bmwguy525's Split 10 Gallon Betta Build

[bmwguy525]

I decided to upgrade my bettas' living situations over the holiday by moving them from their respective 2 gallon tanks to a split 10 gallon tank. Oddly enough I liked the veiltail's old smaller tank, as far as aesthetics and layout, but he has more room to swim now and "should" be happier as a fish.

Excuse the pictures, still shooting in a dimly lit apartment with an iphone...

Here's the crowntail's previous octagon (have hated since the day I got it, but it was a free hand me down.)


And here's the veiltail's old 2.5 gallon.


I picked up this 10 gallon starter tank from PetSmart for $30. Came with hood, crappy bulbs, and a Tetra Whisper 10 internal power filter, which I've come to hate.


I would later find out that in a split tank situation this particular filter takes up WAY too much space of the right side of the tank, and for the minimal needs of this small of a filter, it has a pretty big output flow. The hanging hardware for it sucks as well, and at one point it had moved just a touch in a way that caused the outflow water to start running down the back side of the hanging stem, and down the back of the OUTSIDE of my tank. I was not happy, but luckily I was in the room and heard the noise within minutes, so the damage was minimal. I'll be replacing this soon...

The first decision I had to make was whether to install a permanent divider, or set up something temporary and easily removable. Since I have an aversion to messing with things that I own, I decided to make a temporary divider by using a plastic mesh sheet and a couple report binders as a support system in plastic of using silicone to bind the divider to the tank walls. I picked up this plastic mesh sheet at Michael's for 80 cents, and two report covers for $1 a piece.

[bmwguy525]

I first cut the plastic mesh down to size, and left a little bit of extra length. With the extra length I could then use the force of the mesh pushing out against the tank walls as a way to support the divider without the use of silicone. I cut the report cover binders off, and used these as a rigid support system on either side. Voila.


I then transferred the fish into separate bowls and started the media transfer and tank setup. I kept the separate substrate from either tank, as I though the look of having two different looking sides for the two fish would look cool. I mixed in some additional black gravel to fill up the substrate level. I took the decorations and Anacharis from the previous tanks and arranged them anew, trying to use most of the Anacharis to line against the plastic mesh divider in order to block out the visual gap. Once it grows in taller and fuller there should be a wall of Anacharis on either side, with the divider barely being visible. I also took some trimmings of Giant Hygrophilia from my 20 gallon tetra tank to help fill some room and give the tank some more green.

In this picture, the divider has changed shape a bit, but once the water was in I moved it around a touch to give it that "S" shape again.


Here's the final move in, with both bettas in. In this picture both of the bettas are flaring at the glass reflections on the opposite ends of the tank, and to this day they have yet to see each other through the plastic mesh. If they do see each other they pay no attention, as it has been over a week and there hasn't been any flaring matches yet.


So there it is. Cheap, yet effective. It isn't a show piece or anything to be super proud of, but it gives them more space and now I have a couple 2 gallon tanks sitting around for emergency use.

I don't know what section this should go in, as it's not a journal and it's not detailed enough for a DIY, so I figured as general as it is, it should go here. Mods -- feel free to move this.

[ldoerr]

NICE TANK!!! I personally like those filters. I have 2 of them. They last a long time. I have had 1 for 10 years and it still works perfectly. I also have a 10g tank with devidors. My 10g houses 3 male bettas in one 10g tank and my other 10g tank houses 6 female bettas.

Again your tank looks great!!!! I would have never thought of making devidors.

[bignellm]

Coolness.
I like how each side has it's own personality.

[Tankedagain]

That looks great!

With the gravel color it nearly makes the divider disappear, Job well done!!!

[kurly]

I agree with the others....Great Job! I really like how you have created two tanks in one, each with their own identity. Bet your bettas like it too!