Divided Betta Display Tank...

[Origami Gourami]

Hi All,

Having been reading and posting in these forums on-off for a few months now, I know some of you are great fans of splitting a tank into two or three partitions, in order to keep several bettas per tank. Having recently had a betta trauma (In a nutshell; peaceful male kept in community tank for ages died unexpectedly of undiagnosed illness <tried several meds>, replaced him with beautiful blue and red chap, but he was feisty, ruled the roost from day 1 and even chased off the Red Tailed Black Shark; but one day the others ganged up on him whilst I was out at work and launched a rebellion, leading to demise number two )

Have since decided that male bettas in community tanks rely far too heavily on the temperament of the individual and as such, won't be adding any more to the assortment in my sig.

I have spied a gorgeous hexagonal glass tank, 15" high and almost the same across which would make a great betta display tank. But I need your advice on which is the best seperation method (see below) and whether clear dividers will be ok and won't stress them all out. I can think of three ways to divide the tank, which can be viewed on my profile photo (unfortunately I don't have any webspace to call my own at moment - sniff!). (EDIT - Changed pic now, sorry!)

My favourite option is b, which would allow three bods (viewable from the front) and still give them a nice space to move around in (I estimate around 10 UK Litres each), and allow for some little pals in each section (small shrimps, adfs - I even thought of an undergravel tube network so a couple of Kuhlis could cross between all three!). Option c would not work as you wouldn't be able to see the fish at the back and option a - well, that would only allow 2 chaps!

Undergravel filter to keep the gravel clean from beneath the seperators and not give too much betta stressing current and a small airstone in each 'betta bourdoir'!

Each section would have plants and a hideaway, for the retiring betta to contemplate life's great mysteries, but I'm unsure whether all clear dividers would stress them out, or whether sufficient cover and foliage would prevent that.

Would appreciate any thoughts on this project - sorry to have rambled on!!

 

[bunjiweb]

Sounds like you are putting a lot of thought into the tank which is great.

Personally I would go for design B as it would provide over 3 Gallons for each betta and would look really great when finished.

You should use clear acrylic if you can as it looks best. Use aquarium sealant to seal it to the edges of the tank, and make sure you drill some holes in the acrylic so the water can circulate.

Dont worry about the males being able to see each other, they dont mind at all, and being able to flare at other males keeps them active and their fins healthy.

Ben

 

[Origami Gourami]

Cheers for the advice and support Ben!

Had a spot of budget reducing good luck; some garden stuff I bought from my local centre had to go back and they only gave me a credit note. Initially narked, but three months later they opened an aquatics department! Such a shame I have to find some fish stuff to spend the credit on instead of fence bits...

Will let you know how it goes; I agree, acrylic is the best option for the dividers, I just didn't want to cause any stress (once you know what they mean, those horizontal stripes become really upsetting) to my new buddies by being to eye each other up! Might try a female in the middle home, so the males can try and impress her!

 

[bunjiweb]

I was contemplating doing "Male"Female"Male"Female" in my new betta tank but then I would still have to use my old tanks which defeats the object of the new one.

Ben

 

[Origami Gourami]

Good point, plus the chaps are prettier to look at!

Off to buy goodies, will let you know how it goes. Am armed with credit card...

 

[cutecotton]

good luck your bettas are going to be one hpapy fish when he gets to his new house

 

[bunjiweb]

Good point, plus the chaps are prettier to look at!

Prettier to look at, well yes, but my females are no mean beasts...

 

[Origami Gourami]

Thanks Cotton and Ben!

Slight change of plan as for the first time ever, my lfs had run out of hex glass tanks. You know what it's like when you've got the fire in your belly for a project, so I've gone for a similar bow fronted tank, which will work out with more room for the three fellas.

Plus I invented a good trick for cheap acrylic; it can cost up to £10 for a sheet, but if you look round places like Woolworths, etc I found a large clipframe, which was reduced to a couple of quid due to a damaged corner - I just cut and drilled the dividers out of that, billy bargain! B)

BTW Ben - really pretty ladies you have there! How easy do you find it to find female bettas in the UK? One tiny lfs near me had what they called females - but I suspect they were Plakat males & females because they were nasty with each other and slowly killed each other off. It tends to be one nibbled male per community tank in the UK stores - although thankfully no 'horror-cups'. A garden Centre near me had one fella in with two dozen silver dollars

 

[cutecotton]

heya,

i dont' know how easy it is for you to find females in UK, but it's pretty damn hard to find it in here too (i live in canada). Only ONE lfs (and that's a bit far away from me), carrying them, and not regularly either!!

some females can be aggressive with each other, but probabl not to the extent that you're talking about. i wouldn't be surpirsed if they got a male plakat in there by accdient, but you can alwasy tell the feamles becuase they have an oviposter on their belly, and they tend to have slightly larger and more defined bellies as the males.

