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Ultimately, the type of filter is up to you. The DIY bottle filter is the most cost effective for the amount of fish you have, but if you wanted to spend more money you could get power filters that would do a better job... the problem is that you'd need several for a divided tank of that size, maybe 3 power filters at least, which will likely run you about $20 to $30 each.
 
Discussion starter · #42 ·
Ultimately, the type of filter is up to you. The DIY bottle filter is the most cost effective for the amount of fish you have, but if you wanted to spend more money you could get power filters that would do a better job... the problem is that you'd need several for a divided tank of that size, maybe 3 power filters at least, which will likely run you about $20 to $30 each.
What about sponge filters I see a lot of betta youtubers use them?
 
Discussion starter · #45 ·
if you are looking for a sponge filter look no more. ;)

https://www.amazon.com/Aquarium-Bio...qid=1508825768&sr=1-68&keywords=sponge+filter

I have four of these for my tanks and they rock! the pump and tubes will be needed for these. but you have them on your list I believe.
Will that work on a 20 gallon with 5 bettas, though? It looks pretty small. The Kaldness media bottle has way more surface area for its size than that looks like it does.
I will only have 3 and a extra slot unless you think it's better to divided the tank up more. The only problem with the media bottles it could take till December for the splitter to come?
 
It works in a 5 to 10 gallon tank. You can have two or 3 in the 20 gallon so the water is filtered equally. At least that's what I would do because bettas hate fast movement and at times I have to even lower the bubble power on these little sponge filter. Lol
 
Discussion starter · #47 ·
Well I have decided to go with the Media Filters, and have ordered some splinters off eBay that should be here by November 10(Crossing my fingers) Until then I will changed there water every other days or so. The hardest part right now is trying to find a 20 gallon long for myself. I don't have a pet co in my town so I will check some other pets stores on Friday when I am not working and have time to go out. Thank you all for the help! Will inform you soon!
 
I will only have 3 and a extra slot unless you think it's better to divided the tank up more. The only problem with the media bottles it could take till December for the splitter to come?
Well, even if you did the sponge filters you're still gonna need the splitter as you'll need to run one sponge filter per section. I'm still looking around for places you could buy it from that's either in the US or Canada.
 
Discussion starter · #51 ·
Well, even if you did the sponge filters you're still gonna need the splitter as you'll need to run one sponge filter per section. I'm still looking around for places you could buy it from that's either in the US or Canada.
I already got some really cheap on eBay, from a reliable seller. I also check my classifieds every day for tanks!
 
Do I need to cycle the tank before I add them?
It's possible to cycle with the fish in, cycling can also take weeks. Get a few bottles of Prime to take care of ammonia until the beneficial bacteria establishes. Prime is dosed at 2 drops a gallon and neutralizes ammonia for 24 hours. Just dose it daily until your ammonia readings reach 0. When ammonia is at 0, the cycle is finished and from there you just need to do weekly water changes to remove nitrate.
 
Discussion starter · #54 ·
It's possible to cycle with the fish in, cycling can also take weeks. Get a few bottles of Prime to take care of ammonia until the beneficial bacteria establishes. Prime is dosed at 2 drops a gallon and neutralizes ammonia for 24 hours. Just dose it daily until your ammonia readings reach 0. When ammonia is at 0, the cycle is finished and from there you just need to do weekly water changes to remove nitrate.
How do I check the ammonia levels and is this the prime you are talking about? Also do I add the prime after the cycle?https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0002A5WPQ/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I3BIIRV2EHVVAY&colid=1W2VR5HKJCJYH
 
You need a test kit like this to check your parameters:

https://www.amazon.com/API-FRESHWAT...508882051&sr=8-1&keywords=api+liquid+test+kit

Prime is a water conditioner (that removes chlorine and chloramine) that you use every time you put new water in the tank. It also has the added bonus of neutralizing (but not removing) ammonia for a certain amount of time. Dosing it daily until the cycle finishes will block ammonia until the bacteria has time to establish. Once the cycle is complete, Prime only needs to be added to new water every time you do a water change. The bacteria cultures in the filter will be removing the ammonia for you at that point.

Prime:

https://www.amazon.com/Prime-100-3-...&qid=1508882210&sr=1-3&keywords=seachem+prime
 
Discussion starter · #56 ·
You need a test kit like this to check your parameters:

https://www.amazon.com/API-FRESHWAT...508882051&sr=8-1&keywords=api+liquid+test+kit

Prime is a water conditioner (that removes chlorine and chloramine) that you use every time you put new water in the tank. It also has the added bonus of neutralizing (but not removing) ammonia for a certain amount of time. Dosing it daily until the cycle finishes will block ammonia until the bacteria has time to establish. Once the cycle is complete, Prime only needs to be added to new water every time you do a water change. The bacteria cultures in the filter will be removing the ammonia for you at that point.

Prime:

https://www.amazon.com/Prime-100-3-...&qid=1508882210&sr=1-3&keywords=seachem+prime
Alright got all that $240 cad got to pick up some extra shifts at work LOL
 
The good news is that all this stuff will last a long time. I only just finished a bottle of Prime I bought last year. I also stock up on it whenever Drs. Foster and Smith has a free shipping sale.

Drs. is a site you should get acquainted with. They have a ton of good aquarium stuff for cheap, and they often do flash sales and no-minimum shipping, which is good for when you want to grab cheap stuff without paying the $19 minimum. I have something like 14 bottles of Prime sitting in my aquarium toolbox that I grabbed during such sales.
 
Discussion starter · #58 · (Edited)
The good news is that all this stuff will last a long time. I only just finished a bottle of Prime I bought last year. I also stock up on it whenever Drs. Foster and Smith has a free shipping sale.

Drs. is a site you should get acquainted with. They have a ton of good aquarium stuff for cheap, and they often do flash sales and no-minimum shipping, which is good for when you want to grab cheap stuff without paying the $19 minimum. I have something like 14 bottles of Prime sitting in my aquarium toolbox that I grabbed during such sales.
Yeah well, shipping from Drs. site cost money even when the order is over 50 dollars since I am in Canada. The hobby just got harder as my sister doesn't want to pay her percent of the fees and she wants a new phone, even though I told her if she got them she has to pay to give them the proper care and if that falls on me I worry I won't have enough funds.

Would I be able to put 5 Bettas in a 20 gallon long tank I just found one on my classifieds!
 
You can definitely put 5 bettas in it. If she won't take care of the fish, then she should just give them to you. The good thing about divided tanks is that taking care of multiple bettas is pretty much the same thing as taking care of one. You're only heating/filtering/balancing the chemistry of one tank, and doing maintenance on one tank also. My setups cost roughly 60 each, and I'd be spending the same whether I had 1, 2, or 3 fish in it. By having it divided you're actually kind of getting more mileage for the money spent.
 
By the way, if you have a Dollar Tree in Canada, they sell these smallish plastic containers with screw on lids that you could use to make the filters, might look a little nicer than plastic bottles and the openings are wide enough to just throw the media in. You could even maybe stick some sponge in the lid for extra filtration. DT also sells sponges in the bath section that could be trimmed to fit for that purpose.
 
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