[SIZE=medium]For about a year and a half I maintained two tanks in my house. I know many of you get the "tank bug" and have a lot more tanks than that. But, for me, the on going maintenance of two tanks took away some of the enjoyment of fish keeping.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]I was maintaining a 26 gallon / 98 liter community, and a 6.6 gallon / 25 liter with a crowntail betta. I decided to de-commission the 6.6 and house the betta in my community. He acclimated well and got along with all tank mates for months. Then the leak happened in December 2013. My Fluval 206 canister sprang a leak while I was on vacation and dribbled about 6 gallons of water into the bottom of my tank cabinet and the floor. Side note: the 206 replaced a Fluval 205 that developed the exact same seal leak - both units lasted 1.5 years before leaking, so no more Fluval canisters for me.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]In a move many of you can appreciate, with a water-damaged tank cabinet (the sides were splitting), I took the opportunity to purchase a completely new cabinet, and a BIGGER tank to go along with it! I went with a 40 gallon / 150 liter breeder tank purchased from Petsmart. It was Top Fin branded. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]The tank came with a standard 36" hood and a nice glass lid:[/SIZE]
IMG_1059 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
IMG_1061 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
[SIZE=medium]I wanted to try some stronger lighting and purchased an LED strip light - Finnex Ray 2:[/SIZE]
IMG_5506 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
[SIZE=medium]So I proceeded to get this all set up, and decided on only live plants this time around, natural colored river rocks, and real pieces of driftwood. Being gun shy on canister filters, I bought a big HOB filter from Fluval/Aquaclear:[/SIZE]
IMG_1058 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
[SIZE=medium]My only concern with the HOB was the tendency to get too much current flow for the betta versus a canister setup. Once I got it all going I transferred my mature filter media and the fish and it looked like this:[/SIZE]
IMG_5475 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
[SIZE=medium]Sure enough, the current flow was a problem for my betta, even with the flow turned down. I put a net in the mouth of the HOB to try and break things up a little, but it was not enough. The poor betta spent weeks under the driftwood, mainly coming out to eat and breathe. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]I knew I needed to get him into his own space, but did not want to go back to the 6.6 gallon separate tank. So I tried an experiment. I bought a 1.1 gallon half moon LED acrylic betta tank for $13:[/SIZE]
Tetra LED Half Moon by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
[SIZE=medium]I took off the LED light unit and also the lid and put them aside. I took the empty tank and drilled holes along the bottom, as well as evenly spaced in rows around the sides. [/SIZE][SIZE=medium]I put in gravel and a fake plant for shading, and sunk it along one side of the big tank. I walked away for a few minutes, and when I returned the betta was already in the tank! So I figured I was on the right track. I left the tank for almost an hour, and the betta would swim out briefly but then go right back into the smaller tank. Wanting to reduce the current as much as possible, as well as keep out other fish, I bought an ornamental rock platform and raised the small tank so that its lip was about a half centimeter below the water's surface. It turned out this was not enough. My zebras and neon tetras would see the betta's food and throw themselves over the tank rim to get inside. Then they could not find their way back out![/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]So I stacked additional rocks under the platform and finally got the tank raised above the water's surface, totally isolating the betta from other fish:[/SIZE]
IMG_5527 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
IMG_5524 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
IMG_5523 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
[SIZE=medium]It has been a few weeks and the betta is calm and does not seem to mind his smaller home. The small holes allow a slow circulation of water in and out. The other fish go crazy when they see him eating food at his leisurely pace after they have scarfed down their own helping. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Here is a brief video showing the tank as it looks now. I'm still working on CO2 levels in the tank, as I'm having trouble balancing healthy plant growth versus too much algae...[/SIZE]
http
/www.flickr.com/photos/gvilleguy/12794550275/
P.S.: I haven't tried to aquascape the plants yet. Just trying to get them growing and see which ones do well in this setup.
[SIZE=medium]I was maintaining a 26 gallon / 98 liter community, and a 6.6 gallon / 25 liter with a crowntail betta. I decided to de-commission the 6.6 and house the betta in my community. He acclimated well and got along with all tank mates for months. Then the leak happened in December 2013. My Fluval 206 canister sprang a leak while I was on vacation and dribbled about 6 gallons of water into the bottom of my tank cabinet and the floor. Side note: the 206 replaced a Fluval 205 that developed the exact same seal leak - both units lasted 1.5 years before leaking, so no more Fluval canisters for me.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]In a move many of you can appreciate, with a water-damaged tank cabinet (the sides were splitting), I took the opportunity to purchase a completely new cabinet, and a BIGGER tank to go along with it! I went with a 40 gallon / 150 liter breeder tank purchased from Petsmart. It was Top Fin branded. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]The tank came with a standard 36" hood and a nice glass lid:[/SIZE]
IMG_1059 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
IMG_1061 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
[SIZE=medium]I wanted to try some stronger lighting and purchased an LED strip light - Finnex Ray 2:[/SIZE]
IMG_5506 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
[SIZE=medium]So I proceeded to get this all set up, and decided on only live plants this time around, natural colored river rocks, and real pieces of driftwood. Being gun shy on canister filters, I bought a big HOB filter from Fluval/Aquaclear:[/SIZE]
IMG_1058 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
[SIZE=medium]My only concern with the HOB was the tendency to get too much current flow for the betta versus a canister setup. Once I got it all going I transferred my mature filter media and the fish and it looked like this:[/SIZE]
IMG_5475 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
[SIZE=medium]Sure enough, the current flow was a problem for my betta, even with the flow turned down. I put a net in the mouth of the HOB to try and break things up a little, but it was not enough. The poor betta spent weeks under the driftwood, mainly coming out to eat and breathe. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]I knew I needed to get him into his own space, but did not want to go back to the 6.6 gallon separate tank. So I tried an experiment. I bought a 1.1 gallon half moon LED acrylic betta tank for $13:[/SIZE]
Tetra LED Half Moon by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
[SIZE=medium]I took off the LED light unit and also the lid and put them aside. I took the empty tank and drilled holes along the bottom, as well as evenly spaced in rows around the sides. [/SIZE][SIZE=medium]I put in gravel and a fake plant for shading, and sunk it along one side of the big tank. I walked away for a few minutes, and when I returned the betta was already in the tank! So I figured I was on the right track. I left the tank for almost an hour, and the betta would swim out briefly but then go right back into the smaller tank. Wanting to reduce the current as much as possible, as well as keep out other fish, I bought an ornamental rock platform and raised the small tank so that its lip was about a half centimeter below the water's surface. It turned out this was not enough. My zebras and neon tetras would see the betta's food and throw themselves over the tank rim to get inside. Then they could not find their way back out![/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]So I stacked additional rocks under the platform and finally got the tank raised above the water's surface, totally isolating the betta from other fish:[/SIZE]
IMG_5527 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
IMG_5524 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
IMG_5523 by Gvilleguy, on Flickr
[SIZE=medium]It has been a few weeks and the betta is calm and does not seem to mind his smaller home. The small holes allow a slow circulation of water in and out. The other fish go crazy when they see him eating food at his leisurely pace after they have scarfed down their own helping. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Here is a brief video showing the tank as it looks now. I'm still working on CO2 levels in the tank, as I'm having trouble balancing healthy plant growth versus too much algae...[/SIZE]
http
/www.flickr.com/photos/gvilleguy/12794550275/P.S.: I haven't tried to aquascape the plants yet. Just trying to get them growing and see which ones do well in this setup.
its giving me a few ideas already 
