Setting up a divided 10G..can you help?

[Meg215]

Hello all. I'm hoping for some help. :) Petco is having an awesome sale on tanks...a dollar a gallon. So I'm thinking of buying a 10g and I have a couple questions.

1) Is it possible to divide a 10g between 4 bettas?
2)If yes to above, what filter should I get?
3) What wattage for a heater should I get and brand?
4)What would I use to divide them?
5)what else do I need?

Right now my bettas are in unfiltered tanks and frankly the constant water changes are driving me crazy now that I have 4 babies. I'd really like to get a 10g

One more question, at petco theres a kit that comes with a 10g tank, filter and 50 watt heater plus random food that I wont use...etc I beleive it runs $60. Would that be a better deal then buying a $10 tank and everything else seperately?

Thanks so much for all your help ahead of time. :) I dont know anything about filters so I wanted to come here first before buying stuff.

[Sarada]

The filter that comes with the package deal is probably too strong. Yes 10g can be divided 4 ways.
I would recommend a sponge filter with air pump, but I'm fairly new at this. A 50w heater...dunno what brands you have in the states, diff then here.
You can buy dividers or make your own with plastic sewing mesh and report ends.
Don't forget a thermometer which you probably already own...lots of plants to cover up the dividers so they have lots of privacy.

[RandomFish]

Originally Posted by Meg215

Hello all. I'm hoping for some help. :) Petco is having an awesome sale on tanks...a dollar a gallon. So I'm thinking of buying a 10g and I have a couple questions.

1) Is it possible to divide a 10g between 4 bettas?

Yep, there are pics of 10g's divided 4 ways floating around and they look nice. However, some betta owners would insist that a betta needs at least 5 gallons to be really happy.

2)If yes to above, what filter should I get?

Sorry, I don't know much about filters so I hope someone else will chime in on this one...

3) What wattage for a heater should I get and brand?

As Sarada said, 50w is perfect for 10g. Hydor Theo has great adjustable heaters and if you're lucky you can get one for $12 shipping included (I did! ) if you win an ebay auction. You can also order one on Amazon any time:

http://www.amazon.com/Hydor-T11102-T...8913889&sr=8-1

^ It seems to be favored by quite a few members here. It has an orange light that flicks on when it's heating and the temperature of the water stays quite consistent with what you set the heater to.

4)What would I use to divide them?

This thread shows you how to make dividers out of mesh and plastic report cover sliding bars:

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread....light=tutorial

MermaidFish had the clever idea of using Perler Beads:

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=46919


I would never recommend the dividers they sell in pet stores or ebay or Amazon (that is...Penn Plax or Lee's) because they're clear and the fish would tear themselves apart from the stress of seeing each other. Besides, the frames are not cute at all. None of the auction/listing pictures seem to show in detail how ugly and useless these dividers are. I know because I wasted my money on one

5)what else do I need?

A good gravel siphon. Biorb has one for about $9 that has a hand pump on it so that you don't have to bother with creating suction by waiting for the air to bubble out.

Two 10-gallon buckets, preferably in different colors and with lids. You can find them at Home Depot. One would be for the dirty water and the other would be for the clean aged water that you could siphon back into the aquarium. Perhaps you might even get a small flatbed or cart for the buckets so you won't have to carry them.....I am seriously considering getting one because 10 gallons is way too heavy.

And pellets...my bettas all love New Life Spectrum for Bettas.

Right now my bettas are in unfiltered tanks and frankly the constant water changes are driving me crazy now that I have 4 babies. I'd really like to get a 10g

I think you might want to consider a Walstad method tank:

http://theaquariumwiki.com/Walstad_method

Once established, you would only have to do a full water change every six months.

One more question, at petco theres a kit that comes with a 10g tank, filter and 50 watt heater plus random food that I wont use...etc I beleive it runs $60. Would that be a better deal then buying a $10 tank and everything else seperately?

It would depend on whether or not the heater has an adjustable thermostat and the filter has adjustable flow control. Most of the time, these package deals have one component that's sub-par. Like, I have a 10-gallon Tetra Half Moon kit but the heater is pre-set and I can't find the flow control anywhere on the filter.

But if you buy the parts separately, it totals to:

$10 for 10-gallon tank from Petco during their dollar per gallon sale
$20 for a 50w Hydor Theo heater
$10 for a standard filter (like I said...sorry, I dunno much about filters but they're around $10)
____________________________
$40 total


Hope this helps!

[Meg215]

Sarada and Randomfish, thank you so much! both of your posts have really helped. It's good to know its not going to cost as much as I thought if I buy it all seperately. :)

[Sarada]

Even if the filter is adjustable I found the one that came in my package deal had too much current.