55 gallon divided betta tank

[Louise0328]

This thread will follow the work I am doing on my 55 gallon community tank. I am currently rehoming some of my community fish to a neighbor tank and dividing the tank into 6 different sections. All filled with bettas.

I am making my own dividers out of crochet canvas, report binders and suction cups to stabilize them.

The fish I am stocking the tank with are bettas, corie's, and black skirt tetras.

The very middle section will be larger than the rest to house my 2 females and my black skirts.

The tank is of course heated, filtered, and planted.

WISH ME LUCK! 😄

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[Louise0328]

here is a finished divider, ready to be placed

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[Louise0328]

Well I got several dividers in already! They look great! I'm currently working on several small DIY sponge filters for the different sections since I can't run that many electric filters at once.

The filters are made of old fish food containers, Pro-carbZ, aquarium gravel, filter cartridges, airline tubing, plastic tubes, and an air pump.

This design is clearing my tank faster than the hang on filters!

I'll post some updated pics once I finish the filters and my tank water clears up!

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[Louise0328]

Finished product! Can't wait to see how well they work 😆

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[Louise0328]

Well I'm all finished. I got the dividers, filters, background, and fish in. I only created 5 sections for the sake of room. I love the rock pile in the community.

I'm hoping the water will clear up soon. Is it yellowish because I have like plants in there?

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[Louise0328]

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[Mebbid]

Interesting setup you have there. I would have never thought of doing something like that myself. Have you thought about adding a lid? Bettas are notorious jumpers.

Also, have you thought about adding more females to your 2? Multiple betta females need to be kept in a harem of 5 - 6 ish to survive, otherwise one ends up picking on its partners to death.

[Louise0328]

I did actually just buy another female and am planning on slowly integrating because I'm poor Lol

And I've never really had a problem with jumpers.. If they do end up humping I'll fashion a lid

Thank you! I pride myself in it

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[Louise0328]

Well, The new plan is to use aquarium sealant on the dividers to anchor them in because I've actually had my thick bodied black skirts swim between a divider and wall already.

And I just bought a new plakat dumbo and he is gorgeous! I think I'm gunna make everything in his tank black and white so he really pops

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[Louise0328]

Well, I didn't do the all black and white tank for my new male but I love his tank anyway!

And I got all the dividers placed and glued in and the water filled all the way up. The fish are in and I'm just waiting on the water to clear up to post a picture.

Here's a picture of my new male in his tank!

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[Louise0328]

Here's the tank! The original plan was to stagger the sections but I abandoned that plan halfway through so the left side Is staggered while the right is normal. I put my 2 larger males in the staggered sections and the smaller 2 in the regular.

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[alyxandria]

Your female bettas should only be put together in groups of 3+. They need to develop a hierarchy and odd numbers of bettas are best. If you want the females to get along you should put them all in at the same time so no one fish has territorial issues. I suggest you rearrange your aquascaping and remove both female bettas and when you have more bettas put them back to their "new environment" or the existing bettas will pick on the new additions to their home. Keep an eye on them, cause they have a tendency to pick on the weakest link. Not all female betta communities work and you should know that sometimes female bettas simply don't get along with each other. If you have 3 or 5 bettas and notice aggression in one and lots of picking on a specific fish - take out the one being picked on rather than the aggressive betta as it throws off the hierarchy. Ideally for betta communities are best if you get siblings from a breeder. (Sorry betta enthusiast here!)

[Louise0328]

I had to remove the 3rd betta I added. All she did was fight with my red female. my red female hasn't touched my little girl since they've been together and they work great together so I'm not worried about it honestly Lol. But thanks for the advice!

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[Louise0328]

So I changed plans again.. Lol everyone has their own tanks. I'll post some pics when I get home but I love the look

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