Making Plans For A Small Betta Bowl!

[NeonBlueLeon]

The rectangular one as Wildbetta says is probably best, that said I have just got a Hex one to move a Betta into, it is larger than his current tank and fits where I need it to.  So, really in choosing a tank think of its location as well.  Can you tell us why you are choosing between these tanks?
 
When I was looking at them I also found these:
Tetra Crescent Acrylic Aquarium Kit (5 gallon version) - which seems popular apart from the filter, plus I prefer glass to Acrylic.
 
Marina Style Aquarium Kit - seems a better filter but the lighting seems to not be as good.  LED lights are better by far generally speaking.
 
This is an interesting small tank I had not seen before, Hagen Fluval View Aquarium, 4-Gallon, I would be put off by it as it is plastic and a gallon smaller than what you ideally want, but it has good reviews overall.
 
I personally like the clean lines of some of the cube all glass aquariums, like these I located:
Radius 5 Gallon Glass Aquarium - just need to check that the curved corners do not distort your fish, plus not done enough research on them ala the filter, it is just to give you more ideas.
 
Hagen have some good stuff and there is the Fluval Spec, although this is not very wide it is 5 gallons and allows a fair length of swimming.
 
Shelster has a nice all glass aquarium for her boy, so take a look at this post, 22 Litre Betta Tank, just not sure if you can get them in the US?  What is neat about this sort of tank is all the hardware is hidden behind the background, it has a nice clean look that does not distract from viewing the fish.
 
Do you want to keep any Amano Shrimp with your Betta?  If so make sure the lid is tight fitting as they can escape!
 
Hope these help your search.
 
Happy hunting ...

Thanks for all of that. 
Those two were just something I found searching for a "starter kit" type tank.  You see, I'll be visiting my parents for a few months this summer, and I'm sure my dad would like a betta.  I was gonna set up a proper tank with a healthy fish, make sure everything is stable, and then let my dad take care of it.  I just think a kit with a lid, lights, and possibly a filter would be a good place to start.
 
I heard bettas jump (is this even true?!) which is why I wanted something with a lid.  If they really don't jump, then I could pass on the lid tbh.
 
I agree, I would choose glass over acrylic anytime.  Those links were awesome.  I wasn't able to find any glass kits until now!
 
I'd like to choose a tank that truly uses it's volume to max potential since bettas are so curious.  Five gallon was the volume constraint I decided to go with.  I wasn't planning on having anything but a betta and snails.  Wasn't planning on getting shrimp.
 
I ran across a Petco brand tank that seems interesting.  It's acrylic, but it's as long as a 20g high!  This would give a betta lots of room to swim and explore.
Here's a link to Amazon: http/www.amazon.com/Petco-Bookshelf-Freshwater-Fish-Aquarium/dp/B004FJ9SDC/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1367485158&sr=1-1&keywords=petco+bookshelf

 

[Wildbetta]

That Petco bookshelf tank is awesome!!  In my opinion, if you are moving tanks around (which happens alot with smaller tanks -- acrylic is easier to work with but now in saying that, I love the look of glass best).  I haven't ever used the rectangular tank you linked earlier but I have the 5 gallon hex and really like it.  
 
Make sure before you go to all this trouble that your dad would really want the responsibility of a pet.  To me, giving animals as pets is not always the best thing to do(for everyone involved).  Other than that, actually fixing the tank up for him is great.  Are you planning on cycling the tank for him before giving it to him?  Are you planning on getting the betta yourself or are you going to let him pick out his own betta?
 
Make sure if you get a kit that you also pick up a heater because most kits do not come with a heater.  

 

[NeonBlueLeon]

That Petco bookshelf tank is awesome!!  In my opinion, if you are moving tanks around (which happens alot with smaller tanks -- acrylic is easier to work with but now in saying that, I love the look of glass best).  I haven't ever used the rectangular tank you linked earlier but I have the 5 gallon hex and really like it.  
 
Make sure before you go to all this trouble that your dad would really want the responsibility of a pet.  To me, giving animals as pets is not always the best thing to do(for everyone involved).  Other than that, actually fixing the tank up for him is great.  Are you planning on cycling the tank for him before giving it to him?  Are you planning on getting the betta yourself or are you going to let him pick out his own betta?
 
Make sure if you get a kit that you also pick up a heater because most kits do not come with a heater.  

My dad loves fish as much as I do!  He's already got a big FW tank at his home.
 
I've got it all planned out.  We've got a week long camping trip planned a few days after I arrive there.  So what I'm gonna do is get my filter media and some gravel, and place it in his (years established) tank to seed some bacteria.  I'll leave it there while we are camping.  When I get back, hopefully their will be enough bacteria on it already.  Shouldn't be hard to establish some gravel and filter media for a 6.6 gallon tank from a ~50 gallon tank.
 
