new tanks
- Thread starter Dangerdoll
- Start date
I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds here, but I keep a female betta in a pretty small tank:
1.5 gallons, 50% water change every Monday, 1 female betta, 2 male and 1 female Amano, and 2 handfuls of Java Moss. She seems to be doing fine, but really really hates anything red, like my can of Coke in the morning.
I also keep another female betta in an Eclipse 6:
http://www.member.serverpro.com/~praxx42/fish/DSC03692.JPG
(linked for size sake)
1.5 gallons, 50% water change every Monday, 1 female betta, 2 male and 1 female Amano, and 2 handfuls of Java Moss. She seems to be doing fine, but really really hates anything red, like my can of Coke in the morning.
I also keep another female betta in an Eclipse 6:
http://www.member.serverpro.com/~praxx42/fish/DSC03692.JPG
(linked for size sake)
Yeah, I noticed this in the last catalog they sent me. 1 liter capacity, no filtration, "Requires minimal maintenance." If you click the little 'More Information" link on their website, you do get this among other things:NowherMan6 said:
It's nice that it's there, but they haven't made it too prominent.
I've heard people have kept those going for many years. You just have to manage the lighting to keep algae under control (you need some algae but not too much). Supposedly the only thing that really ends the cycle is that they can't get the shrimp to reproduce. I don't see anything inherently cruel about them IF they indeed work somewhat as advertised. I sure can't afford one though.Stephen said:
cgrabe said:Yeah, I noticed this in the last catalog they sent me. 1 liter capacity, no filtration, "Requires minimal maintenance."QUOTE]
The description for this item begins, "A stress-minimizing bit of ambiance..." for the home, office, bedroom, kitchen, attic, tree-house etc. Fair enough. So how does it reduce stress? Well, you look at it and see the fish calmly floating around in the clean water, and you think about calm blue oceans and so on and your stress just melts away.... that is, of course, unless you never clean the water or try to maintain the bowl - then you're looking at a bowl of algae and fish poop. So then you say, "aha! i shall clean this water so it reminds me of calm blue oceans and so on!" so you clean it.. then you have to do it a few days later and you get tired of it. so you think, "hmm, i wish i could have a device that will FILTER the gunk out automatically... what would that FILTERING device be called...?" and you look in the trusty drsfostersmith catalog and find that it's called a .... filter! but alas, the filter doesnt hang on your little bowl, so you go out and buy a 5 or 10 gallon tank for your betta and wind up where you should have been from the start.
or alternative # 2: instead of seeing your betta calmly floating around, he lies on the bottom of the bowl with his fins tucked in... then you think about why he's doing that and realize that maybe he's not so comfortable in a little bowl. so you spend the 8 dollars on a ten gallon tank and there you have it! calm blue oceans....
ok, so i realize i probably just pissed off half of the betta owners out there, but something just honestly bugs me about keeping a fish in a 1 LITER bowl - not even 1 gallon. think about it... would you fill up half of a coke bottle and keep a fish inside? that's what a liter is. compare that image in your mind to keeping one in a one GALLON bottle of water, or even putting 2 one gallon bottles together in a little 2 gallon tank.. it's a world of difference, i think...
Timmain- I kept a female betta in a 2.5 gallon hex tank, and I found after moving her up to a 5 gallon *I* just felt better. She could move and dart around in the 2.5, and she seemed pretty happy, but looking back, it just seems kind of cramped for a fish to spend their whole life in. I'd consider housing another female in it (once my friends give it back) because I do think it's adequate, but I just can't imagine housing a female betta in anything smaller. 
I don't consider 2.5 ideal at all, just adequate (and when you have really limited space, sometimes you go with adequate- so long as the fish is healthy and apparently happy).
And I LOVE your Eclipse 6! That's what I want for my 5 gallon tank, but I just can't do it (live plants, limited space). Your's is absolutely beautiful, though. I really, really like it.
I don't consider 2.5 ideal at all, just adequate (and when you have really limited space, sometimes you go with adequate- so long as the fish is healthy and apparently happy). And I LOVE your Eclipse 6! That's what I want for my 5 gallon tank, but I just can't do it (live plants, limited space). Your's is absolutely beautiful, though. I really, really like it.
125gJoe said:
I will agree that if a newbie to aquaria went to this site and ordered any of the products, that could be asking for trouble... but for someone with some aquaria know-how:
The 4 foot wall aquarium isn't bad at all... heck, you could put a divider in the middle and keep 2 bettas in there - they'd be happy as pie! Sure it's only 6" from front to back, but with 24" of side to side swimming space and 16" top to bottom (if divided in 2 for 2 bettas), it's a nice unique tank. It sure as heck beats most other homes bettas are subjected to... At the very bottom of that page they even offer a heather and filter (not very good one, but still)...
The table aquarium, and it's pretty snazzy looking too. Although filtering that thing could be difficult, but someone with even just a bit of filtering know how could work something out! The tube tank is pretty neat too, I could see my mother in law's turtle living quite nicely in there!
I do have a problem with that lamp-quarium... "Goldfish, Bettas, and Danios can live long and healthy lives in the bowl with no additional equipment" WHAT???
And the portrait... well that's just pitiful... just about as sad as Dangerdoll's original posting.
ps Timmain42 ~ I used to keep a betta in a huge (~2 gallon) brandy glass... he was healthy and very happy -- lived for almost 4 years!!! He had some dark colored marbles on the very bottom, and a teeny handful of java moss floating... he was great! As long as fish are healthy (males that = making bubble nests, overall looking good and eating, I've never kept females...) and appear happy (again, males bubble nests, flaring when shown themselves in a mirror) and you are keeping them in the largest container/tank you can I have no issues!
Rava said:And I LOVE your Eclipse 6! That's what I want for my 5 gallon tank, but I just can't do it (live plants, limited space). Your's is absolutely beautiful, though. I really, really like it.
Truth be told, I didn't do too much. Half a bag of Flourite, 30 +/- Dwarf Sag, 5 bunches of JFern, 10 true lobelia dwarf stems and a Marimo ball. Add 4 Amanos, 50 MTS and 1 female betta, and BAM! She gets fed 8 Betta Bio-Gold Bits a day (3 of which get stolen by the shrimp). It'll look better in about 4 months.
I do biweekly water changes, and add just a little in the way of chemicals, and it grows well. If you ever get the urge, let me know and I can send you the fertilizer schedule.
::edit:: and I might as well address this, about my 1.5 gallon jug. I understand that it's a relatively small tank, but I take good care of her (and the shrimp and plants as well). On top of that, my little red girl is a rescue from Petco. I was told she was brought in by a customer who had her for almost 3 years and no longer wanted her. If you get up close, you can tell she's quite old. This seems like as good of a retirement home as she's likely to get. She keeps me happy, and I keep her in good shape, and she's even made several friends (my co-workers seem amazed that I keep so many fish and plants and are happy to have her around. They've even named her, much to my chagrin). When she's no longer around, I'll probably get a single White Cloud, or just go completely fish-free and have only Amanos with a better plant setup.
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