# Making the tank divided? Is this a good idea?



## derpmeister (Jul 26, 2010)

I love my betta Toki and would love to get another betta. Problem is, I don't have the money for a new tank, so I wanted to divide my tank.

Here's my setup:
10 gallon
Top Fin 10 filter
Heated to 80 degrees
1 betta
detritus worms living in the gravel xD

Will dividing my tank upset Toki? He has lived in there for 9 months and I don't want him to suddenly be stressed due to having his space halved. 

Do I need a better filter? What side should the filter be on?

I don't have a QT tank and don't have the money to buy one. Is that ok?

Thanks for any input. I'm still debating whether I should do this.


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## Lion Mom (Jun 14, 2010)

I know a lot of posters love their divided tanks, but I'm not one of them. Too much stress on the fish, IMO/E and too much chance of both/all fish getting sick should one come down with something. 

IMO, if your fish has had the entire 10 gallons to himself for 9 months, he would most likely be VERY upset to suddenly have only 5 gallons AND another male in "HIS" territory. 

But, that's just my opinion - others will probably see it differently. Good luck with whatever you choose.


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## laughing (Mar 12, 2011)

I think he would freak. 

Divided tanks are for upgrading bettas, not downgrading. My female has been living in her 2.5 for quite some time. Just to experiment, I slipped in the divider. Instantly she continued to throw and hit her body against the divider. There wasn't even another fish on the other side!

I would say no. He has been in there too along to introduce any other fish. Check Craigslist for good deals on tanks!


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## Littlebittyfish (Jan 5, 2011)

I had a horrible thing happen with my divided tank..I don't think I would ever have one again..In fact I ripped the darn dividers out and will be buying my surviving fish a 3 gallon critter keeper. They can be done though..But like mentioned..very stressful for the fish.._and_ owner should anything go wrong..and just not worth it to me in my opinion...I would get a 3 gallon critter keeper for your new betta if you choose to get one. That way you're not taking away from the other betta. Critter keepers are around 10-11 dollars for the 3 gallon and you could also put a filter in them but they are fine unfiltered too. Also,every betta has a different little personality and not all bettas take well to divided tanks..so it is best to have a backup just in case anyways...


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## Lion Mom (Jun 14, 2010)

Littlebittyfish said:


> I had a horrible thing happen with my divided tank..I don't think I would ever have one again..In fact I ripped the darn dividers out and will be buying my surviving fish a 3 gallon critter keeper. They can be done though..But like mentioned..very stressful for the fish.._and_ owner should anything go wrong..and just not worth it to me in my opinion...I would get a 3 gallon critter keeper for your new betta if you choose to get one. That way you're not taking away from the other betta. Critter keepers are around 10-11 dollars for the 3 gallon and you could also put a filter in them but they are fine unfiltered too. Also,every betta has a different little personality and not all bettas take well to divided tanks..so it is best to have a backup just in case anyways...



Yes, sadly, dividers sometimes fail. :-( I had that happen once years ago when I used divided tanks. Fortunately, both fish survived. What I found, though, was that my bettas that were in individual tanks seemed to have longer life spans than the bettas in divided tanks. Too much stress on the divided tank fish? I don't know, but that is what I think.


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## Littlebittyfish (Jan 5, 2011)

Lion Mom said:


> Yes, sadly, dividers sometimes fail. :-( I had that happen once years ago when I used divided tanks. Fortunately, both fish survived. What I found, though, was that my bettas that were in individual tanks seemed to have longer life spans than the bettas in divided tanks. Too much stress on the divided tank fish? I don't know, but that is what I think.


It wasn't so much the dividers themselves that failed...I planned it out so well..I even used aquarium sealant to glue them in place and used a versa top so it sat right on top of the dividers so there was nowhere for them to jump...unless the top was open of course.....Someone here in the house fed the fish before they went to bed but accidentally left the versa top open...I woke up to quite a mess.... They were both alive when I found them but my guy Batman passed away a few hours after...:-(
It is just accidents happen...And I really wouldn't take the chance on something happening again.


