yay, setting up the 5 gallon betta tanks today!!!!!

[ashleynicole]

I am setting up my kids 5 gallon betta tanks today, but I have to do it in the garage because hubby is making me wait till Christmas to put them in the kids rooms. This way I can get them up and established and cycled before putting the girls in. Each tank will be holding one female betta and an apple snail. They are also going to have a few hardy live plants. They come with little internal power filters and I bought a 25 watt heater for each tank. I made sure I found heaters that have thermostats. Ok.. now I gotta go clean a space in the garage!


***** UPDATE****
The girls are in their own tanks now, I've attached pictures. I used seeded filter media and will be testing water daily.

 

[ashleynicole]

Here they are! And the filters are hob filters which is nice because I can change them if I want.

 

[Reygan2]

I made sure I found heaters that have thermostats. Ok.. now I gotta go clean a space in the garage!

Uh oh, when I bought my heater for my 5 gallon betta tank I didn't consider getting one with a thermostat, I just bought the little flat heater that is for a 2 to 5 gallon tank. Did I really goof? I keep checking the temp in his tank and it stays a consistant 78 degrees. I've had him in there for about 4 weeks. He seems happy and he looks great.

 

[ashleynicole]

Uh oh, when I bought my heater for my 5 gallon betta tank I didn't consider getting one with a thermostat, I just bought the little flat heater that is for a 2 to 5 gallon tank. Did I really goof? I keep checking the temp in his tank and it stays a consistant 78 degrees. I've had him in there for about 4 weeks. He seems happy and he looks great.

I think as long as you have a thermometer and keep an eye on it your probably ok. If the temperature has been staying consistent then I wouldn't worry too much. I've used the submersible ones without a thermostat in the past on small tanks and I don't remember having any issues with it, except that I couldn't adjust the tank degree by degree, I had to settle with it being around 76-78.

I was thrilled when I found the one with the thermostat. Here is the link: Amazon.com: Elite Submersible Preset Heater Mini, 25-Watt: Pet Supplies

 

[Reygan2]

Thanks for the link, but my home temp stays around 75, so for now I'm ok. I know the temp will never go below that, but how warm is too warm? I'm asking because if I leave the light on too long (1 hour or more) the tank actually reaches 82+. He seems fine, but how warm is too warm for a betta?

 

[ashleynicole]

bettas like warmer temperatures around 78-82. I think I read somewhere that they even like temps up to 86 but don't quote me on that . It sounds like your fine.

 

[kindafishy]

What a cool thing to do for your kids!

 

[severum mama]

Cool gifts!!! Just curious, are your kids banned from the garage until Christmas? LOL! How do you manage to hide them?

 

[ashleynicole]

Cool gifts!!! Just curious, are your kids banned from the garage until Christmas? LOL! How do you manage to hide them?

well my kids are age 4 and 2, so it is not too hard to keep them out of the garage.

Edit * hubby said it was just an excuse for me to have more tanks to mess with . But I can't wait for the kids to have their own little tanks in their rooms .

 

[ashleynicole]

Ok, not even thinking I asked my 4 year old to feed the cats, and the catfood is in the garage! Luckily the tanks are farther back inbetween a freezer and a shelf, and the lights were off so she didn't see them. I guess I will have to be more careful! Lol.

 

[Mr.Albiman]

That is such a lovely gift! I wish my mum was that thoughtful! Haha I'm subscribing to this!

 

[ashleynicole]

So I decided to go ahead and move the two female bettas into their new homes today. I used seeded filter media from my 29 gallon and I will keep a close eye on parameters. I can always put the girls back on the big tank or do daily water changes if this doesn't work.

I also planted a little sprig of dwarf sag. It's not much but it is a start! I want to get a small piece of Malaysian driftwood for each tank and maybe put some java fern on it.

I also need to get backgrounds on these tanks. Thinking black but the darker betta may not stand out as good. The dark betta is my sons and the white colored one is my daughters.

I'm open to suggestions, comments, and input. I am going to add a few updated pics up top

 

[GodFan]

You should add some colorful kid stuff for them! They would love it! My 2 year old sister LOVES my moms tank. It has pink gravel and plenty of colorful decorations and fake plants. It is soooo bright she loves it! She even has a little ceramic yellow frog lol

 

[ashleynicole]

You should add some colorful kid stuff for them! They would love it! My 2 year old sister LOVES my moms tank. It has pink gravel and plenty of colorful decorations and fake plants. It is soooo bright she loves it! She even has a little ceramic yellow frog lol

Everytime we go to Walmart my kids get a kick out of the spongebob pineapple and squidwards house so I will probably get that to go in there. But I am keeping the sand substrate and live plants I will take them through and see what other decorations they seem interested in.

Oh and my daughter also always picks up the princess castle, so maybe I will get that for her and the spongebob one for my son.

 

[GodFan]

Everytime we go to Walmart my kids get a kick out of the spongebob pineapple and squidwards house so I will probably get that to go in there. But I am keeping the sand substrate and live plants I will take them through and see what other decorations they seem interested in.

Oh and my daughter also always picks up the princess castle, so maybe I will get that for her and the spongebob one for my son.

I completely agree on the sand lol I dont like gravel anymore. Ive never had luck with live plants so... Im iffy about them lol

 

[maxwellag]

Any updates? Has the sand settled yet?

 

[ashleynicole]

Any updates? Has the sand settled yet?

Yes I added new pictures to the first post in this thread. The sand has settled nicely.

 

[maxwellag]

Yes I added new pictures to the first post in this thread. The sand has settled nicely.

good to hear. Oh the joy of setting up a new tank!

 

[ashleynicole]

It is two new tanks btw

 

[maxwellag]

It is two new tanks btw

Ya, I figured when there was a picture of the two new tanks back to back...