want cycled tank at school...

[moonstream]

im entering my second semester of college, I go back feb 2nd. I've had aquariums for eight years, set my first freshwater community up when I was ten and entered into reefs when I was twelve. I grew up in NYC, I go to school in rural OH. I suffer from chronic depression that gets worst in the winters, and my fish have always been a de-stressor and strangely enough helped me through some of my darker periods growing up so when I felt. when I came home from spring break I set myself up with my first betta (Rigby, a male blue marble DT who had quickly lost almost all of his white coloration in favor of almost solid blue). I sent him and a 2g tank along with a bunch of my extra java ferns and anubias from home up with a friend in the shuttle that the school runs between campus and NYC. shortly after I had to go to walmart to get some things for my room and pity-bought a sad brown veiltail male that was sitting in a water filled with his own filth. Garson has colored up to a nice bronze and red. he was living in a 1.5g cube with some plants before I brought them back to NYC for winter break.

towards the end of last semester I was super stressed and having trouble feeling like I was on top of water changes with them. I'm embarassed to admit they went 2 weeks without a change because I was basically spending all day working in the library and then crashing as soon as I can home and falling asleep and didnt feel up to it. I cut back on feeding to stop the ammonia from going as high (every other day as opposed to every day) but obviously it was still not great for them.

anyways, they're both in top health now and I'm hoping to avoid falling into the same pattern again. my room ran hot (as in you couldnt help sweating when you walked in, I would guess the room never got below 75 and judging from their behavior (I know how to tell a toasty betta from a cold one) they were very comfortable, so they never had heaters. as the heat starts to shut off the in the spring however I hear there can be some cold days. because of this I'm planning to set up a cycled tank, so on to my question...

SO: I'm going to slap together a nice divided tank with a filter for them. any suggestions? I need it to be lightish because I'll have to take it on the bus back to school.

I'm thinking something around 5g. for the filter I'm thinking 1-2 small sponge ones?

my biggest question is this- I'm going to fishless cycle so that its good to go when I move back in the 2nd. its a 9 hour bus ride minimum, probably closer to 10 hours, though, judging off past experience. if I keep the filter media in a bag with water for the trip will it be okay? I cant really heat it unless I get heat packs which I'd like to avoid. worst case scenario the bus breaks down and the trip is longer; that has happened and it was like 12 hours before they got in.

any answers?

 

[FreshyFresh]

Jayne, the two fishless cycles I did by adding ammonia took 4-6 weeks. You'd be at the end of Feb or beyond with that. Do you have gravel and hard decor from your existing betta setups? Put that in a new tank and it should cycle it for you. Run to Petco and get yourself a $10 10g and put a divider down the center for the two male bettas? Just an idea. You can't go wrong with sponge bubblers if you don't mind some splashing water from the bubbles. In regards to heat, the community tank that houses my 4 female bettas runs 74-76deg most of the year and 80+ when it's hot/humid in the summer.

 

[stingray4540]

Would a 10 gallon be too big? Divide it with a Hamburg matten filter, and use a small pump instead of airlift tubes, then you won't have any external equipment to deal with when moving it, and the divider acts as the filter. And you'd probably have room to add a few other little fish to make it more interesting.

P.S. Have depression problems during the winter? It's because half of your year is spent in winter and cloud cover. Move West! There's no better depression medicine than sunshine. I speak from experience having lived in Ohio for a few years...

 

[dougall]

If you're worried about the temperature of your filter media, you can put it in a thermos or just keep it in your pocket. Sponge filters should work fine, or small internal filters.

But start by choosing a tank/filter combination the filter will determine what you need to do for media, and then everything will fall into place.

 

[moonstream]

10g is definitely too big; I need a tank small enough to carry on the bus and a 10g wont fit anywhere. im considering one of those 6g longs if i can find one, maybe. dividing it with a sponge is a good idea, though, thanks.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Room for a ~6g but not a 10g?

Sounds like your better off with bowls for your bettas, or small acrylic vessels.

 

[Jemi39]

Bowls are bad, freshy... xD

 

[FreshyFresh]

^^ Totally agree, but with no room for a 10g....

 

[dougall]

I think the problem with the 10g is transportation, not actually fitting it in at school.

But for transportation, it might be easier to have 2, not 1 tank. if they are slightly different sizes, you may be able to nest them too and save packing space that way.

 

[Chrisinator]

I think the Fluval Spec Vs are great. It's an all-in-one setup (with the exception of the heater) that is easy to transport. You could divide the tank using black mesh from Michael's or any craft store really.