# Mini Bow by Aqueon?



## Breezy79 (Apr 23, 2012)

Are the mini bow tanks by Aqueon good for bettas? I am thinking about getting a couple more male bettas and I need some good tanks for a reasonable price and I don't like keeping my fish without filters or heaters..lol..
Also, out of curiosity do they make heaters small enough to work in the 2.5 gallon mini bow?


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

Breezy79 said:


> Are the mini bow tanks by Aqueon good for bettas? I am thinking about getting a couple more male bettas and I need some good tanks for a reasonable price and I don't like keeping my fish without filters or heaters..lol..
> Also, out of curiosity do they make heaters small enough to work in the 2.5 gallon mini bow?


I have Romeo in a 2.5 gallon mini bow and for the heater I use a regular one and plop it on its side


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## Breezy79 (Apr 23, 2012)

Thanks for the feedback, I will seriously consider buying a couple of them! :-D
I have heard that the filter can be to strong tho... Is this true?


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## nel3 (May 29, 2011)

it can be a bit strong of a filter but the way i found to baffle the flow did leave 66% of the filter media untouched due to the intake baffle ie aq foam to prevent fins from being sucked in, aq foam and rubber band on outflow made it manageble for my vt.


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

Breezy79 said:


> Thanks for the feedback, I will seriously consider buying a couple of them! :-D
> I have heard that the filter can be to strong tho... Is this true?


Its on 80 degrees and it keeps the water at room temperature.


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## vilmarisv (Apr 17, 2010)

For less that the cost of the MiniBow you can get a 5galon Hawkeye from Walmart (check website) and it comes with a flourescent light.


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## Breezy79 (Apr 23, 2012)

@vilmarisv cool!! Thanks for the tip!
@Xshainax I'll be sure to make sure they are set at 80.
@nel3 I'll probably need a little help from all of you explaining that, lol!
Thanks a ton!!


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## duluoz (Mar 3, 2012)

I have the same tank. My only complaint is that the only heater I could find for that size tank doesn't work.

And I mean I bought it twice, and it broke almost as soon as I threw the receipt away.

EDIT: Technically not a problem WITH the tank. But a problem you _might_ encounter.


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## vilmarisv (Apr 17, 2010)

When I used to keep smaller tanks, I would go to Doctor Foster and Smith and but heaters from there becaue not only they are cheaper but because they tell you the size of the heater in the description. For the 2.5 bow there's an adjustable Hydor heater that fits perfectly, I think it's 5 or 7 inches.
Here's the link to the Walmart Hawkeye it was very popular in this forum about a year ago when it was on sale so you might find someone who has it and can tell you about it. 
I don't have one because I switched to glass tanks a while back but was very tempted to buy a few of these.


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## Bettafeathers (Apr 12, 2012)

I have the 2.5 gallon mini bow for my betta. It's a good tank for the price. The back of the hood has a hole for chords for the heater (well I'd assume the heater) which, if you're paranoid about jumpers may make you a bit uneasy but I've never had issues. I found the filter to be too strong and put a bit of sponge around the intake (cut it into a square and "screwed" it on kinda) and also baffled the output part with sponge and it works great. I found the light increases the temperature too, which isn't a bad thing in cooler months - but i wouldn't ever leave it on for extended periods. 

For a heater, I use the Elite 25 watt mini heater (for that and my 5 gal) and it works awesome. You have to find the sweet spot for it to fit out that hole in the hood but it works awesome.


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## nel3 (May 29, 2011)

Bettafeathers said:


> I have the 2.5 gallon mini bow for my betta. It's a good tank for the price. The back of the hood has a hole for chords for the heater (well I'd assume the heater) which, if you're paranoid about jumpers may make you a bit uneasy but I've never had issues. I found the filter to be too strong and put a bit of sponge around the intake (cut it into a square and "screwed" it on kinda) and also baffled the output part with sponge and it works great. I found the light increases the temperature too, which isn't a bad thing in cooler months - but i wouldn't ever leave it on for extended periods.
> 
> For a heater, I use the Elite 25 watt mini heater (for that and my 5 gal) and it works awesome. You have to find the sweet spot for it to fit out that hole in the hood but it works awesome.


does your solution for the intake baffle let the entire filter media get flooded?


