The Perfect Betta Tank

[Shred]

Soon I'll be getting an upgrade to Thrash's tank, only buy 10 litres or so, but its an upgrade still.

Basically I wanted to put together a list of features that make a betta feel confortable in his home, based on how I have seen my bettas acting.

Here's what I have so far, please add to them if you can:

Dark background/sides to reduce reflection.
Low filter flow.
Plants which reach up to the surface.
A busy tank, no wide open spaces.
Large bogwood or similar structure, for him to explore/patrol.
Sand bottom, for ease of cleaning, and to make it easier to find fallen food.
Some sort of cave, coconut perhaps. (never used one before personally, but many members here do)
Floating plants ie Amazon Frogbit.

 

[kizno1]

amazon frog bit is a good plant fot bettas in floats on the surface but has long roots that hang down.

 

[Shred]

Ah yea didn't think of floating plants!

 

[kizno1]

i think that all you need then. have you had a look on ebay and at car boot sales you can get 5g tanks for a couple of pound.

 

[lilacamy931]

Seems you have a good complete list, definately pictures when you are done!

 

[kelly528]

First of all, if you're planning on siphoning the sand that takes some skill. If you aren't careful you will suck the sand up, so be careful.

My second suggestion is that I belive dark backgrounds actually increase reflection, so you might be better off without.

Consider a sponge filter for your filter. The filters that come with all-in-one tanks are often too strong (for example, the Bio-Wheel filter in Eclipse systems).

Also, if you want plants, you will need a fluorescent light. The eclipse systems come with these already but if you are getting any other tank you will have to make sure you can fir a CFL into the hood. Coralife makes screw-in ones, just make sure the bulb physically fits in the hood before you fill up the tank and keep the receipt in case it doesn't! If you are getting a standard all-glass 2.5g, you will be all set with a desk lamp or so.

Lastly, make sure you buy low light plants-- a high wattage lightbulb may not fit in your hood. In 2.5 gallon tanks, I'd say 5-10 watts is great for low light plants, while high light plants require about 25-30 watts. Remember, the WPG rule breaks down when you're talking about tanks under 10 gallons!

 

[Shred]

Thanks for the info kelly, though I have actually already got plants / filter ready to go in my current tank. See here: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=301236&hl=

 

[kelly528]

Thanks for the info kelly, though I have actually already got plants / filter ready to go in my current tank. See here: [URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=301236&hl="]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=301236&hl=[/URL]

Lookin good! Somebody's gonna have a very satisfied tenant