Want a betta at work... lowest tech setup possible?

[shellieca]

I would never do a 1.5 gallon. However a 3 gallon does appeal to me, but I know I should do five.

My thing is, I don't want to do the whole tank siphon/bucket thing. It's such a hassle doing it here at home... I just don't want to fuss with it.

I was at a local pet store today and saw the "betta in a bowl" thing with the plant on top. I know better now, but I guess I was hoping for something in-between. I'm not ruling it out yet...

I'm definitely not carting a tank back and forth to work. We do have RO water at work, so that's nice. And I can water my two plants with WC water.

I don't understand . . . how do you plan to do water changes if not using a syphon/bucket? Dumping the water or scooping it? I had a betta at work, in not so good conditions because it was before I learned proper Betta care, I ended up bringing her home just because its easier to care for her at home. Taking care of a tank at work was a bit of a hassle & having to trust someone at work to care for her if I was out for a couple of weeks. Pleas don't do the Betta & plant thing.

 

[Miyavp]

You'll have to siphon eventually if you want to have a successful tank. I promise you it won't be that much of a hassle. You can just stay 20-30 minutes late once a week to do it. It won't take an hour. Water changes on my 38 gallon tank only take 20 minutes, 30 when I scrub algae or trim the plants.

How do you do that? They take at least an hour for my 37 often longer. So long.....

 

[Bettafanatic]

How do you do that? They take at least an hour for my 37 often longer. So long.....

I just do things quickly. All I do is suck out five gallons, prepare five new gallons, and pour it in. I can't imagine how it could take longer lol.

 

[Miyavp]

I just do things quickly. All I do is suck out five gallons, prepare five new gallons, and pour it in. I can't imagine how it could take longer lol.

I do ten gallon water changes and I have to get water from my friends house so it takes a while to pour ten gallons into a bucket and the siphon that back in. My siphon kinda takes a while....

 

[Bettafanatic]

Oh I can see why that takes a lot longer.

 

[callisto9]

I don't understand . . . how do you plan to do water changes if not using a syphon/bucket? Dumping the water or scooping it? I had a betta at work, in not so good conditions because it was before I learned proper Betta care, I ended up bringing her home just because its easier to care for her at home. Taking care of a tank at work was a bit of a hassle & having to trust someone at work to care for her if I was out for a couple of weeks. Pleas don't do the Betta & plant thing.

My hope was maybe I could just cup out water from the top of the tank instead of doing a siphon and bucket.

I have no intention of doing the betta and plant thing.

But it seems like this might be more work than I want to get into at work. I have two cycled tanks here at home - a 20G and a 6 gallon. Maybe I'll get a betta for the 6 gallon once the guppies are out of there...

 

[umramgirl86]

I'll be honest with you (and I'm probably going to catch a lot of heck here), but I have a 2.5 gallon with a betta. I feed him 4 pellets every other day. He does not produce a lot of waste. I do pwc once a week or once every other week by scooping water with a cup and have YET to have to vacuum the rocks. I've had him for 6 months. It has a small filter. Parameters are great and the fish is healthy! You could TOTALLY do a betta in a 2.5 with filter and just scoop water and maybe vacuum once in a blue moon.

You guys don't shoot me. Just my opinion...

 

[Miyavp]

I'm planning to buy my mom a 2.5gal with a filter and heater. But only because she wont take a larger tank. As long as you keep the water good quality and warm enough I dont see why not.

 

[shellieca]

I'll be honest with you (and I'm probably going to catch a lot of heck here), but I have a 2.5 gallon with a betta. I feed him 4 pellets every other day. He does not produce a lot of waste. I do pwc once a week or once every other week by scooping water with a cup and have YET to have to vacuum the rocks. I've had him for 6 months. It has a small filter. Parameters are great and the fish is healthy! You could TOTALLY do a betta in a 2.5 with filter and just scoop water and maybe vacuum once in a blue moon.

You guys don't shoot me. Just my opinion...

No gun in hand to shoot you with. LOL. Sounds like you've kept a good watch on the water parameters which is the main thing. Bettas aren't huge waste producers but I know from experience there's usually gunk in the gravel so personally I vac or dump the gravel once a week regardless of tank size.

 

[shellieca]

My hope was maybe I could just cup out water from the top of the tank instead of doing a siphon and bucket.

I have no intention of doing the betta and plant thing.

But it seems like this might be more work than I want to get into at work. I have two cycled tanks here at home - a 20G and a 6 gallon. Maybe I'll get a betta for the 6 gallon once the guppies are out of there...

You can do that but IMO at some point whether once a week or every couple of weeks the gunk in the gravel needs to come out so its either vac it or dump it. You could do a bare bottom tank & use a turkey baster to suck out the gunk.

 

[smallfry53]

One thing to consider is whether or not they turn the heat off or down on the weekends, as most businesses do to reduce energy costs.

 

[librarygirl]

I just do things quickly. All I do is suck out five gallons, prepare five new gallons, and pour it in. I can't imagine how it could take longer lol.