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## Breezy79 (Apr 23, 2012)

@bettafeathers, I will definitely check out the heater, it sounds great.
@vilmarsv, thanks for the link, do the heaters still work good even if they are [email protected], I will let you know what I get for a heater and if it works for me


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## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

I also have a minibow 2.5 gallon tank. I'm going out today to get a new filter as well as a heater. The filter that comes with the tank just SUCKS imo, it covers 1/2 the bulb, blocking a lot of the light. So I'm gonna get me a Marina i25 internal filter as well as a Hydor Theo heater, probably pick up a CFL as well since I don't care for the incandescent bulb that comes with this tank, it makes my water almost look yellow


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## Bettafeathers (Apr 12, 2012)

nel3 said:


> does your solution for the intake baffle let the entire filter media get flooded?


Nope, I've never had issues with the filter media being flooded. The sponge I have covering the intake and output is the Aquaclear brand filter sponge/foam, so it is rather porous.


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## Betta Loco (Feb 25, 2012)

Just wanted to pass along that I just changed my water on my 2.5 Mini Bow and now the light will no longer work. Luckily I have two tanks for two bettas but, once I switched the bulbs to check if it was the bulb, now both tanks won't work with either bulb!

I have been wanting to upgrade to a bigger tank (possibly a 10 with a divider) but, this is rather odd.


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## Shadyr (Mar 27, 2012)

I have a mini-bow 2.5 for Ghost, he of my icon. The flow with the filter unaltered was wayyyy too strong for a betta, so my solution was to just remove it completely. I replaced the standard bulb in the hood with a compact mini-flourescent 50/50 daylight/bluelight. I added in the submersible 10W heater and a thermometer on a suction cup. Next, gravel, decorations, treated water. And finally, Ghost  

PS: This started out as a dual beta tank, it has a track on the inner rim that a divider slides into. I did have two betas in it, but the second one only lived for 3 days, and after more reading here, it seemed like it was best to leave it to just Ghost.


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## Stonehenge (Apr 24, 2012)

I have the 2.5g Mini Bow as well. I don't use the lamp though as I bought a little 10w Aqueon submersible heater. I baffled the filter by picking up some Fluval foam and just inserting it into the intake pipe of the filter. The foam is porous enough to let the water and smaller particles through and good enough to catch the big stuff before it gets to the top. I also picked up some African Sword plants and an Anubis as well. I am using a standard LED desk lamp for the light source too.


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## Stonehenge (Apr 24, 2012)

wulfie said:


> I also have a minibow 2.5 gallon tank. I'm going out today to get a new filter as well as a heater. The filter that comes with the tank just SUCKS imo, it covers 1/2 the bulb, blocking a lot of the light. So I'm gonna get me a Marina i25 internal filter as well as a Hydor Theo heater, probably pick up a CFL as well since I don't care for the incandescent bulb that comes with this tank, it makes my water almost look yellow


I had the same problem with the bulb ... which is why I switched to my LED desk lamp and scrapped the hood assembly. Once I get a flourecant bulb I will go back to the lamp hood.


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## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

well, just got back from checking every LPS here and only thing I could find locally was the Marina i25 internal filter, so that's ONE plus, also scored me a CFL, had to order my Hydor Theo online though, will be here friday, then my little boy will be extremely happy, little boy being Posideon, my crowntail betta ;-) So only thing I'm missing for my setup is my heater, right now I got one of those 'preset' ones and a thermometer to monitor it


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## nel3 (May 29, 2011)

Bettafeathers said:


> Nope, I've never had issues with the filter media being flooded. The sponge I have covering the intake and output is the Aquaclear brand filter sponge/foam, so it is rather porous.


the water in my case doesnt even wet anything past an inch of the water input limiting homes for any sort of BB to 33% of possible capacity. the water doesnt even make contact with the remaing 66% of the filter media. though that doesnt bother me much, ial in the water so its not needed.


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## Breezy79 (Apr 23, 2012)

@wulfie, Did you say that your betta is named Posideon? Or was it as king of the sea? My betta is named Posideon, he is also a crowntail!! Well I think, I got him at the pet store last year, he was sooo sad looking, he is really pretty now in my oppinion.


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## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

yep, my little blue/red crowtail's name is Poseidon :-D He's still getting used to his surroundings, only had him for a week. Only thing I gotta do yet is figure out the best way to slow down the outflow of this Marina i25 filter, the waterfall still seems a bit strong and the water level is JUST below the waterfall. Would I be safe taking the water level above the lip of the waterfall?


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