I recommend the AA range of aquariums if you are looking for a cheap tank. A lot of people think they are cheap Chinese crap but in my experience they actually last - and even if the filters pack in (which I have had happen) you can chuck a sponge filter in there, the price is still pretty much unbeatable for a good glass tank with hood and inbuilt lighting.
The 'Sapphire' is a very small tank, about 1-1.5 gals. I like them because they can go on a bedside table. They are filtered and the water movement did not bother my bettas after I blocked the intake for the filter box with a wad of cotton wool. (A few fussy boys don't like it; I just keep them in something else.) They don't really cycle unless you load the filter box with cycled biorings (you can't cycle them on their own) I change the bio rings with ones from a mature tank every week or so just in case. They also need a lot of water changes because they are so small.
The 'Panorama' is about 5-6 gals, filtered with flow control. Low flow is ideal for bettas if the silencer is used (piece of plastic that reduces water movement), the tank is full (no water line visible) and there are hiding places. It is suitable to divide in two if space is limited.
The 'Seaview' is a 6 gal vertical, unsuitable to divide but great for a single male or a small sorority (4 females if filter is on high flow.) The filter is the same as the 'Panorama' and if the silencer is used is not too fast for bettas.
With any of these tanks you can block up the filter box with as much floss as is necessary. If you don't use much and set the filters on high flow, they are suitable to overstock pretty heavily because the filtration is so good. If you clog the box with wool and set them on low flow, they are good for keeping bettas. Note that the 'Seaview' and 'Panorama' are suitable for growing live plants, but the 'Sapphire' uses LED lighting so unless you use supplementary lighting you can only grow anubias or java fern in there. AA also make another aquarium in 15 litres or about 3.5 or 4 gallons, the same shape as the 'Panorama'. It's not sold in Australia and I don't know what it's called but the filtration is the same as the others. It would be good for one betta but probably not big enough to divide. You can get that one in funky colours, the other are all black. AA make the 'Amazon' as well, that's about 16 gallons rectangular.
www.aa-aquarium.com
