TFA101

I'm hearing mixed reviews on this product. Overall, I see it as a wonderful product, good filtration, built in light, long dimension for excersise, shallow depth for the mimicing of the natural habitat. All but one thing, its made of acrylic, which I understand scratches easily. What's you opinion on this?Who owns one. Will this be a good investment?

COBettaCouple

We have 5 of them and are pretty happy with them. I think they're great for Bettas.

MinxMermaid

We have two divided and we LOVE THEM. we had to modify a 10 gal divider, we added a little filter to the other side to help with circulation. we use a special sponge to not stratch the acrylic when cleaning. an note, we had to lower the water level a bit, due to betta "jumping the fence".

clinton1621

They look better than the small glass tanks, the only drawbacks would be like you mentioned... scratching, also they break easier, and lose more heat because they are not quite as insulating as glass (heater runs more, higher electric bill lol) So it comes down to which one you prefer more, looks or durability. Personally with a small tank I would go for looks and just be extra careful =)

shellbell4ever

I currently have one that houses my Female Betta Dallas and she is loving it,they are easier to scratch but if you know this ahead of time you should have no problems...A bit of advise,if your buying yours in the store just check it for scratches before you leave the store.

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joy613

If you want live plants the light will have to be improved on. Which is the only reason I haven't gotten one.

welshalien

I have betta in 5g hex, 5g mini-bow, 10g and 6.6g bookshelf -- bookshelf is my favorite...so far

Kelly

TFA101

Well, okay, if I get a 6.6, move Mango into that from the 2.5, can I just add a female to the 2.5? Aren't they smaller than the males, and produce less waste because they are smaller?

jdhef

While a 5 gallon minimum is preferred, I think you could get away with a 2.5 gallon, so long as you have a heater and filter. I do not think the bio load is any less with a female though, so if your having problems with water quality with Mango being in it, you probably would have water quality problems with a female.

TFA101

then again, the problme is flunctuating temps. the light heats my water, and when it is off, the temp drops. So having constant heating will reduce stress, reduced stress = healthy fish. So I need to get a heater for the 2.5, and have another for the 6.6, that way, the water is always heated, and the fish are less stressed. this will make them less susceptible to disease.

By the way, how long is the 6.6?

COBettaCouple

I found that changing the tube from the standard one helps with live plants in the bookshelf tanks.

The 6.6g is about 2 feet long, it's a little longer than a standard 10g tank.

chickadee

You CAN keep any betta in a 2.5 gallon tank but the problem is would you want to? Any betta will eventually end up about the same size. It is the fins that are smaller not the body and the body is the part that counts for the different types. Male and female are actually about the same in body size.

Now the difference in the tank size is not that they cannot live but the activity level and personality change when they are given more room to really move about. You will see a big difference in the bettas kept in larger tanks than those kept in smaller tanks. They live but they do not thrive.

I kept bettas in as small as 3 gallons and they did okay but now I have 2 in 9 to 12 gallon tanks and one in a 25 gallon tank and they are active and spunky and different fish from the ones I kept in the smaller tanks. But as far as survival goes, yes they will survive in the smaller tanks and probably be moderately happy. After all they come from small cups mostly and would appreciate getting out of them into anything bigger as long as it is warmer and cycled.

Rose