Is this safe?

[Squidmagician]

First off, I'd like to say that I am SO glad I found this forum. I had no idea just how woefully ill-informed I had been about what sort of environment a betta needs.

Eager to correct our errors, we recently purchased this aquarium for our lovely crowntail, Alucard. We haven't put him in it yet, but we've got it all set up and it looks great. There's just one thing that worries me...

This aquarium has a tube in the center for the air filter, and it came with a small, plastic ring that sits atop the tube to keep your fish from swimming down into the tube. The problem is, I'm not sure the spaces are small enough to actually keep Al out if he got curious.



If I keep the water level just above the top of the tube - or perhaps even below it - would this be all right? I don't see any reason why it wouldn't, but I'm new to aquarium keeping and I'd prefer to err on the side of caution and ask the experts. Thanks, in advance!

[briser]

I have that same tank and I have the water way above the top of the tube and my girl has never even tried to go down it. I think it'll be fine. :)

[Squidmagician]

*whew* That's a relief to hear. Thanks! I didn't really think it would be an issue, but I just wanted be sure.

[briser]

To be honest, I wouldn't even bother putting that tube in there and the under-gravel filter sucks. :(

When I bought mine I had it set-up the way it's suppose to be for a month or two but I ended up taking it all apart.. The under-gravel filter just makes all the dirt go to the bottom of the tank which makes it nearly impossible to clean because it's such a hassle to take out all the gravel and clean underneath the under-gravel filter. And the tube with the airstone doesn't really do anything but make bubbles.. and some fish actually hate airstones - well all my bettas do anyway. Also, the tube just takes up a lot of space that your fish could have to swim around.

What I did was:
1. Take out the under-gravel filter.
2. Take out the tube/airstone.
3. Buy a small 1-3 gallon filter. (10-15 dollars)

Then your fish will have more room to swim and it will also make it MUCH easier to clean the tank if you buy a gravel vac/siphon.

That's just what I did though, you don't have to haha. If you want pictures of how I have mine set-up I can find some if you like.

Also, I make 2 water changes a week. 1 - 50% and 1 - 100%

[Squidmagician]

Ah. I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the heads-up! I'll definitely take a look at your set-up. It does sound like that would work better and give him more room...

Thanks for the suggestion!

[briser]

There's a picture of my tank without the tube and stuff in this thread: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread....ighlight=nikki

As you can see I put a decoration in the middle that has a hole in the top (got it from walmart) so that the light will still shine through.. Just had to make sure there was no gravel under the decoration.

[Mermaid Fish]

Yea, I also had that tank but returned it and got a five gallon and everything for the same price. I didn't have any problems with my betta trying to get through. When I was cleaning it, he same down and I get to pull up the tube though.

[Tisia]

bettas can get stuck in them

[Squidmagician]

briser: That looks great! I may have to do something like that with ours...

Tisia: Eek! Thanks for the link. That's just what I was worried about. Looks like I'll be making some modifications for sure...

[danifacetastic]

Yeah I would suggest just getting a normal 1-3 gallon filter. Those types of filters really aren't beneficial anyway...I had the same type in my one gallons and found out it really didn't do anything. Plus betta's don't like a lot of water disturbance anyway.