finley Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 Hi I am hoping to set up a spaceous Betta barracks - one long 25 litre tank with 4 separators (= 5 x 5 litre compartments.) Has anyone seen such a thing in Australia that's pre-made? Or, at least, a suitably long and narrow tank that I can divide myself? Thanks, Fin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghengis Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 One word, or rather "acronym", DIY. Building a 90L as we speak. It will have four cubicles, each holding approx. 14L of water, with room for the filter and heater in a cavity at the back. The reason I am doing this as a DIY, is so that I have a tank with the exact dimensions that I need. I don't have to make any compromise with the type of tanks available in stores, nor will I have to compromise my plans for the ideal set-up, to suit a store tank... I understand if you are a bit put off by the idea of building your own tank (I've been talking myself into doing this one for a few months, now), but it really isn't that difficult. And building a 25L would be quite achievable as a first attempt. I'd recommend a spare set of hands (or some clamps), to hold things for you, though. hth!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jo oakley Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 I found a tank on ebay made for Bettas, I have removed 6 of the dividers to make it about 10cmx10cm its about 120cm long with room for heater and filler in the back. I don't know if it was home made. I have seen some for sale online in other forums, mixed sizes in Melbourne. I have two 18l tanks that ready made, I found them in Geelong. I have also had a tank made to oredr by a local glazier He wes cheap and could make anything that I could draw plans for. I not that handy, so I feel happy to let someone else make them for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divy Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 i bought a tank that was 90cm long 30cm deep and 25cm high then i did a DIY to make it into barracks its divided into 6 and has a compartment at the back for the heater, filters and uv i think your best chance is to find a tank that is the size you want then put in the dividers and so on your self p.s ghengis im loving your DIY 90l barracks, keep us up to date with lots of pics ok? :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghengis Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 divy! Where the fudge have you been??!! Thought maybe your collection of HM boys had finally taken over and got rid of you! Or something... How's the barracks? How're the boys?? Thanks for the comment Updates will be posted as available. Good to see ya! Ermmm, yeah, sorry, Finley ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divy Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 lol ghengis im glad i was missed my comp got overrun with viruses and decided not to turn on anymore but its all fixed now all my HM boys are doing good they love the barracks im actually on aquabid now to buy some more and im going to start to new spawns (orange blue dragons hm and black white dragons hm so figers croosed) im also getting a new cabinet for the barracks in a week or two so as soon as i get it ill post pics anyways im keeping a good eye on your thread and i love the look of the black silicon Now back to this thread finly if your after a long narrow tank have you considered just getting the tank made then doing the rest yourself to save some money or ask ghengis nicely to make you one ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted October 8, 2008 Report Share Posted October 8, 2008 Personally have missed Divy immensely! Welcome back! The fish with your namesake is not such a dud any more either! He's finally showing interest in a female and I saw him flare for the first time EVER last night but now he won't stop lmfao. Let's hope we get to catch up more often. Must remember to re-add u to MSN...went though a 'deleting-anyone-I-haven't-spoken-to-in-2-months' faze. My ex and I built a custom barracks. He ordered the glass through the guys they use at work so got it at wholesale price. Had it all bevelled along the edges too so it wouldn't cut. Each compartment holds 4.9L of water x 8 so ended up being a bout a 50L tank (plus about 10L in the filter/heater area behind). We were trying to sell it (still are) see here It was a good learning experience and worked out well but they all share water so I personally prefer not to use it because if one gets sick it spreads so quickly to the others. We've got more glass at the moment to make one with completely sealed sections each with individual filtration. Speaking of which I must dig out my caulking gun and get it to him ASAP before he loses interest in the project again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finley Posted October 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2008 Hmmm...interesting. Sorry to interrupt the lovers' reunion but yes, back on topic... I think I might get the basic tank made to measure, then add the innards myself. I'm thinking 60cm long x 18cm wide/deep x 22cm high. That would do just 3 compartments for me, because I don't like to give them less than 20cm swimming space. Even that seems a bit mean when I look at it on a ruler. Maybe I will make it bigger... :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divy Posted October 8, 2008 Report Share Posted October 8, 2008 finly i was just wondering how you plan to heat it? are you going to filter it aswell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finley Posted October 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2008 Yes divy, no matter what economies I plan, I always end up over-engineering in an attempt to make their environment nicer...and then a little nicer...and oooh, that would be even nicer. So yes, filter and heater will be essentials from the get go. Then there's the aquascaping... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted October 9, 2008 Report Share Posted October 9, 2008 Sorry to interrupt the lovers' reunion ROFLMAO!! See? I'm not the only one that picks up that there's something going on with divy and fighters4u. :lol: Yeah but back on topic. I've got 20cm cubes with males in them and they are plenty big enough in terms of room to move. In terms of sharing water I personally find it much easier to get a larger body of water stable than a smaller one. When the water quality is stable the fish don't get sick as often. I've currently got about 60 fish in a shared water, filtered system and about the same number in individual, unfiltered coke bottles. I'm experiencing much more illness among the ones which are in the coke bottles. The coke bottles need water changes every couple of days. The shared system gets one every week but that's only because there's a fair bit of evaporation. If I could solve the evaporation issue I would probably only do a water change every month or so. Having said that, I think 3 tanks that were 20 cm cubes (which is what your compartments are going to be approximately) could be heated and filtered individually for a similar cost to a single shared divided tank. You could use a reptile heating cord to heat all three tanks from below. A 25w would probably be long enough. The thermostats for them are pretty expensive but you could get a close approximation by putting the heating cord on a timer on and off all day. On longer at night when it's cooler, less in the afternoon when the room warms up. And you could easily run 3 small air driven filters with a single airpump. That way you could kinda have the best of both worlds. A separated system that still shares some of the equipment to reduce cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axoloto Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Hi everyone, I agree with bettarazzie bigger is better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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