2.5 Gallon Betta Tank, New But Old

[atmmachine816]

I finally have convinced my mom to let me setup my little sister's 2.5 gallon tank with a betta in it. It's going to be filtered and heated with hopefully live plants. I'm thinking since I can only get a betta from the store then it might be best to start him off in room temperature water and gradually bring the water up to 78 degrees as to not shock him, what do you think about that? So far I haven't done anything except get everything out.

Austin

 

[OohFeeshy]

I wouln't bother with the changing the temp. slowly, the change won't be that huge, they can cope with it fine.

 

[aquagirl]

If you have an LFS where they sell 'em in cups, you can just float the betta in a ziploc bag like any other fish that comes in a normal bag and let the temperatures equalize.... you dont have to mess with the temp.

Or you could just dump 'im in.

It really doesnt make a lot of difference with bettas.

Okay it makes some.

But it's not nearly as bad as with some other fish.

 

[atmmachine816]

Ya they come in those little bowls, and yes I know that you float them in a bag and i gradually add water to the bag but I thought room temperature to 78 might be a bit much for a betta but I guess not. Anybody suggest any easy to find and locate plants that would go good in there, so far I can get crypts, cambomba, possibly anubias and anarchis, any others.

Austin

 

[TammyLiz]

Yes the temp change can be hard on them if it is too much. Major changes can increase the chances that he'll get columnaris. Not something you want to mess with. Do acclimate carefully.

 

[atmmachine816]

Do I need to cycle my tank and if I do how long do you think it will take?

 

[lisie]

If you get live plants I totally recommend anubias. They're super easy (trust me when I say that if I can grow them ANYONE can) and bettas love to rest on the nice broad leaves. Plus it's really easy to scrape off any icky algae that grows on it.

You don't need to cycle the tank before you put the betta in. Bettas are tough little guys and will be fine through the cycle, as long as you keep up with water changes.

 

[splashluff]

I wouldn't bother cycling a 2.5 that is silly. Just do 100% water changes weekly, keeping your little guy in a cup while you clean out his tank. My Bettas do not act a bit stressed during their once or twice weekly water changes, but they WILL demand food the moment they're back in the tank For plants, I love Java Ferns, Water Sprite, & Java Moss. It is so incredibly hardy and fast-growing, and my Bettas love it.

Good luck with your Betta! You will be a Betta-holic before long, for sure. I can't wait to see pics!

 

[atmmachine816]

Ok well thanks for the help, got a few more questions. As you can tell this is the first time I'v kept a betta in it's own tank, had one in my community tank but it died after a year or so. Ok I have the mini bowl 2.5 and i replaced the 15w incidescent with a 10w compact fluescent bulb made my all-glass aquariums, I took out the whipser filter and put in a lee's corner filter and have a 25w HOB heater. Now my question does that sound all right and the bulb seems to be heating up my water a lot what can I do about that and is it ok? Also I see a lot of moisture on the inside of the hood is this ok? O and I got the betta today but he hides a LOT, not at all like my last one. I miss him.

thanks a lot again

Austin

 

[Taridan]

Does he hide just when the light is on, or when the light is on and off? Not sure about the light giving of heat, since I thought irridescent bulbs were supposed to be the 'hot' ones He could just be getting used to his new house... what sort of decorations / plants do you have in it? All the rest sounds good to me, though if the water temp is being heated up from the bulb i don't know if you'd want to cut the heater down a bit?

 

[TammyLiz]

The thermostat on the heater should cause it to cut off when it gets too warm, so the heater should not cause an issue unless it is not functioning properly.

The light however, has no such shut off, so if the room is already hot it can overheat the tank. I have the same type bulb over a 2 gallon tank. On hot days I don't turn the light on, and I keep a thermometer in the tank so I can keep an eye on the temperature.

The moisture inside the hood is normal and happens with all tanks. However, I have seen some hoods that have the bulb set up so it is exposed to the water. If it is in yours, I'd try to get a glass top or something else to put between the bulb and the water. With condensation constantly collecting on it, the life of the hood will be considerably shorter (it has happened to me), and I would think it increases your chances of electric shock.

Bettas sometimes just need some time to settle in. Check for signs of disease, and if there are none, just give him some time. If in a few days he is still hiding with clamped fins, check him out real well again to make sure he hasn't come down with something.

 

[atmmachine816]

Ok thanks I have two fake plants to provide him cover, trying to grow a spiral val to adequate size and then move to my larger tank. When you say it shortens the life of the hood what do you mean by that? Is it ok if the bulb just heats it up a little bit, it usualy heats it up 3 degrees would it be ok if it heats it up by that much or would that have a stressing affect on the fish.

 

[TammyLiz]

Well, how warm does it get? Three degrees is probably not too much (are you talking C or F?) but if it is overheating the tank thats a different story. I wouldn't want it to get over 80F.

Look for signs of corrosion in the hood. In my case, it got so crusted over with mineral deposits and junk it was practically rotting the base of the bulb out of the socket. I threw it away because it was scaring me! I had very hard water at the time so it only took a couple of months. I think the mineral deposits, coupled with the moisture constantly on the bulb, especially around the socket, is what ruined it. I don't know why they even make them that way. It seems dangerous to me.

 

[atmmachine816]

The bulb is ok now except my dad is complaining that since the bulb is longer than the reflector and protective casing for it it makes a glare and my dad doesn't like this, any idea how to make a longer protective thing for it. Did you have a mini bowl 2.5 when you threw away your hood?

 

[TammyLiz]

No, it was a hood for a 10 gallon tank that I threw away.

I'm not sure what you're talking about with the bulb extending past the reflector. Does the cover not completely go over the top of the tank? You can see the actual bulb? Yuck. I would suggest trying to get a shorter bulb, I guess. Are you in the US? There are some bulbs at walmart that are shorter than the aquarium compact flourescent ones. Over in the hardware section, a two-pack that says "SUNLIGHT BULB", by lights of america. They sell them in various wattages and although they are wider than the aquarium ones, they are also shorter. They might work better for you. Where I live it is under $8 for the two 60W replacement bulbs (actually 15W power usage). I think they have smaller ones, too.