Setting Up A Used Tank.

[dthoffsett]

I had a new project, yeah! My mom's boyfriend works for company that has a contract with the local HUD branch (govt. program that buys repo homes, then fixes them up somewhat and sells them to low income, or first time buyers), they go in and clean out the homes, and do some light landscaping. Anyways, he's second in line after his boss to pick out anything in the houses he wants to keep, and knowing about my mild case of MTS, he picked up a used 10 gallon tank complete with accessories for me. I told him next time to find me a 300 gal. Thank god I live in a small apartment or I would be overrun with tanks, the only way I would let me set this one up (it would make 5 running), is that I'm going to sell my 29gal and either 1 or 2 of my 10 gals. I am going to buy a 40 to 55 gal to put my community fish in, but that will leave me with 3 tanks, and I'm stopping there for awhile, I swear.

So anyways, I figured I could do a little photo journal of the tank setup. I decided to use it for the bettas I already had in a different 10gal, I was tired of dealing with the sand, plus I wanted to put them in the kitchen anyways, so while it sounds weird, it was actually easier to set up the new tank in the kitchen, move the bettas to it from the tank in the living room, and then tear down that tank.

Here's the tank as I got it, pretty manky, but in good shape.

This is the tank empty

Here's the UGF that came with it, I thought this would be great for the bettas since it would create less current than the power filters, I did move one of the filters from the old tank to this one, but I'll remove it in a couple of weeks and just run the UGF.

Here are the plants that were in it, I decided not to use any since they were plastic, so it's probably silly to post the pic, but I thought I'd show everything that came with the tank.

Here are the ornaments that came with the tank, I thought about using the pink caves just to be silly, but I'm afraid the holes would be too small and the bettas would get stuck. The other ornaments aren't really my style, and their paint was flaking off, so they got chucked in the trash with the plants.

Here's the stuff I had to buy to get it up and running, didn't cost me more than $15, which pleased me. I already had a light and glass hood, so didn't have to buy those.

....To be continued in the next post. edit for horrible spelling.

 

[Danno]

I bet it will go well. Everyone has a creative side so i'm sure it will look nicely when completed

Quick note: You might want to think of soaking everything in a 1/10 ratio of Chlorox/Water

 

[dthoffsett]

So after some elbow grease, and baking soda (good fish-safe light abrasive), the tank cleaned up really well.

One of the cats got curious

Here's the UGF, in great shape just dirty. I replaced the air line and air stones .

And while I was cleaning it out, Mr. Bailey snuck his way into the tank. He's obsessed with water and was licking the bottom of the tank.

Who me? I'm not doing anything mommy, I swear!

Here's some plastic canvas I picked up from the store to use as the divider, I had bought an Top Fin divider from Petsmart and was using that in the betta tank in the living room, but wasn't please with how flimsy the actual divider was, and the holes were too small for good circulation, I think this will work much better.

... continued in the next post.

 

[dthoffsett]

Here's the tank with the divider and UGF set up.

And complete with decorations, no water yet. The gravel is only about 2 inches deep, but looks deeper because of the UGF. I'm pretty pleased with the way it looks, I decided to go minimal in order to maximize the swimming space. I had to add the skulls though because the bettas like to sleep in them.

Now with water. Yeah! I'm a little concerned about the airstone on the left, it's not putting out as many bubbles as the right one, so I may have to replace it, I know sometimes they take a little while to become complete saturated though.

Finally, piccies of the fish in their new tank. Here's the VT, his fins are finally starting to grow back, he had pretty bad fin rot when I bought/saved him. He's hard to get good pics of, and I didn't want to stress him out more than necessary, so I'll post more pics later. He seemed to be very intrigued by the new surroundings rather than scared. He was even picking up pieces of gravel and swimming around with them.

And the CT, this is the only decent pic I could get, he was pretty stressed by the move, so more pics later.

I hope you all have enjoyed reading my little diary. Thank you for looking.

Oh, I do have one question. I've never set up a UGF before, so could anyone tell me if I set it up correctly. The plates are on the bottom of course, with about 2 inches of gravel, the two airlines with the air stones are T-connected at the back, a single line runs from the T connection to the air pump with a check valve in between. Is this the correct way to set them up? Or is there something else that should be there? Unfortunately since it was used, there were no instructions for set up, but it seemed pretty straight forward. Thanks everyone.

 

[Amunet]

I have no idea about the UGF but the tank looks great so far! Wish I could come across free tanks lol
I'd probably add in 1 or 2 more plants in there. Dunno if your bettas like it, but mine just love squeezing through every single space they can.

 

[Biulu]

Yes, the UGF is fine like that. Just try to get the airstones as low as possible to have the best effect

 

[dthoffsett]

Thanks Biulu, I'll push the stones down further.

Amunet, I'm going to try and find a couple of live plants around town and get rid of the silk ones, I just need to find some decent ones, it's kind of hit or miss around here for live plants. I did have more plants in the other tank, but they really seem to like the open swimming space.

 

[DiscusAngel]

Wow nice! Bailey think hes a catfish!! lmao!

 

[Danno]

Very nice job. I love your cat!

 

[dthoffsett]

Thank you very much Danno and DiscusAngel. Yeah, Bailey is a spoiled brat.

 

[DiscusAngel]

Thank you very much Danno and DiscusAngel. Yeah, Bailey is a spoiled brat.

Lol!!

 

[lilfishie]

love the bettas and the cat

 

[mandiemoo]

You're cat is gorgeous, and makes me want one (not many cats can say they made me say that!!).

What are you using to hold your divider up with? It' just I may be getting a new tank that is just short of about 10g and was thinking if I get it I would divide it for two bettas, and the only way I have seen to set up a divide is to use sealant. I know you're in the states, but I might be able to find something!

By the way, your vt is just cute as a button.

 

[paul_219]

Very nie tank. I liked the betta its gr8.

Very nice tank. I liked the betta its gr8.

 

[dthoffsett]

You're cat is gorgeous, and makes me want one (not many cats can say they made me say that!!).

What are you using to hold your divider up with? It' just I may be getting a new tank that is just short of about 10g and was thinking if I get it I would divide it for two bettas, and the only way I have seen to set up a divide is to use sealant. I know you're in the states, but I might be able to find something!

By the way, your vt is just cute as a button.

Thank you for the compliments.
The divider I originally had was a store bought Top Fin one, similar to this one. http/www.petsolutions.com/Default.aspx?ItemID=10810600 It came with the side and top pieces (blue in the pic) that slid onto the middle plastic piece (thats what I replaced with the plastic canvas), there are two metal clips that hold it in place on the top of the tank, and at the bottom the gravel (and in my case UGF plates) keep it from moving. I didn't want a permanent divider (scraping off silicone would be a hassle), so this worked out well. I just didn't like how flimsy the actual divider part was that came with the kit.