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Are Mini Bow tanks good tanks?

3K views 41 replies 16 participants last post by  Juditko 
#1 · (Edited)
Are Mini Bow tanks good tanks?

my parents bought me a Mini Bow 5g tank for christmas though it wont be here till the 3rd of january at the earliest as the ordered it late. they got it for me because i really dont like the tank my black orchid CT male Aero is in because of its weird shape and that the lid is propped up on one end to allow room for the filter and i worry about Aero jumping out even though its a small gap and we have a young cat the overly curious and i worry she may stick her foot and try to swat him.


so to all of you who own mini bows now or have in the past are they good a good tank? does the filter do a good job? does the filter need baffled? i hope its a good tank cause then Aero would more room(his current tank is 2.5g) and i wouldn't have to worry about him jumping or about the cat. and with it being acrylic and not glass it will be lighter and it wont be as much weight on my computer stand as there would be if i got a glass tank.


thanks
 
#7 ·
I have a mini- bow 2.5. It's a good tank. For $30, or in your case more, you get a filter, a hood with a light and some beginner food and conditioner. Yes, the current is a bit strong, so I took a price of pantyhose I fixed it spend the mouth. It muffled it pretty well.
 
#8 ·
I have the 5 gallon mini bow and I really like it. I do have mine baffled, mostly because it pushed the floating log around too much. There is a space in the back but it is really easy to cover it with something :). Overall I really love this tank, and so does my little guy!!
 
#10 ·
Aqueon 2.5 mini bow

We just got one, and the current on ours does not seem too strong at all. It's much more gentle than the other tank we had, and Fish is very happy. It does say to keep it filled to the black rim, and I find that does help the current be gentle. Don't know about the 5 gallon.
 
#11 ·
I had a 5 gallon minibow tank. I liked it a lot, and the filter current isn't too much at all. Even in the 1 gallon minibow, the filter doesn't create a current that is too strong for a long finned fish (I currently have a small guppy in my 1 gallon because I'm treating him for ick, poor thing). The only real problem I've ever had with the filters in the minibow tanks (I've had the 1 gallon, 2.5 gallon, and the 5 gallon and they all have the same filter) is that with my halfmoons with longer fins their finnage sometimes would get caught in the intake and rip, but a layer of cheesecloth does the trick to stop that. I absolutely love the bow tanks, and the only reason I got rid of my 5 was because I traded it to a friend for a 10 gallon tank. :p
 
#15 ·
I've seen an alarming number of fish and other bettas be sucked into the intake tube of the stock filter with the minibows. For that reason I highly suggest using a prefilter sponge with them, or replacing the filter altogether.. but then again it's a very expensive tank if you're not coupling the filter in the price.

I'm a little old school - standard glass aquarium.
 
#16 ·
... sucked in? No way. The filters are absolutely way too small to suck a betta in. MAYBE if you had fry in the tank, then yes, but even my smallest bettas never even got stuck to the filter to the point of not being able to get off. Like I said, the only problem I ever had was fin ripping. I just can't see that happening, Callistra, at all.

And Kithy, I have one halfmoon tank with my crowntail in it, and he has super long fins anyways, but sometimes I look over and at the right angle, he looks like a giant spider. But, he absolutely loves that tank, and his decorations actually look great (I tried really really hard to find good decorations for that tank). :p
 
#17 ·
And Kithy, I have one halfmoon tank with my crowntail in it, and he has super long fins anyways, but sometimes I look over and at the right angle, he looks like a giant spider. But, he absolutely loves that tank, and his decorations actually look great (I tried really really hard to find good decorations for that tank). :p
That would scare me xD But it sounds really cool :3 I am having a hard time resisting lol
 
#18 ·
lol. Off subject, I absolutely hate spiders (whining, crying, kill it with fire, the whole thing) but it really is cool. I'll only ever have the one halfmoon tank though.

I really do like the minibow tanks, though, especially for a different look, I think they're great. (I get really bored with standard rectangle tanks).
The only "bow" tank that I don't care for are the Marina ones with the concacve bow as opposed to the convex bow (or the one that bows in instead of out).
 
#20 ·
Bleh me too. I can't even kill a spider in a video game without freaking out in my chair. The only exception is when I get to beat it up (FFXI) but on Skyrim I run xD

I feel like I'm running out of outlets xD I really wanna put a small tank with like an EE betta or something on my desk but I so need a bigger desk. With my computer, TV and xbox.. I'm out of space /pout
 
#19 · (Edited)
This video here shows how you should use a 5 gallon Bow tank with a Betta:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd0GFqGTgGQ


The filter that comes with the Aqueon 5 Gallon Bowfront Aquarium is the same that comes with the MiniBow and 2.5 BettaBow. It's pretty good with the 2.5 as in it handles that amount of water perfectly, same with the Mini, however in the 5 gallon it's far too small. The intake can also be horrible for your Betta's precious finnage, especially if you have a HM or CT. I can almost 100% guarantee you that the intake will harm either of those types of fish's tails.

