# Just Finished the new Betta Condo.



## Surferjo (Oct 6, 2012)

Just finished up the new Betta Condo. I got tired of doing multiple water changes on multiple tanks. Between the filter the live plants and just one tank my Betta habbit duties just got a little easier. Just have to finish up the glass hinged lid and im all good.


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## bettaluver14 (Dec 15, 2012)

:shock: That. Tank. is. awesome!

where did you get it?!?!??!:-D


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## carbonxxkidd (Oct 30, 2012)

Gorgeous tank!!


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## Surferjo (Oct 6, 2012)

Thanks, I made it. Purchased the glass. The dividers are PVC that i got from home depot. I cut and drilled them (what a PITA that was). The white divider for the pump/heater/filter on the far right is a cutting board from Walmart.


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## twolovers101 (Sep 17, 2012)

It's beautiful!!!! 

...won't they get stressed from seeing each other all the time though?


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## Surferjo (Oct 6, 2012)

I actually asked that very question on this forum and the majority of people said that the clear dividers are fine. I guess it makes sense as there are no dividers in their natural habitat and somehow they manage to survive and thrive.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

^My thoughts exactly, LOL.
My two males freak when they can see each other. I personally would assume it would be OK if the tank were heavily decorated but with such small spaces and bettas on both sides, they might have issues with territory..


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## Surferjo (Oct 6, 2012)

Each tank is about 1.6 gal. I made the dividers removable so i can easily replace them with opaque plexi glass if it starts to become an issue.


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## Frazzle (Apr 10, 2012)

does the left side get equal filtration?

Curious because I've been thinking about doing this.


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## Surferjo (Oct 6, 2012)

Yes, the pump is located in the lower right portion. 

A tube running under the gravel feeds into that little white cavity on the bottom left (you can see from the pic). 

It has a bunch of holes drilled into the top so the water is very diffused and creates almost no current. Since the pump is all the way to the right the water is drawn across all 4 partitions finally to the white divider which creates the filter cavity. From there it goes down through a fine mechanical filter 1st, than a mesh box filled with a lot of bio material and finally another more coarse mechanical filters. 

I pulled up the opaque side so you can see it easier.


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## Frazzle (Apr 10, 2012)

Impressive


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## DiiQue (Jul 15, 2012)

Great looking betta home there! Yet another thing to be jealous about on this site! Lol


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## callistra (Jun 29, 2010)

I would try to cover the dividers with live plants. Some bettas do become ill because of stress and some will actually find ways to jump the dividers and get in fights. It is an attractive set up though


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## MSG (May 8, 2012)

*Great job on the tank, custom dividers & lighting as well.*

The one thing I noticed is you have several dracaena plants that are found in marsh type environments. 

They're not fully aquatic & if you submerge those plants too long, eventually in a couple weeks will start to decay & mess up your water.

You could go with a few medium sized anubias plants & mount them on driftwood so your bettas will have something to rest on & some place to hide in case they want to take a break from seeing one another.


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## Kithy (Nov 21, 2012)

You are amazing o_o Keep us updated on how they like it!!


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## homegrown terror (Aug 6, 2012)

MSG said:


> The one thing I noticed is you have several dracaena plants that are found in marsh type environments.
> 
> They're not fully aquatic & if you submerge those plants too long, eventually in a couple weeks will start to decay & mess up your water.
> 
> You could go with a few medium sized anubias plants & mount them on driftwood so your bettas will have something to rest on & some place to hide in case they want to take a break from seeing one another.


i was gonna say this as well. another alternative, if you're dead-set on having dracenias in there, would be to buy some taller ones whose leaves will come out of the surface of the water. as the leaves grow, the ends will dip back down into the water and create natural "betta hammocks," and dracenia roots are great at absorbing ammonia from your water.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

Oh man, I am soooo jealous! I've been wanting to do this for a long time! It looks amazing! You should write a step by step guide on how You did this if\when you have time? Ive never been able to figure out how I would/should do it.


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

Very pretty  Great job on everything! And don't worry.. your fish will adjust to having neighbors and soon will get upset if separated hehe.. looking forward to seeing pictures of them in their new home!


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## Surferjo (Oct 6, 2012)

@MSG When i brought those "Aquatic Plants" home from Petsmart my wife said those are basically Hosta Plants, I hope you didnt pay much for them. my response was, "Uhhh, no honey they were super cheap " They have been in my Fluval for 2.55 months now and so far seem to be doing ok. 


@Callistra I have 3 of 4 in there now and you may have a point, they do seem to be a little on the agitated side. I really feel bad for the Betta in the middle, he's doesn't know which side he should be flaring at. 

Do you have any suggestions on what plants would do well to eventually create a privicy wall?

@aemaki09 Its really not too hard, I had a fluval spec and basically stole the filter cavity idea from that. The most difficult part was how to make the partitions "non-permenant" and not an eyesore. I like the idea of being able to easily pull things apart and not have to break out the silicone to put it back together. 

This is basically how its all put together. I didnt have the filer cacity partition in for this pick but its basically a Walmart $2 cutting board with some holes drilled into it.


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## Surferjo (Oct 6, 2012)

Here is how the pump compartment is set up. The filter partition has a divider running perpendicular to spearate the pump from the filter media side. It doesnt go all the way to the bottom. This forces the water down through the filter media before it goes into the pump and back out to the far left side. Im really happy with how the return turned out. It creates almost no current at all in the left most compartment and the flow through the partitions is so slight that the fish rest againts it and its acts almost like a betta hammock.


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## Viva (Oct 18, 2012)

It looks awesome! I wish I could make something like that!


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## Solaris (Dec 2, 2012)

Amazing! I really love how each compartment has a different feel. I can't wait until I have a place of my own. I'll fill it with tanks like that!


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## MSG (May 8, 2012)

*Still very nice job.*

Hard to make custom dividers & tanks perfect the first time around unless you work with these materials all the time. 

Let your new betta condo run for a couple months and see how EVERYONE likes it, how the bi-weekly cleanup goes, before you tinker with it more. 

Also with your last photo with the heater, that plant looks a lot like a "peacock fern" that grows in my backyard. 

The fern is definitely going to cause a problem/rot being submerged 24/7. 

Not sure what kind of plant to recommend that grows FAST & can eventually double as a fence that won't drop leaves and create decaying plant matter to clean up on the bottom.

Also I have no idea how much powerful your light fixture is.


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## Surferjo (Oct 6, 2012)

Fixture is the marineland double bright 24" led. I think your correct about the fern. All of the plants I purchased said they were aquatic plants on the packaging. I wish they would put a better description on them. 

The tank wasn't really all that hard to make. I made one when I was a kid so this would be my 2nd. What's hard is making it neat using minimal silicone. In the end gravel and plants hide a multitude of sins


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