48L Betta/community Tank Journal

[FishFanatic04]

You didn't ask me but heres my 2 cents. I love my bowfront tank but for the first few weeks, it felt like I was looking through someone else's glasses. Then I got used to it and it's fine. Flat glass will always be nicer to look through and I can see every bit of my regular tank without a struggle. I have to find the right angle to find my clown plec in the bowfront, the glass is hard to see through at diff. angles.

Still my prettiest tank though


I wouldn't mind a Malawi setup in it because you wouldn't always be trying to see around plants and things to find fish.

 

[minnnt]

No its not a corner tank. Its just a regular bow. The fluval vicenza is not actually bowed that much. I have another bow front tank that is a lot more curved. The fish can look a little distorted, but I'm not bothered.

The corner tanks are great, but require a lot of skill to scape them.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Mmm, that's what I was thinking and a lot of skill is one thing I don't have!

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I posted this in another thread but thought I would add it here for the heck of it. I've been using this to clean my tank with for ages and it works really well with the long handle to help reach into the tank. It's just one of these washing up scrubbers that you can fill with soap - the sponges on it are replaceable if it wears out.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Ok folks I made a video of my tank, yes it's mega lame lol but I spent a stupid amount of time on it so be nice to me OR ELSE!

 

[FishFanatic04]

Happiest tank I've ever seen. And proof that bigger isn't always better! I only have my bettas in 3.5g and never planned to leave them there, but now I desperately want to upgrade them!

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Aw thanks so much FishFanatic04 - such kind words

I can't believe it took me so long to make that video lol, it doesn't help that my laptop is on it's last leg, I think processing video just about did it in hehe

 

[Xraymark]

The music is good too.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Rawr! I hate peas!

I fed my guys some peas a couple of weeks ago and filmed my betta eating. He was VERY angry at that pea for some reason and looked like a total plonker because he was so focused on displaying his fins that he kept falling over lol.

 

[FishFanatic04]

My betta attacks peas too

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Ok guys this is going to be a long update with plenty of pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Here's is a picture log of me changing my substrate from a fine black gravel to Caribsea's Tahitian Moon Black Sand and also of my DIY lighting reflector.

Change to Sand Substrate

Playing in the sand, wee!

I started by moving everyone into a 13L bucket with the filter and heater.

I then had a rasbora attempt suicide so I put the condensation shield on top but he still managed to jump out AGAIN! The second time I didn't see the mad leap so I'm not sure how long he was out for but he was all out of flop by the time I spotted him - he's fine now - whew!

After siphoning everything out I used a flat sided dish (basically what you get your Chinese takeaways in!) to scoop the gravel out - this worked really well so I do recommend it for anyone else - or at least a similar flat sided scoop.

The thing I can't really emphasise enough is DO NOT get the sand anywhere but in your tank! It goes EVERYWHERE I think I'll be cleaning sand up for weeks lol, it's very messy stuff. After I added the sand/water/ornaments back in I also added the included sachet of Caribsea Bio-Magnet Clarifier which is supposed to clear the water. I think it did help actually although I don't have anything to compare it to. My water was still a little cloudy (is it even possible to have rinsed the sand "enough") and I don't think it's still perfectly clear today. Because I'm a numpty I threw out the other half of the sachet of clarifier as there was enough for two treatments in the packet - doh. I'll post before an after pics later - now for my second project of yesterday.

DIY Light Reflector

I've been moaning about the lack of decent lighting in my tank for a while. The Interpet FishPods are very limited in what you can do to improve the lighting so I found what is basically mirrored adhesive "paper". I found it on amazon and you can buy it in rolls of various sizes. Mirror on a Roll You'll need to "view other pictures" to see the product.

So I started by adding a few strips inside the actual lighting unit itself. The hood does come with a square of reflective metal above the light but there is space in the unit to add more. You can see where I added it beside the bulb, I did the same on the opposite side.

The I flipped the hood over and started cutting the "mirror" to shape fitting it in in pieces as the inside of the hood is very irregularly shaped with several "vents" for air exchange that I didn't want to cover up.

Welcome to my discoteca! It doesn't look that great but then, no one is going to see it. I also wonder how long it takes before it starts falling off - however it is apparently "condensation resistant". I get a ridiculous amount of condensation in my hood though. (check out the cheeky pup peeping from under the table )

I have to say I am very pleased with the result. My tank still isn't super bright but it has made a difference that doesn't really show in the pictures I've taken. I can really tell a difference though when photographing my tank by the settings I'm able to put my camera on and still get nice pictures. My ultimate goal was to be able to take better pictures of my tank and I definitely feel this has been achieved.

Now for some before and after pictures

Before:

After (the water is still a little cloudy):

And some of the happy inhabitants!

And for whom I made the change! To be honest I don't think they had ever been on sand before they seemed a little freaked out at first but after a couple of hours they had started digging around in the sand - I was so happy!

I hope you enjoyed this update!

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

How often do you guys clean your sand substrate? The amount of poo I can see now is ridiculous lol.

 

[LucyB]

How often do you guys clean your sand substrate? The amount of poo I can see now is ridiculous lol.

I suck up as much poo as I can when I do a water change, which is every week

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I think I may find myself doing more than once a week, this is going to bug me - but I might be overfeeding too

 

[FishFanatic04]

You can get a turkey baster to add to your fish tools. I use one to suck up poo in the middle of the week if it looks bad. Then you don't have to do whole extra water changes if you don't want.


Looks really good by the way! I love that tank for a betta!!! I always want to highlight my bettas, I feel like they have a 50/50 chance of having a terrible life in a unheated bowl, unfiltered bowl.