Good afternoon,
I have a 2.5g Mini-Bow that was originally a temporary home for my Ryukin (Perky) while I was setting up the new 20g tank. After moving Perky to the 20g, I remembered how nice it felt to have a deskside aquarium, which greatly provides relief for my anxiety disorder.
So I "rescued" a male betta (Tater Salad) from Walmart yesterday, and he's now housed in the Mini-Bow. I named him such because those containers look like they should have potato salad in them instead of fish, plus I've watched Blue Collar Comedy Tour way too many times.
(An aside on the issue of "rescuing" fish from chain stores: One post made the very good point not to support the store with your $$, but the way I looked at it, the most important thing I could do to make a difference in this instance was to bring Tater Salad home with me. He made eye contact, and I made a difference to him.)
I've looked thru some of the various experiences with folks and their Mini-Bows, and wanted to ask a few specific questions ...
1. I don't care much for the Whisper filter which came with the tank. Not only is it intrusive for sitting inside the Mini-Bow, reducing room for the fish, but it doesn't seem like it would do much of a job. Would a back-of-tank mini filter produce too powerful a current for The Tater? What about one with a bio-wheel? Or would something such as the Azoo Palm be superior to either? I see the smallest back-of-tank filters rated at 60-70 GPH, compared to the Palm's 16 GPH, and wanted to make sure I had something that would do the best job considering the tank size and fish housed.
2. Currently I do not have a heater. The water is staying at a pretty constant temperature, but I do not want to count on that, especially since it gets cold here in the winter. Is there a particular size (25 watt?) and/or brand that I should install and which would fit the Mini-Bow?
3. I've seen several posts mentioning a compact fluorescent bulb for the Mini-Bow. What would be the ideal wattage? I am currently using a 15 watt incandescent. Would these be located in the pet section, or with the general lightbulb section? And how long are these? I found some in the pet section but they appeared too long for the lighting shield built into the tank hood.
Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions!
I have a 2.5g Mini-Bow that was originally a temporary home for my Ryukin (Perky) while I was setting up the new 20g tank. After moving Perky to the 20g, I remembered how nice it felt to have a deskside aquarium, which greatly provides relief for my anxiety disorder.
So I "rescued" a male betta (Tater Salad) from Walmart yesterday, and he's now housed in the Mini-Bow. I named him such because those containers look like they should have potato salad in them instead of fish, plus I've watched Blue Collar Comedy Tour way too many times.
(An aside on the issue of "rescuing" fish from chain stores: One post made the very good point not to support the store with your $$, but the way I looked at it, the most important thing I could do to make a difference in this instance was to bring Tater Salad home with me. He made eye contact, and I made a difference to him.)
I've looked thru some of the various experiences with folks and their Mini-Bows, and wanted to ask a few specific questions ...
1. I don't care much for the Whisper filter which came with the tank. Not only is it intrusive for sitting inside the Mini-Bow, reducing room for the fish, but it doesn't seem like it would do much of a job. Would a back-of-tank mini filter produce too powerful a current for The Tater? What about one with a bio-wheel? Or would something such as the Azoo Palm be superior to either? I see the smallest back-of-tank filters rated at 60-70 GPH, compared to the Palm's 16 GPH, and wanted to make sure I had something that would do the best job considering the tank size and fish housed.
2. Currently I do not have a heater. The water is staying at a pretty constant temperature, but I do not want to count on that, especially since it gets cold here in the winter. Is there a particular size (25 watt?) and/or brand that I should install and which would fit the Mini-Bow?
3. I've seen several posts mentioning a compact fluorescent bulb for the Mini-Bow. What would be the ideal wattage? I am currently using a 15 watt incandescent. Would these be located in the pet section, or with the general lightbulb section? And how long are these? I found some in the pet section but they appeared too long for the lighting shield built into the tank hood.
Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions!
