divided tank troubles

[Loboto-Me]

I decided to get a 10 gal tank for Tatsumi which I divided into 2. The other day while I was sick, my husband got another betta to put into the other side. We named him Sushi.

We put them into their sides of the tank last night. We put silk plants on each side near the divider so that the fish don't have to look at each other so much. Unfortunately, they spent all evening flaring at each other.

I woke up this morning and both were fine, they were both sleeping soundly. Then about 20 minutes ago, my daughter yells "Oh my God!". Tatsumi had jumped over the divider into Sushi's side. Neither one were fighting when I got there because they were both exhausted. Sushi was the winner of that fight as Tatsumi has a torn ventral fin. Tats is in "time-out" back in his old 1 gallon to which I've added salt and melafix.

Those of you with divided tanks, how do you prevent this from happening?
Those of you that this has happened to, I'd love to hear your stories.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

You could lower the water levels... that might make it harder for the fish to get to the other side.

I'd suggest getting a colored divider if you don't want them to waste all their energy flaring at one another.

You might also want to try a female betta instead. That way you could also get them to breed, and the male isn't as aggressive towards the female as he is to another male...

 

[GuppyDude]

when i had my 10g divided up for my bettas i just lowered the water lvl. i bought my divider and it sucked so my female got wedged between the divider and the tank wall. i saved her but it worryed me so i got her in the 10g and the males in bowls. i recommed just lowering the water lvl or if u dont alredy got a hood on there just put sum suran wrap over the top ( with slits or holes for air of course )

 

[Synirr]

Lowering the water level should work just fine
I had already heard plenty of horror stories about bettas jumping the dividers when I made my tank, so the dividers in mine are just as high as the tank walls; meaning they touch the lid and leave no room for the bettas to jump over.
My problem is that I made some of the filtration holes a little too big, so one of my smaller fish can squeeze through them. I plugged the holes in his compartment with a little piece of filter sponge... problem solved!
Now he just bites his own fins rather than his neighbor's.

 

[DogFish]

I also made the divider go right up and touch the glass cover, but then I also cut extra pieces of plastic canvas, and using the plastic thread, "sewed" them to the dividers.
So I can fill my tank and no-one can visit. I have a male on each end and a female in the middle.

Here is the divided tank with only Flame in it - taken a month ago.

 

[Elisabeth83]

At the moment I have ordered 5 dividers and am waiting for them to arrive but right now I have 3 bettas in breeding nets inside my 14 gallon tank and one who has the whole tank to himself at the moment. Anyways one of the boys must of jumped out of the breeding net and all of a sudden I hear from my boyfriend "Um Liz are both the Bettas supposed to be in with eachother?" I jumped up so fast and I was like " Oh my gosh Nooooo" Luckily I got the other boy out before they ever saw eachother and there was no damage done fewww

Scared me though and now I've made sure the water level is low enough that he can't make his way out again!!

 

[Loboto-Me]

Dogfish thanks for the pics! That's a great idea.

I think we'll have to do something similar when Tatsumi gets out of his hospital tank. I don't like the look of low tank water in an aquarium so I think the best for me would be to extend the divider either like Dogfish did or maybe even like my husband is proposing to do, which is to caulk a piece of plastic, or canvas on top of the divider to form a T. We'll see which works best for our situation.

 

[bettacrazy]

hi dogfish

are those dividers made of needlepoint canvas?? i just set up the dividers in my tank using needlepoint canvases and using aquarium sealant to attach binding strips from report covers to secure the canvases. how do you secure yours? i don't plan to have gravel in my tank. i just want to see how different people secure their DIY dividers.

thanks!! the tank looks awesome. hopefully, i'll do as good a job when i finally have time to complete the tank.

 

[abe]

I use craft canvas too I bought a piece of glass today so the other betta in there can have a current free home & it seems to be working nicely.

Does anyone know how to keep it still? The top of it is swaying a bit from the current.