this will be our son's first all-his-own betta

[homegrown terror]

we've decided we're getting him a UV glow-light tank for xmas, and i just found on ebay the PERFECT boy to be the crown jewel fish of his tank:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Platinum-Whi...item337cf655d4

i'm gonna buy him once i get paid on thursday, and we're gonna set him up a temporary 3 or 5 gal tank and keep him a secret until the setup is complete. it's gonna be a 20 gallon community with a day/night and UV glow LED system, stocked with this boy and 5-7 UV-reflective platies or danios. if the betta turns out to be community aggressive, i'm going to house a tank-within-a-tank 3gal halfmoon in the center, partially obscured with silk plants, kind of like a throne room. we're going to make our own florescent silks by taking the stem parts from standard silk plants and cutting our own leaves from florescent silk fabric, and probably substrate it with a mix of black and white gravel so that some will glow and some will be a dark background. most of the decor will be GloFish brand inserts so that it will reflect the UV light and continue the theming. of course all these details are up in the air till they're cemented in place, but my fiance and i have been giddily planning this present for the last month or so, and are finally starting the countdown to putting it in motion!

[Connierodz]

That is a great fish!!..btw..do you still own all this bettas..or through the years..??

[sareena79]

the "throne room" idea sounds really neat....id love to see pix. and man Im a HUGE ebayer but never knew u could get bettas on there, now Im gonna have to go "shopping" lol gee thanks!

[homegrown terror]

Originally Posted by sareena79

the "throne room" idea sounds really neat....id love to see pix. And man im a huge ebayer but never knew u could get bettas on there, now im gonna have to go "shopping" lol gee thanks!

don't you dare go touchin' my boy!!! I got dibs on him!

[sareena79]

lol no silly I didnt mean YOUR fish, but i sure did see some beauties on there.

[homegrown terror]

Originally Posted by Connierodz

That is a great fish!!..btw..do you still own all this bettas..or through the years..??

the ones in my signature? they're our current stock. we've had a few die on us, but the majority are doing wonderfully!

[twolovers101]

Such a wonderful gift!! I hope your son likes it :D (he probably will lol) I want to do this for my kids eventually (ideas ideas ideas...)

[homegrown terror]

Originally Posted by sareena79

lol no silly I didnt mean YOUR fish, but i sure did see some beauties on there.

yeah,and there's the benefit over aquabid that a larger number of them are already in the US, so there's no need for a stressful overseas shipping for the fish, or an expensive transhipper for the buyer :)

[homegrown terror]

a question for anyone that might know: since i've now pretty much got my heart set on the tank-within-a-tank design, if the water in the main tank is heated adequately, will the 3gal inside need its own heater, or will the exterior water insulate it and keep it at an even temperature?

EDIT: if it'd help, i've attached a rough sketch of the design concept. the notations aren't really legible since i just took a webcam photo, but you should get a general idea of the setup.

[aokashi]

Originally Posted by homegrown terror

a question for anyone that might know: since i've now pretty much got my heart set on the tank-within-a-tank design, if the water in the main tank is heated adequately, will the 3gal inside need its own heater, or will the exterior water insulate it and keep it at an even temperature?

it should insulate it :O there needs to be a good current circulating the outer layer though