Have you tested your nitrate recently? A 5 gal weekly water change on a 38 gal tank isn't much. 50% weekly is usually recommended. If you get an automatic water changer that hooks to your faucet (if the tank is within range) it makes things a lot faster than buckets.

 

[Bettafanatic]

Have you tested your nitrate recently? A 5 gal weekly water change on a 38 gal tank isn't much. 50% weekly is usually recommended. If you get an automatic water changer that hooks to your faucet (if the tank is within range) it makes things a lot faster than buckets.

My total nitrates are 5 ppm. My tank is doing fine on the PWCs it gets. If i start having problems I'll increase it. Thank you for your concern though.

 

[callisto9]

How do you do that? They take at least an hour for my 37 often longer. So long.....

Takes me about 45 mins. to do a 30% change on my 20G planted tank. Two trips of 3 gal. each to empty buckets. 6 trips back to put in the new water (would be way too hard to dump water from a 3 gallon bucket back into the tank). Trim plants. Remove snails. I also take the manzanita out to vac, too.

I'll be honest with you (and I'm probably going to catch a lot of heck here), but I have a 2.5 gallon with a betta. I feed him 4 pellets every other day. He does not produce a lot of waste. I do pwc once a week or once every other week by scooping water with a cup and have YET to have to vacuum the rocks. I've had him for 6 months. It has a small filter. Parameters are great and the fish is healthy! You could TOTALLY do a betta in a 2.5 with filter and just scoop water and maybe vacuum once in a blue moon.

You guys don't shoot me. Just my opinion...

See, this is what I'm going for. I won't shoot you! I think If I had a planted tank, the plants could make use of the poo/detritus, too. Then, just scoop some water out of the top and I'd be good to go.

You can do that but IMO at some point whether once a week or every couple of weeks the gunk in the gravel needs to come out so its either vac it or dump it. You could do a bare bottom tank & use a turkey baster to suck out the gunk.

I've often read that with planted tanks you don't vac the gravel. I'm not opposed to a turkey baster though... Hmm...

 

[Bruna75]

My son has a 3 gallon beta tank on his dresser, it takes me 5 minutes to siphon out the water and wipe the walls and lid down and fill it back up. The gallon idea sounds awesome and much easier than buckets. I use a tiny gravel vac for it, it is really fast and easy now my 75, that's a whole different story. Lol.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

A 2.5 gallon tank is fine for a betta. You wouldn't need a bucket for water changes, only a length of air line and an empty one gallon water jug. Pull a gallon out with the air line and add a fresh gallon of water back. Should take about 10 minutes. You'd just need a tiny filter and a heater. Add a light and timer and you'll be in betta heaven. Pretty low tech.

 

[Bettafanatic]

Plants aren't miracle workers. You have to suck out the gunk. They won't absorb it all.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Plants aren't miracle workers. You have to suck out the gunk. They won't absorb it all.

I never siphon my planted tanks. It destroys the plant roots. Most planted tanks don't ever get a real gravel cleaning. After 4-5 years the tanks are sometimes broken down and restarted but not always. It isn't about simply leaving the gunk for the plants it's about not damaging them.

If the betta tank isn't going to have plants she could just have a very small amount of gravel and lightly clean it with an air line or mini vac, but if there are plants in the substrate it's far better to leave it untouched. Seriously, this is how it's done. On planted tanks you just change out the water.

 

[Bettafanatic]

I never siphon my planted tanks. It destroys the plant roots. Most planted tanks don't ever get a real gravel cleaning. After 4-5 years the tanks are sometimes broken down and restarted but not always. It isn't about simply leaving the gunk for the plants it's about not damaging them.

If the betta tank isn't going to have plants she could just have a very small amount of gravel and lightly clean it with an air line or mini vac, but if there are plants in the substrate it's far better to leave it untouched. Seriously, this is how it's done. On planted tanks you just change out the water.

I didn't mean vacuuming the gravel. Sorry I worded myself badly. I meant that there will need to be vacuuming because with the substrates commonly found in planted tanks all the gunk and debris would sit on the top, so once in a while it'll need to be vacuumed out.

 

[callisto9]

I never siphon my planted tanks. It destroys the plant roots. Most planted tanks don't ever get a real gravel cleaning. After 4-5 years the tanks are sometimes broken down and restarted but not always. It isn't about simply leaving the gunk for the plants it's about not damaging them.

If the betta tank isn't going to have plants she could just have a very small amount of gravel and lightly clean it with an air line or mini vac, but if there are plants in the substrate it's far better to leave it untouched. Seriously, this is how it's done. On planted tanks you just change out the water.

That's what I keep reading about planted tanks - don't vac the gravel - just run the siphon OVER the gravel. I do muss up the Eco Complete when I vac, but not all of it.

My thought with a planted betta tank would be to just scoop out the water/siphon it out and that'd be about it.

Honestly, I'm starting to lean towards no on this whole thing. I already have two tanks to maintain... I don't want another, even if it's at work. I think I'll just add a betta to my 6G tank once it's cleared out. It sits right next to the sink, so it's really easy to clean/maintain.