptiles.
High in antioxidants, providing beneficial compounds to promote the health of your aquarium inhabitants.
Long-lasting leaves and tangled root pieces that maintain their structure and release tannins slowly over time.

Betta Botanicals Uses Sustainable and Biodegradable Packaging

Aquarium and Vivarium substrate in sustainable compostable packaging at Betta Botanicals.

We are proud to say that this bag and its contents are biodegradable! Our product packaging is made from renewable and sustainable sugarcane. Just like the botanicals inside, it will compost when returned to nature, reflecting our commitment to sustainability. Please compost our packaging in your home or commercial compost bins.

Supporting The Trevor Project With a Donation On Your Behalf

The Trevor Project, founded in 1998, is the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ youth. Through a toll-free telephone number, it operates The Trevor Lifeline, a confidential service offering trained counselors to support LGBTQ+ young people in crisis.

By purchasing the 2024 Pride Pack, you are not only enhancing your aquarium with a diverse and beautiful selection of botanicals, but you are also supporting an organization that makes a significant impact on the lives of LGBTQ+ youth.

How to Use and Prepare the 2024 Botanical Pride Pack

1. Preparation of Botanicals

Rinse all botanicals in the large bag under hot tap water for 60 seconds.
Boil botanical materials for 5 minutes in fresh tap water.
Drain and strain botanicals, discarding the first batch of water.
Boil again or soak the botanicals in fresh dechlorinated water until waterlogged.
👉 In-depth botanical preparation instructions from Betta Botanicals 👈

2. Preparing the Substrate Enhancement Pack

The contents of this pack have been previously prepared, but they do need to be water logged.
Situate the gusseted bottom of the bag so it sits upright on a flat surface.

Add dechlorinated water to the bag to submerge all the materials.

After 48-72 hrs the contents will be water logged (More time may be necessary if large pieces of bark are included).

Turn off your filtration and add 1/3 of the contents of this bag per 10 gallons of water, allowing everything to settle before turning your filtration back on. If the aquarium is brand new without inhabitants you may add the whole bag at one time in addition to the leaf litter/seed pods in step one above.
After 5-7 days, and your next water exchange, you may add the second 1/3 of the contents.

3. Adding Botanicals to the Aquarium

Place the prepared botanicals in your aquarium using 2-3 pieces per 5 gallons of water (for established aquariums with tank inhabitants).
Arrange them to create natural hiding spots and enhance the aesthetic.
Gradually add botanicals to avoid sudden changes in water chemistry every 5-7 days after your weekly water exchange.
The presence of carbon, purigen, filter floss, or commercial planted aquarium substrates will cause the tannins released by these materials to dissipate at an accelerated rate. If you would like a more tinted environment we recommend transitioning your filter media to a course sponge and ceramic rings.

4. Monitoring

Monitor the water parameters regularly, especially bacterial blooms and tannin levels if you have live plants.
Perform regular weekly water exchanges to maintain a stable environment.
If a cloudy haze develops in the water, please monitor your fish, increasing aeration/surface agitation. Pay special attention to gasping fish or shrimp near the surface and if present perform a 25% water exchange. This means that you have added slightly too many botanicals for your ecosystem. Every ecosystem is different which is why it is important to add botanical elements slowly.

Join Our Betta Botanicals 'Trevor Community'

Celebrate Pride in 2024 with Betta Botanicals by adding the 2024 Pride Pack to your aquarium or vivarium. Enhance your ecosystem while supporting The Trevor Project and making a difference in the lives of LGBTQ+ youth. Together, we can create a more inclusive, loving community.

Join Our Trevor Community for Yearly Notifications On Our Fundraiser

About Betta Botanicals LLC

Betta Botanicals is proudly owned and operated by a member of the LGBTQIA+ Community. We are committed to providing high-quality, sustainable products that reflect our values of diversity, love, and pride. Join us in building your next ecosystem and supporting the LGBTQ+ community with our 2024 Pride Pack.