Double Bubble Betta Machine

[dakotajoe1]

So basicly I was inspired by Flossy to make a bubble gum machine or similiar tank. I saw this in my moms living room so I told her about it and she gladly gave it to me (she was tired of lookin at it). I sealed the bottom with clear plastic and hot glue. It appears to hold water just fine and now I'm working on filters. I'm not sure how I'm doing them yet but I want to put them below the tanks most likely in a bottle canister style like I made for my other betta tank. Its missing the plastic tops though so if anybody has any idea where I can find replacements I would really appreciate it. There is literally NO name anywhere on the thing so nothing to look up. Mom is still looking for the old ones :-\

 

[Big.Jon]

Good luck! Following along could be awsome

 

[dakotajoe1]

Thanks! I'm planning on putting battery powered LED lights in the lids and I need to find colored plastic balls that look like gumballs for the gravel too.

 

[smomus]

Following along!
I saw in Walmart some glow in the dark pebbles that are about the size of gumballs. They would be fun to add into the gumballs when you find some.

 

[darkprincess]

Very cool. reminds me of the tv show Tanked!

 

[dakotajoe1]

Thanks ill look into that! But I LOVE Tanked!! its inspiring for sure haha

 

[FreshwaterTropical]

I love it, look online for gum ball machine parts, or something?

 

[Maxkolbe]

You may want to put a divider between the two to keep the betas from seeing each other, all in all a very cool idea though.

 

[siva]

Pretty cool project! Any idea how much water those hold? Personally I don't think they look big enough for bettas. Are you using hot glue to seal off the water portion? That won't work..you need silicone.

You may want to put a divider between the two to keep the betas from seeing each other, all in all a very cool idea though.

I agree a divider is a must if you're going for two males.

 

[dakotajoe1]

Thanks for your input guys! I thought about a divider myself and I think I might spray paint a 2-3 inch black line down each tank where they face each other. So it will still look fairly clean and they should really be able to see eachother. I found out the hard way hot glue won't work lol but I found some multi-purpose pvc cement and its drying now. iv used it on pvc overflows in the past but I'm still a little worried its toxic used in this way. Iv found tops online around 10 each. I think each tank is a little over a gallon. The ones I found online just like it say 11lb? If that's water weight then about 1.4g? Idk I think they are big enough though.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Interesting idea. Can't wait to see how it turns out. As for the bettas it's too small. If it holds 1.4kg of water that's only 1.4L. 10L or 2.5g is the minimum for bettas. What about shrimp?

 

[darkprincess]

I got to thinking, if you could find a bunch of chinese checkers marbles that would be perfect!

 

[dakotajoe1]

You are so right with the chinese checkers! I used to try to eat them when I was a kid XD haha but ya I didn't think about shrimp. That's a great idea! But how could I get contrast in the tanks? like maybe different kinds of shrimp? I'm 19 and new but absolutely hooked on my tanks! So any help is really appreciated iv really learned a lot just from nosing around on here. thanks again!!

 

[siva]

I consider 5 gals the minimum for bettas so I second the shrimp vote. There are tons to choose from. Just don't mix two different neocaridina or caridina shrimp or they'll breed and create less colorful hybrid shrimp. There are tons to choose from. Some to look into are red cherry, blue pearl, yellow, green babaulti, dark green, crystal red, crystal black, blueberry, and mandarin.

 

[darkprincess]

Actually, in my years of experience with them, they prefer smaller waters. Having come from rice paddies in soak thats what they are use to. To each their own, but putting bettas in larger tanks adds undue stress and fin damage from swimming harder. I've raised and bred them for 20 years.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

We have to remember that rice paddies are not the size of a jar.

Op - have you considered hanging a desk lamp with a cfl over the 'tank'? That way you could grow mosses, ferns and small anubias.

 

[jetajockey]

I think 2.5s are ok for bettas long term also. Keeping one in a smaller setup is not something I'd do, but I don't really have an ethical problem with it either. I have one betta in a unheated 29 community which he does very well in.

The wild conditions that these fish originally came from is kind of a moot point, these fish today are far removed from their wild counterparts.

I keep pygmy sunfish, these fish are known to be adapted to living in anoxic conditions. This doesn't mean they all live in little puddles, but some of them do, just like the original wild bettas. But just because they can doesn't mean I feel the need to subject them to it.

It'd be kinda neat to fabricate a sump in there somewhere.

 

[dakotajoe1]

I think a sump is what I'm going to go with. I'm working on the overflows now. I hope I can find small cheap enough pumps tho. Iv been thinking about stacking 2 tanks on top eachother so to make it somewhere around 3 gallons but I feel like it would look funny. I agree with bettas prefering smaller tanks but I think its generally because they prefer still water. So a small overflow shouldnt create much current at all. I considered growing plants out of it, my mom actually had plants in the jars for years on our front porch and it does look neat.

 

[dakotajoe1]

Hey does anybody know if this stuff is safe for direct contact with water? I used it to seal the tanks and iv never used it this way. Only on pvc overflow where it most likely didn't even get in the water. I'm just a little nervous about it =/

 

[dakotajoe1]

Ok guys I know this isn't the DIY forum and its probably where I should of posted originally but I jus wanted to see what you guys about this? I used a piece of clear 3/4in tubing down the middle and through the bottom. Where it runs into a 2 rubbermaid containers with holes in the bottoms. And pumped and up through the bottom of the tank with a 1 way valve incase power outage. First container will have filter floss/prefilter and second will have carbon or just gravel either or. Any suggestions?









View attachment 89665