You can either replace the filter or add undyed cheesecloth around the intake of the original and just make sure you keep up with the water changes since that filter isn't the best for a larger aquarium. Frequently changing the cheesecloth as well, even though it gains BB after awhile it will start to get slimy and disintegrate. You may be able to wrap a spongy bit around it instead, that would work much better.

I have owned 2 MiniBows, 2 BettaBow 2.5s and my 5 gallon Bowfront. I like the Bows as they stand out a little bit more than a normal tank. They are great "desktop" aquariums just as they advertise them to be. They give your Betta (or other fish) a good sized aquarium and are also "stylish." It was a bit of bad designing on the hood VS filter cord though however, you are correct in saying they don't fit properly together (oops!). The filter pads for these are not the best, since they are so close to the light of the aquarium they can grow algae really fast.. To keep this from happening too quickly don't keep your aquarium light on for too terribly long during the day (no 8+ hours of light), him having light from the rest of the house should be fine for his partial lighting.

Oh also, don't worry too much about your Betta jumping from that area at the back I have never had any issues with my Bettas being interested in that area of the tank, though none of mine are much for jumping either. If you have concerns about it you can always set a piece of plastic over it, like 1/2 a broken CD case. It should also be good for if you're worried about your kitty as well, you can even use a small piece of scotch tape to hold it to the lid so kitty doesn't accidentally push it off.
 
#23 ·
Thanks for this info about the cheesecloth. I think I'll take care of that right now. Just a wrap around? Also if anyone knows how to rig a sponge on there, please share as that sounds more practical long term. What kind of sponge is safe to use?
 
#25 ·
callistra, the Yahoo! link does not say what filter that fish was sucked into.

The 2nd link is for the AquaClear 20, which is not the filter that is used in the Bow aquariums.

The 3rd link says nothing about what filter was used.

4th, is a regular 5 gallon aquarium from WalMart which carries a much more powerful filter than the Aqueon filters.

5th is a filter from a 10 gallon starter kit, not the filter we are talking about.

6 says nothing about what filter nor does it say exactly how he was stuck.

7 the OP said he "I know he probably got sucked into the intake", note the key word "probably". This also does not mention what filter was used.

8 says their Betta darted under a huge filter for a small aquarium and his finnage started to get sucked into the filter, which happens if a Betta gets too close to a filter, actually it happens to any fish who gets close to a filter. It doesn't mean the whole fish was SUCKED into the filter like you keep saying happens all the time. If it happened ALL the time then no one would use a filter with a Betta.

9 also says nothing about what filter was used.




I don't know if you are aware but we are not talking about any old filter we are talking about the Aqueon Bow filter that comes in the MiniBow, 2.5 BettaBow and 5 gallon Bow. The filter looks like this:




There is no way possible unless the Betta was a fry for it to actually be fully sucked up into the filter like you keep saying, it's impossible. However, a Betta can get his fins torn in the filter intake, which is why we suggested the sponge or cheesecloth. The intake is not nearly strong enough for a Betta to not be able to free himself from so there would never be any fear of a Betta drowning because of the intake or having serious bodily injuries. It's completely impossible, please understand what filter we are talking about and don't post unnecessary threads that don't pertain to what we are talking about.
 
#26 ·
I clipped off a piece of filter mesh to wrap around until I can get a sponge. On another thread someone mentioned a fluval edge prefilter sponge A1387 as being a good fit and help prevent fin damage. I'm going to try that.
 
#27 ·
It depends on if you have short or long finned fish.
I have a PK in a 2.5 with the filter on and he does perfectly fine with it, but my CT and VT in 2 of my others cant have it on because its too hard on them.
I personally wouldnt risk it at all and just use the tank without a filter, or replace the one that came in the tank with a sponge filter.
BUT these are nice tanks and I love them, just wish they chose a different filter with them.
 
#28 ·
I've heard of the fluval edge sponge to be good too, i think they are almost the perfect size to wrap around the intake. Smart idea with just the little piece of filter mesh, i'm sure that will work for some time before it needs a change, it's alot more hardy than just cheesecloth.

Our HMs and CTs never had any issues with the intake or outflow of the filter in these aquariums. My HM loved to play in the outflow and never got pushed around by it. I say just watch your fish and make sure he does okay with it, all fish are different and handle filters in different ways.
 
#31 · (Edited)
I'm well aware of what you're talking about, and I know none of those reference minibows specifically.. like I said that was just the first few searches that came up. I wasn't willing to spend hours trying to find all the old threads I've come across which reference minibows specifically. If you don't want to believe me, that's no skin off my back..I just pray it's no skin off any of your betta's backs really. Hopefully you will never have to experience what I have seen, but believe me or not, I have seen many threads with minibows killing bettas and plenty of unsettling mutilated betta photos to boot. It doesn't happen to every betta thank G-d, but I've seen enough to know it's not a fluke.

All I'm saying is spend pennies and seconds to protect your betta from a potential life threatening situation.. Last I'll say on the subject.
 
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