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## gkFins (May 9, 2011)

9 months is definately a while to have the whole tank to himself. I'm not sure how he would react to having a tankmate after being alone. having plants along the divider would help break up the vision a bit, so your fish won't freak out if he sees his tankmate.
I don't know much about filters, so it's your choice if you want a better filter. It doesn't matter what side the filter is on. If you want, you could cut a little niche in the mesh so that your filter could be in the middle. Buying a quarentine tank isn't necessary. you could just use a tupperware as long as it's half a gallon or bigger (the latter would be preferred). 
I think it would be fine to divide your tank as long as you make it safe and as unstressful as possible. I'm sure you already know this but even if your betta's not a jumper, I would make sure the mesh is about an inch or so above the water. good luck if you decide to divide the tank!


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## derpmeister (Jul 26, 2010)

Thanks for the advice guys-- I probably won't do it now. I'd love to have another betta but I really don't have the money or the space for another tank, even a small Kritter Keeper. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to keep spoiling the one I have until I move into a bigger place...


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## SilverMagic (May 10, 2011)

Well, if your betta is used to having all 10 gallons to himself then I can understand why you wouldn't want to do it but in the future after your fish lives out his hopefully long life you can. Here is what is stated in the book "Animal Planet Aquarium Care of Bettas" by author David E. Boruchowitz.

"Many people maintain row of bettas, either in jars lined up or in a single vessel fitted with partitions. Besides providing a display of many different males, perhaps each of a different color, this permits viewing the elaborate displays the fish make and they try to drive each other away-and therein lies the controversy.

The vehemence with which the male betta will attempt to get at his neighbor through the walls of the vessel is amazing, and it is easy for a human watching the display to project a great deal of frustration onto the fish's psyche. This leads to questions of cruelty: isn't it mean to make the fish struggle like that, driven by instinct to fight a battle it can never win? What people often fail to take into account is the ethological notion of habituation. Whether it is caution toward a new object in the environment, aggression toward a territorial intruder, sexual response to a potential mate, or even fear of a predator, an animal's response to an incessant stimulus is habituation-the instinctive response attenuates until it ceases altogether. In the betta's case the males soon habituate to each other's presence and stop displaying. In fact they often settle down to building nests, just as they would in the wild after chasing off an intruder male.

In fact, this is precisely why retailers often keep cards between their jars of male bettas. When a customer is interested, they want to be able to pull out a couple of cards and have the males begin showing off their best colors and finnage. When kept in constant sight of each other, the males will become so habituated that they almost never display. In order to give the males exercise, betta breeders often shuffle their jarred males, breaking up the habituated neighbors and causing them to start displaying to the new ones. So if you want to see your males displaying, it's best to keep them out of sight of each other. If you have them lined up where they can see each other, they will display infrequently after an initial bout of showing off."

Whew!!! That's a lot to type. I can understand that it may put your bettas at risk for both catching disease but isn't that the risk in any community aquarium or perhaps in the case of female betta sorority tanks? I say, if you want to set up a 10 gallon divided betta tank with 2 males go for it! But probably best to let your betta live his life out alone in the tank first since he's used to having the whole tank to himself. Unless you feel he may habituate to the new situation, well it's up to you.


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## n3wport (Apr 11, 2011)

laughing said:


> I think he would freak.
> 
> Divided tanks are for upgrading bettas, not downgrading. My female has been living in her 2.5 for quite some time. Just to experiment, I slipped in the divider. Instantly she continued to throw and hit her body against the divider. There wasn't even another fish on the other side!
> 
> I would say no. He has been in there too along to introduce any other fish. Check Craigslist for good deals on tanks!


I had a 10 gallon with a black mesh divider I made myself, and had it sealed to the tank =( No fish in there yet, but I was planning on putting two in there (both having 5 gallons to themselves) Do you think this is a bad idea?


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## laughing (Mar 12, 2011)

Dividing a tank and then adding all new members is perfectly fine especially if you add in calm, not as aggressive males with proper dividers. The problem arises when the fish has had the whole tank and then it is divided. Why? The fish doesn't understand. They work on instinct rather thinking. They've known most of their lies they can continue on and now they cannot and therefore that is when it becomes traumatic and highly stressful.


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## n3wport (Apr 11, 2011)

laughing said:


> Dividing a tank and then adding all new members is perfectly fine especially if you add in calm, not as aggressive males with proper dividers. The problem arises when the fish has had the whole tank and then it is divided. Why? The fish doesn't understand. They work on instinct rather thinking. They've known most of their lies they can continue on and now they cannot and therefore that is when it becomes traumatic and highly stressful.


yea, i was just curious. no fish have been in the tank yet. one of them is in a temp. 2.5 gallon until i get the 10 g cycled


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