Anyway, I'll set up the decor, heater (which I already have; 25 watts), and then put in the seeded gravel and run the filter.  Of course, I'll put some ammonia in and run tests twice daily to make sure it's shipshape.
 
Once I'm sure it's good to go, I'll let my dad choose a betta he wants.  I'll make sure things are nice and setup before I give it to him.  Shouldn't take long.  I'll be there for a few months anyway in case anything happens.  This isn't his first betta, but this will be his first properly homed betta!

 

[Wildbetta]

Very nice!!  I just thought I would ask since a lot of bettas age given as surprise pets or gifts and it turns out that the person really didn't want a fish or the responsibility of keeping a pet.   Personally I wouldn't worry to awful much about seeding gravel.  Filter media is where the majority of your bacteria is so seeding a good piece of media in his big tank(just stick it in his filter) and then transferring it back to the new tank should be sufficient.   This sounds like a really cool thing to do for him.  

 

[NeonBlueLeon]

So I've ordered the Petco Bookshelf tank!  My only concern is about the filter.  It seems like it fails for some people, and works perfectly for others.  In any case, I'd like to have a back up.
 
The tank is 24 inches (61 cm) long.  I'm a bit worried about proper circulation and aeration of the water in such a tank.  I might add a sponge filter at the opposite end of the power filter.  Do you think that will be necessary?
 
Once I've got all the stuff, I'll make a new thread and journal its setup with pics!

 

[NeonBlueLeon]

With a foot print similar to a 20g high, would it be possible to house cories?  A 20g high footprint is 24" x 12" and this Petco bookshelf tank is 24" x 8.2"
This may be pushing it a bit, but I just wanted to see what you guys think.  I was planning on a couple DIY caves for the tank.
 
I was also toying with the idea of otos, but I know nothing about otos.


Also live plants.  I think I may scrap the silk plants idea.  I know a perfect place at my dad's where the tank will get a fair amount of indirect sunlight.

 

[Wildbetta]

Becareful with sunlight as it tends to promote algae faster than other types of light but love the thought of live plants VS artificial.  If you want to go with corys, a school of one of the pygmy varieties.  There are 3 of them: Hasbrous, Pygmaeous, and Hastatus -- listing from biggest to smallest.  With a betta I would recommend the bigger variety -- Hasbrous because the smaller the cory the more likely that the betta might try to snack on it.  The 2 smaller varieties are really small and are under an inch in length.  Otos are nice little algae eaters that like to be groups of around 6.  They produce very little bioload and are nonaggressive to everything that I have ever seen.  The problem with them is that they are very sensitive and hard to get to eat commercial foods.  They do best in a well established tank which is one that has been consistantly running for around 6 months or so.  Normally if you can get some that are eating things like fresh veggies or veggie wafers, then you will be ok but most struggle to get to that point and they have a high mortalitiy rate compared to most other fish.

 

[NeonBlueLeon]

Thanks for the advice.  If anything, I may opt out of getting cories and get a snail or some shrimp.  I'll see what my LFS has.  I don't want to subject cories to uncomfortable living conditions.
 
The indirect light they'll be receiving is actually sunlight that will be reflected off of the white walls of my neighbor's house.  I hope that makes sense.  There won't be any direct sunlight.  Do you think this may result in booming algae?

 

[attibones]

The Cory idea could work really well. I don't know if you've mentioned it or not, but what substrate will you be using? The corydoras prefer sand, but they will do fine with a gravel substrate so long as the pieces are not sharp or very large. As WB mentioned, algae may be appearing in your tank if you put it with too much light. You could get a nerite snail or two to combat that.

I have four otos in my tank (originally purchased six, two died the day of purchase) and I love them. Maybe this could be an option when the tank is a little more mature. They would clear up any algae as well, but the snails are significantly less sensitive.

 

[NeonBlueLeon]

I was planning for a darker, smooth gravel.  My main concern for cories is the tank size with respect to the shoal size.  I'm a newbie at cories too, minus some research.  I've never owned them.

 

[Wildbetta]

The reason I wouldn't go with standard corys is because they really need a footprint closer to that of a 20 gallon long to support 6 which is the best number for a small school of them.  Snails would work out though.  A single mystery snail would make a nice tankmate and would be bigger than most other snails.  As far as shrimp, I recommend going with bigger ones like Amano or ghost shrimp because bettas like to snack on shrimp and the bigger ones fare better with bettas than the other types.