As for hte dividers, i just made my own out of those craft sheets that has a lot of holes in them. yeah it does look a bit funny though, obviously not as nice as clear acrylic sheets good luck and don't forget to post pics of the bettas!!

 

[bunjiweb]

Both of my local fish shops sell the female bettas. One of them sells much more pretty ones than the others though which is where I got these 2 lovely ladies from.

They both also sell Male Bettas and I've picked up some beauties from there.

I have got another betta I reserved today and I have ordered one from a Breeder in Thaiwan, so soon that will be 6 Bettas.... eek

Ben

 

[cutecotton]

don't owrry i'm heading on 8 8 males , 5 feamles..my mom's having a heart attack

 

[Origami Gourami]

Wow, you guys are in the advanced stages of this condition!

I did look for the spots on the females I bought, but they also seemed to display the characteristics one poster had in his/her sig about identifying plakats, and they seemed consistent. Oh well, will know next time - water under the ceramic bridge now...

Have installed seperators, air curtain, filter, etc and also a modified section of tube that will allow a couple of Kuhlis to wiggle through all three sections, but keep the curious Betta safely contained!

Next big job is to find the right stand for it - is it me or are lfs tank stands horrifically overpriced for what they are? The matching one for my tank was two pieces of fibreboard with a base and top piece, which wobbled disgracefully and weighed in at £30! I wouldn't trust 38 litres atop that contraption! On the scout for a good sturdy unit...

PS Have updated profile pic to show new plan, my existing 80L tank and a few other suspects I could fit in! The betta is sadly departed now, but the red tail shark and six leg shrimp are still going strong! I promise to get some webspace soon, so I can post proper pics that don't require microscopes to view!

 

[jacblades]

i dont know if kuhli loaches are a good idea. i have never heard of anyone keeping them with bettas in small tanks.

i pulled this info from aquariacentral:
The Kuhli Loach is a small, worm-like fish that does well in smaller aquariums. The body is scaleless and elongated. Base color of the fish is dark brick red, with several lighter stripes running down the body. All fins are small and transparent. Kuhli Loaches should be kept in groups of four or more.

Kuhli Loaches are loners that are most active at night with the lights out. The tank should be decorated with thick bunches of plants and various rocky caves. Light levels should be low, which can be achieved through the use of floating plants. These fish may injure themselves on sharp rocks, thus a sandy substrate is recommended. Kuhli Loaches may burrow their way down and into undergravel filters, so an alternative filtration method such as an outside power filter should be used.

These fish are omnivorous bottom feeders and should be fed accordingly. Sinking foods such as freeze-dried tablets work best. Being nocturnal, it is recommended to feed them at night.

These fish are sensitive to chemicals such as those used in medicines. They should be kept in soft, acidic water, but will adapt to most aquarium conditions so long as the water isn't too alkaline.

kuhli loaches also do not like salt in their water as most scaleless fish dont. they also need 10 gallons or more (im not exactly sure how big your tank is)

 

[Origami Gourami]

I've been keeping two in my main tank for a while and they seem to be getting on just fine. They come out in the evening and clean up the scraps, as well as having the occasional sinking catfish tablet (they're too small for one a day with the other bits they pick up). They are currently about two/three inches long and my trusted lfs owner said they would only increase in size more than half again. I don't add salt to the water anyway and have plenty of medium sized pebbles to go in the new tank for them to hide away in.

They seemed a perfect peaceful companion to the three seperate units, who could easily wiggle between them through a submerged bit of pipe and thus enjoy the full 38 UK litre capacity (roughly 150sq inches floorspace), so it's not small.

However, I'm using my lfs' advice as a basis, so I welcome any advice as I don't want to make a mistake. I don't want to keep Corys in there as I think it's too small for more than one per compartment and I know they love to school together. Other ideas are small freshwater shrimps and/or adfs.

Thanks for the advice Jacblades, much appreciated!

 

[jacblades]

some bettas like to snack on shrimp. i agree about the cories. you need a group of them for them tobe happy.