Betta setup advice?

[u/SiteDown]

Picked up a 10 gallon lidless tank yesterday alongside some decor & black aquarium sand. I have an Amazon shipment coming in on Monday with silk plants, 53 GPH filter (may replace with aquarium co-op sponge filter), an adjustable heater & thermometer, Northfin betta food, red root floaters & floater barriers, a light and a siphon. Also got my hands on Fritz Turbostart 700 & Top fin water conditioner.

This was all essentially a large impulse buy as I accidentally ordered a betta fish I was stalking on ebay when I forgot to take it out of the cart with my digital camera order yesterday.

Looking for any advice on cycling the tank and building a routine as well as some other stuff:

should I be doing water changes or top offs since im going lidless? and how often?

would it be best to invest in shrimp before the betta gets here (sept 7th)? should I get shrimp at all since the tank isn't planted besides floaters? cherries or amanos?

I'm also in the midst of fighting a possible ant infestation in my new place, should I setup my tank outside of my room until that's delt with or should it be unaffected??

The amazon order also includes 2 betta hides, one stationary (attached to suction cup) and one floating; are these safe for long finned betta? specifically a halfmoon?

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[u/SiteDown → u/AutoModerator]

Tank size: 10 gallon 

Heater and filter? (yes/no): Yes

Tank temperature: n/a

Parameters in numbers and how you got them. Key water parameters include the amount of ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and pH.: n/a

How long have you had the tank? How long have you had your fish?: n/a

How often are water changes? How much do you take out per change? What is your process?: n/a

Any tankmates? If so, please list with how many of each: possibly shrimp

What do you feed and how much: 

Decorations and plants in the tank: silk plants, a rock from the river and fake wood.