Scored a cheap Spec V!

So...my last betta acquisition has been living in a small (~1 gallon) planted tank since I got him. He was so tiny and I just didn't have the heart to throw him into an ocean. I'm over-protective, what can I say? You should have seen me for the whole year after I brought home a tiny baby chinchilla runt Anyway, he's not only undergone a growth spurt, but he's also suddenly changed colour! Seriously. In the morning he was transparent, in the evening he was grey-blue! Off I went to the pet store the next morning.

I've always liked the look of the Spec V but PetSmart's TopFin line has come out with kits that resemble the Spec series and are much cheaper. Hmm. But, spotted a big yellow sticker on a Spec V box. Missing light, 40% off. Not only that, but it was already on sale. So my final price was the same as for the cheap knock-off! I wasn't concerned about the light since I don't trust kit lights to grow plants unless they're advertised for that purpose and I have numerous extras around here anyway. Heck, I'd ordered some more bulbs just the day before! So my new toy is up and running with a bit of filter media borrowed from another tank in preparation for my little guy's upgrade!

I finally have a Spec V!!!

 

Nice find, sounds like your Bettas going to have a lovely new home

 

So far I'm impressed with how quiet it is! It's right next to the head of my bed and I can barely hear anything at all. Only thing that's confused me is where to put the heater because the cord interferes with the plexI top's fit. From what I've read online, I can put the heater in the end space with the pump and outflow tube but I worry the heat will damage it in that confined space. For now, I'm putting up with the bad fit since it's not really noticeable anyway.

 

I have 2 heaters in mine, a small 25w tetra heater in the outflow compartment, and a 25wt in the actual tank. The biggest fault in these tanks is the light, the slide switch wears and fails or the LED board fails and only half the lights are operational. Great little tank though.

 

Given the long, narrow shape of the tank, is is advisable to run 2 heaters to keep the temperature more even throughout? I'll get another if necessary! Do you use adjustable, pre-set or a combination?

Can I ask how you like your Edge 6G tank? I love the look of those too but Fluval seems to have made access difficult. What's your experience?

The plan for the lights, at least in the interim, is just to use E27 base LED bulbs in old-school tank hoods. They're cheap and easy to replace if something goes wrong and I can play around with colour temperatures and wattages to find what works best without breaking the bank

Oh, and something kinda cool, at least in theory, is the National Geographic light pod system I found this morning. You buy the base unit, and then you buy as many LED snap-in "pods" in the wavelength you need. The reviews haven't been great but it seems like it could be a good idea!

 

glad you got a good betta tank!!!

 

Thanks! The rest of mine live in more standard dimensioned tanks (except for the Fluval Flora), I just always wanted to try this one! I wouldn't have had room next to my bed for anything wider so getting the Spec just opened up another tank spot

 

After much crying and cursing, I got my driftwood to sit more or less the way I wanted it to, but it took a chunk of slate, globs of superglue and several metres of wasted fishing line to do it. I also decided to steal two Fluval Flora fluorescents off my other tanks to see if that stops my Frogbit from dying.




You can see the betta's shape and colour a little more clearly in this (terrible) pic; his tail actually goes all the way to the right edge of the shot, his fins are mostly transparent!

 

Looking really good ! The heater in the water pump compartment is one of this preset temp heaters by tetra that cannot be manually set. This is the reason for the second heater which can be adjusted. I also just realized that the second heater is a 50wt.

My edge tank is a love hate relationship

I only do water changes in my betta tanks every 2 weeks and those are simple. The bigger problem is trying to plant, scrub or decorate due to it's limited opening. I modified a pet toothbrush by heating and bending the neck to help me clean. This has been effective for me. Our new nerite snails are the professional cleaners now though . In all, both are great tanks. My daughter has the spec V in her room and my edge is at work. Best of luck.

 

Mine's the other way 'round! I put a preset heater on the tank side because it's one I can hide under the substrate. I was hoping it would be enough but it's clearly not up to the task so I dug out an old adjustable 50w and stuck it in the water pump section. The as-yet-unnamed betta is having a blast in his new digs and has even started showing some new colours on his fin edges. He's still transparent but some faint pink has been added to the faint silvery blue

 

Your tank looks great! Congrats on it!

 

Thanks Anders247!

I suppose I should have mentioned what I've got growing in there. The tall lanky plant at back right is (supposed to be) red ludwigia. It was more than a foot tall when I bought it! Bottom left, stuck under the tip of the driftwood is a ball of Subwasstertang. I couldn't believe it when I found it in a tiny pet shop. It wasn't even for sale but I asked for some and he agreed to sell me a chunk. Just to the right of that and peeking out is Hydrocotyle tripartita (possibly a cv. but I've no idea), it was just sold to me as "coin plant". And stuck to the driftwood are small sections of Windelov Java fern.

 

Just an update on the tank and its lone inhabitant. I'd read in reviews that the outflow was super strong and might be too much for a betta. One suggestion was to stuff the outflow tube with filter floss but I was worried that would strain the pump motor. I considered heating the outflow nozzle and stretching it out so it's more round. As is it's very narrow and the water shoots out of it at high speed. In the end, I pointed the nozzle up slightly so that the outflow barely breaks the surface. There is a lot of movement at the surface but most of the rest of the tank is easily swimmable for a betta. He also seems to have made a game of approaching the outflow from below with his body arced and then riding the wave to the other side of the tank