Tank Size Recommendations

[clurwitch]

Hi,

I have two bettas, each in a 2.5 ga minibow. I currently do weekly 100% water changes, which is stressful for me and the guys, also i know i shoud probably do it more frequently. I'm also having issues maintaining a consistent temp for them. They have heaters (I forget the brand) but they're not adjustable and one broke after two weeks. I live in a tiny apartment and temperature fluctuations are an issue, especially with the crazy NY weather.

I would like to do weekly water changes where I can keep the guys in their tanks. Which tank size would you recommend? I don't really have a strict budget and to be honest, space is more of a consideration than money. I'm happy to spend on quality equipment if it's worth it. Currently they live on a white Ikea bookcase and I'd like to keep them in the same area. Surface spaces a major issue for us.

My building is unheated during weekdays in winter (joys of co-op living), so I need to prepare for that. Internal temps get to low 60s, but as high as 80 when the heat kicks in

Thanks for your recommendations and advice.

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

you could do a 1o gallon and divide it. This tank size will be more stable temperature, ph, and ammonia wise.

[bahamut285]

I also agree with getting a 10 gallon and dividing it. However it won't fit on most IKEA bookcases as the tank is much deeper and the shelves on the bookcase (BILLY)? It also won't be able to handle that much weight.

[Cattitude]

I have minibows (which I actually like) and I change them 50% twice a week and vacuum the gravel once a week. IMO less time consuming, less stress on the fish. I find having a big bucket makes things go faster. I siphon three tanks into one bucket load, then one load to refill them w fresh water. It takes me about half an hour to do my 4 small tanks.

RE heaters, you can get small adjustable ones as well. I find the Aqueon 10w non-adjustables always overheat the tanks (2.5 and below) even though they're rated for tanks under 5 gal. I recommend the Hydor Theo 25w, they're adjustable and work like a charm. If you don't need heat in the evenings when your building is 80 deg., you could plug the heaters into a timer.

[aokashi]

I'm intending to get a 2.5g planted. and 25% water changes once a week. I've just did all the testing with my half gallons with a baby betta and numerous snails and my plants in there have kept everything at 0. So to confirm my periodical testings, for the past week, I left both tanks with no water changes, and it's still been 0.

[clurwitch]

I hadn't thought of siphoning, that would be an option. I will look get a gravel vacuum and try this for the next few weeks. I'll look into the Hydor Theo too.

The tanks are planted but according to the Master Test the ammonia is around .25 at the end of the week. Henry's tank's test looks lighter than Max's. I feed them 2 pellets twice a day and watch to make sure they eat both.

Could I be getting a false positive? The clean water tests at 0, but by the next Sunday it tests closer to .25 than 0.

[aokashi]

I doubt its false positives unless ur getting .25 out of the tap. my tanks are planted pretty heavily, with duck weed and salvinia as the primary ammonia sinks.

[kelseyleah343]

I agree with the 10 gallon and dividing it. Adjustable heaters work miracles. Believe me, I live in Mississippi... I know how crazy the weather can be.

[Cattitude]

I get weird ammonia readings too. No nitrates or nitrites but .25 or highter ammonia when I just changed the water. Try testing your tap water. Some tap water contains chloramine which can fool ammonia tests.

[bahamut285]

Chloramine doesn't "fool" the test, that is actual ammonia that it is reading. Pure chlorine tends to dissipate overtime, so the water company created Chloramine so it could last longer without dissipating. However it STILL dissipates, so if you live fairly far away from the water repository, it will just come out as ammonia.

This is why newer and better water conditioners such as SeaChem Prime remove Chlorine and Chloramine by force-dissipating the chlorine and locking the ammonia to ammonium.

0.25ppm ammonia IMO is not a big deal unless your fish are in uncycled 0.5 gallons. If anything if your tank is cycled it will passively keep your beneficial bacteria fed and happy, and should drop within a few hours of a water change due to the rate of consumption.