 

[RCA]

The rectangular one as Wildbetta says is probably best, that said I have just got a Hex one to move a Betta into, it is larger than his current tank and fits where I need it to.  So, really in choosing a tank think of its location as well.  Can you tell us why you are choosing between these tanks?
 
When I was looking at them I also found these:
Tetra Crescent Acrylic Aquarium Kit (5 gallon version) - which seems popular apart from the filter, plus I prefer glass to Acrylic.
 
Marina Style Aquarium Kit - seems a better filter but the lighting seems to not be as good.  LED lights are better by far generally speaking.
 
This is an interesting small tank I had not seen before, Hagen Fluval View Aquarium, 4-Gallon, I would be put off by it as it is plastic and a gallon smaller than what you ideally want, but it has good reviews overall.
 
I personally like the clean lines of some of the cube all glass aquariums, like these I located:
Radius 5 Gallon Glass Aquarium - just need to check that the curved corners do not distort your fish, plus not done enough research on them ala the filter, it is just to give you more ideas.
 
Hagen have some good stuff and there is the Fluval Spec, although this is not very wide it is 5 gallons and allows a fair length of swimming.
 
Shelster has a nice all glass aquarium for her boy, so take a look at this post, 22 Litre Betta Tank, just not sure if you can get them in the US?  What is neat about this sort of tank is all the hardware is hidden behind the background, it has a nice clean look that does not distract from viewing the fish.
 
Do you want to keep any Amano Shrimp with your Betta?  If so make sure the lid is tight fitting as they can escape!
 
Hope these help your search.
 
Happy hunting ...

Thanks for all of that. 
Those two were just something I found searching for a "starter kit" type tank.  You see, I'll be visiting my parents for a few months this summer, and I'm sure my dad would like a betta.  I was gonna set up a proper tank with a healthy fish, make sure everything is stable, and then let my dad take care of it.  I just think a kit with a lid, lights, and possibly a filter would be a good place to start.
 
I heard bettas jump (is this even true?!) which is why I wanted something with a lid.  If they really don't jump, then I could pass on the lid tbh.
 
I agree, I would choose glass over acrylic anytime.  Those links were awesome.  I wasn't able to find any glass kits until now!
 
I'd like to choose a tank that truly uses it's volume to max potential since bettas are so curious.  Five gallon was the volume constraint I decided to go with.  I wasn't planning on having anything but a betta and snails.  Wasn't planning on getting shrimp.
 
I ran across a Petco brand tank that seems interesting.  It's acrylic, but it's as long as a 20g high!  This would give a betta lots of room to swim and explore.

Here's a link to Amazon: http/www.amazon.com/Petco-Bookshelf-Freshwater-Fish-Aquarium/dp/B004FJ9SDC/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1367485158&sr=1-1&keywords=petco+bookshelf

Sorry not been around much but have read through the Topic and you have been given some great advice that I would agree with.
 
Glad the links were useful and I believe you have selected a good tank for your present.  I like the one on Amazon that has the bogwood in it.  Main thing is that it will scratch easily so I would only use filter wool to clean the surface and be as gentle as possible.  Sponge filters are great for Bettas, but you will need to get an airpump that is quiet to power the sponge filter.
 
Yes, Bettas do jump and need to be covered.
 
In respect to maturing media, you have a tank yourself I believe?  Why not place the media in your filter now so that it is seeded?  As long as you keep it wet while travelling to your parents it should be OK.  Your plan is equally as good though and it ensures you do not set up a tank prior to going away
 
Otos are great little workers but do not travel well, therefore I always wait until the LFS has had them for at least a month and there are no more fatalities before purchasing them.  As already been said though they need a mature tank.  I would highly recommend Amano Shrimp, they are amazing workers and have cleared green algae in two of my tanks.  Just ensure there are no gaps as I had an escape!  Plus do not be fooled once you have them in a net, as they will soon be climbing or jumping out of it!
 
Looking forward to the journal.

 

[NeonBlueLeon]

Thanks RCA.  Yes, I've a tank, but so does my dad at the moment.  It's been running for years, and I mean years.  I grew up with this tank, and it was never out of commission.  I'll be seeding the filter media in that tank's filter, which is an HOB.
 
The tank I've purchased has a lid, but obviously has space where the filter will go.  Do you think inverts will escape from there?  When I set it up, I'll take pics.  I might research a bit more on shrimp before I make a final decision for tank mates.  I was leaning towards one or two nerite snails, but I might want to give shrimp a try.  What it will ultimately boil down to is what my LFS has, and what my dad wants to take care of.  I believe he's raised shrimp before.
 
I won't be getting otos since they require a mature tank.  If I consider cories, it'll be the small varieties that WildBetta suggested if my LFS has them.