I'mma Happy Girl! :D

[SDragon]

Inheritance! I love that series. I also love Harry Potter. I must have read HP like ten times over the years. I remember when I got Inheritence. I was so happy yet sad at the same time. It is a very good read. I want to tell you more but, gah, I dont want to spoil it! :) I love the names. And that is a very pretty fish. :)

[MandiceP]

I'll have to make a thread for Inheritance chat once I'm done with the books. I think that today I'll start where I left off in Brisingr. I think I remember enough and my memory will get jogged as I go enough to just pick up and not have to start over. So I'll start reading and hopefully finish soonish. I'm a very slow reader but I will try to truck right through it! LOL

[BettaMommy531rip]

Originally Posted by MandiceP

Sorry, I was gonna edit the last post but I can't seem to find the Edit button? lol where did it go? I'm logged in, I dunno :/
Anywho. I found a video online today of how to safely cut plexiglass with a blade and I was able to make my new dividers fit better. So I put one in the ten gallon and have filled it with water. I'm currently conducting a test to see how the heater is going to work in this tank. The divider is a solid sheet of plexi. I didn't bother having the guy drill holes in it as I don't plan on filtering the tank, but the divider is not 100% water tight as I wanted to be able to move them around and add another should I decide to break the tank into 3 sections. They are very tightly fitted so there is no chance of the fish being able to move them, and they are over an inch taller than the water level so there will be no jumping over either. So needless to say I need to see how the heater I currently have is going to heat the two sides. If one side will be okay and the other will not be warm enough, or if they are both going to be okay, etc. So I currently have the tank filled with water and no gravel with the divider in and a heater on one side and two thermometers suctioned to the two sides. I'm going to allow the tank to heat the way it needs to and figure out if I need to get another heater for the other side and just set them both slightly lower or how this is actually going to work. Anyone with experience or advice is welcome to share! I can't wait to get Glaedr home!! Shruikan is currently flaring at the new empty tank next to his... lol he is put off by the sight of it at the moment!
Added:
Well I'm keeping an eye on the thermometers as I do some house work and they seem to be rising at the same exact temp. This is interesting. I'll post back a little later with a picture of how I have it set up... but it seems as tho both sides are exactly the same temp as the heater is heating the tank up.

What vid? I'm hoping to get 2 new guys and keep them in a 10 gallon divided tank. My plan is to have 2 sheets of acrylic or plexiglass spaced a tiny bit apart. Thin enough for only paper-thin objects to fit inbetween them. Then I can give the 2 boys a little flare time. But when they're done I slip in a piece if paper so they can't see each other. Then they can have a break. My issue is that I don't know if heat could make it easily from one side to the other with a "double divider". Also the Inheritance books sound great! I think I might check out the first one at my library!

[MandiceP]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCeHx-vvJ7k

That is the vid I used. Unfortunately I only had a sharp box cutter and the part I was cutting was a tiny strip so it broke off in chunks but I was able to sand down the edges after. Sounds like you want to silicone the dividers in so that the paper doesn't get wet? Or else you'll have to use a sheet of something waterproof if you don't want to silicone. I don't have mine siliconed in, they were just cut so they fit tightly on their own. Tip tho, cut the corners off the bottom side of the dividers on an angle so that they allow room for the siliconed edges of the tank. That way they don't rip any silicone. learned that the hard way myself. Oh well. Luckily I was able to patch it up fine. I'm wondering now if I should have used clear acrylic because I have been reading that darker surfaces make the bettas see themselves in the reflection. Glaedr doesn't really tend to flare so far at the store so I'm hoping it won't bother him too much, and honestly I plan to put a female on the other side so it shouldn't bother her too much either. We'll see.

Also if you choose to silicone the dividers I can not give you any advice on heating, but if you don't and you leave water in between and slide in something waterproof... sheet of plastic maybe? the tank should be able to be heated by one heater no problem. My tank is still amazingly the same exact temp on both sides and is sitting at a warm 78 degrees right now. that makes me super happy as that was my biggest fear! here is a pic of the tank right now.



I'm going to add gravel and rocks tomorrow and the plants I have for now. I'll be getting some more decor for them including something to hide in. Shruikan is adorable. He likes to lie in the top of the little flower in his tank. Quite adorable! I'll try to get a picture of that soon!

so here is Betta central in my house right now

(complete with overly inquisitive orange cat, Brutus!) lol

[BettaMommy531rip]

Sweet! I'll just laminate the paper instead of siliconing the dividers. I'll just do what you did and monitor the heat for a few days before I get fishies.

[MandiceP]

Well Glaedr came home today. He had a tough time when I first put him into the tank. He was acting a little strange. He seems to be fine now. His fins look great and he's not clamped or stress barred.... so we'll see how he does over night. I bumped the temp up a couple degrees and added a little aquarium salt just for support but I think he'll be just fine. Probably just like "whoa.... this is much bigger than that bowl I've been living in..." O.o that was kinda the face he kept making. He didn't really look sick or shocked... just like overwhelmed maybe?

BettaMommy your plan sounds good. Make sure to direct me to the thread if you post one for your new tank, I want to see how it goes with the divider, I might mimic that for now that I only have the tank split in two!

[MandiceP]

Glaedr continued to act strange for a little while longer. Then I saw him swim right to the top of the tank and take a good few gulps of air and then he instantly looked much better. I also offered him some food a little while later and he's much better looking now. Fat and dark tummy and a way more normal swim action. I'm glad. I was nervous at first. Shruikan has a small area where he can see Glaedr swim by and every time he does Shruikan gets all bent out of shape and goes into manly lunk head mode... lol All I can picture is him going "I pick things up and put them down" and as soon as Glaedr is out of sight again he's like "hum de dum de dum..." back to what he was doing before. LOL