New to this board.

[Rin4Christ]

I am brand new to this board, but saw that it is active, so thought i would join.

in a couple of weks I am going to get a 20 gal tank from my parents. I plan to divide for multiple bettas. the tank has a 12x24 in base. by gallon it could split to 8 easy, but im pretty sure that won't work with the dimentions.

I had a Betta for about 2 years before it died this summer (he was left with my brother when I traveled to Taiwan- now he caught the Betta Bug) My roomates and I are planning on a whole family of Bettas if I can get the tank divided well.

any advice on dividing the tank would be appreciated. thanks!
Erin

 

[fourplayfishy]

id say divide the 24 in 3 so there are 3 sections of 8x12 and gives them almost 7 gal each... or do it in 4 so they have 5 gal each... but if you tried splittin it in 8 they would only have like 6 inch base to move around in and thats not fair!

 

[BeccaBlain]

I find my fishies like to have a min swin width of 4 inches... my 3/4ths gallon has a width of about 4 inches, and Napoleon loves it.

Frankly, with a divided tank, the little monsters are going to be swimming at the divider and then napping on a plant. I have a 16.5 (22.8 inches) that will be divided 4, possibly 5 way... at 5, it gives them 4 inches or so, and the fishies have never complained about it before... the long width gives them enough swimming room.. I find a good rule of thumb is to have it 3 of their fishie lengths, and they tend to be happy.

If you do choose to do a lot of division, you need to make certain you heavily plant each divider and give them a little pot or something they can hide in. That will give them a place to rest.

This is Pearl's section.. actually, its Mason's right now.. and it is bloody overkill. It is 8 or so inches, and the fish only uses about 4 inches of it.He hangs out near the plant and near the divider.

At 5 gallons each, they'd be the most spoiled fishies on the block. I try to make certain they have about 3 gallons or so each when in a divided, and a min of 4 inches of swim space.

Of course, larger is better, but hey!

 

[Rin4Christ]

If i had my tank sort of a center peice for a room (space to walk all the way around) could i divide it by 8? 6x6 square with each container being small? they would have 2.5 gallons each. would that be stange proportions for swimming area of each fish? This also may not be feasable with a pump.

any suggestions on how to set up a pump in a divided tank?

 

[BeccaBlain]

I wouldn't do that. I would divide it 5, maybe 6 ways, and give your fish some room. Having a lot of fish is nice, but you don't want to put them in tiny little barracks.

For filtration, I tend to have my filter in the center, where it can clean up everything.. I remove the dividers once a week (and the fish) and stir up the gravel and filter/clean out the tank. A little extra work, but worth it in my opinion.

Whatever dividers you use need to have enough spaces/holes (mesh works nicely) to let the water move through.

i considered doing little blocks, but they are not very nice for the fish, and a pain in the butt to maintain. You're better off accepting you can't have endless fishies in the tank and give them at least a little space to swim.

 

[Wisperian]

I like becca's idea! =)

 

[Sorrell]

I don't think that's too small. If you think about it a ten divided three ways is a 6 inch footprint. Sounds fine to me

 

[GuppyDude]

ya im kinda new to bettas to, i had sum common vt off n on but now i think im gunna get into it, im starteing my tank and so for iv got a 10g divided so in one side iv got like 12 inches long and the other looks about 8.

gl