# Divided Tanks...Pros & Cons?



## BerkB33 (Oct 23, 2009)

Was wondering what some of the posters here thought of their divided tanks. I like somethings about my 10 gallon divided tank...but there also maybe a problem with them. I'm learning that a split tank may cause stress for the fish. Being able to "see" the other bettas in the tank may cause repeated flaring and stress...thereby causing other maladies. How's everybody else doing with their divided tanks? What, if any, problems are you experiencing? What do you enjoy about them? Have you had disease spread with a divided tank?


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## Drift (Jul 26, 2010)

I love my 10 gallon divided honestly.  I haven't had any problems so far. *knocks on wood* However my boys aren't as aggressive as some males. They're enjoying their densely planted tank with hide aways and floating logs. 
I'm sure some cons will come along as I've only had it up and running for a week now.


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## Dead Sunlight (Jun 14, 2010)

Yeah, bout a month ago, I set up my first divided, it was rather interesting...

Yeah, they flare non-stop, they get stressed more easily, and diesease get spread more easily. but I find that they get used to each other.

What I like about dividers though is that when u cant afford another tank, dividers can be made to be those imagenary tanks, and they're cheap!


Also, for a newbie like me, it's just kewl to see 2 or more males in the same tank lol.


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## FloridaBettas239 (Jun 29, 2010)

I dont really care for them. It wasn't the fish flaring at each other, because after the end of the day they had a pecking order and wouldn't mess with each other anymore. The thing that made me take mine apart and not like them was because the part that the filter was on. Made the fish stress and threw him around. The other divided area'a would get a film on the top layer of the water. So then I put a sponge filter at each end and it helped. 
But still was not the best, So this is when I started building a betta drip system. 
And I found these 1.5 gallon with lid's for 1 dollar each. So even while the bettas are not in the drip system yet, The 1.5 container's are awesome and cheap...


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## BerkB33 (Oct 23, 2009)

FloridaBettas239 said:


> I dont really care for them. It wasn't the fish flaring at each other, because after the end of the day they had a pecking order and wouldn't mess with each other anymore. The thing that made me take mine apart and not like them was because the part that the filter was on. Made the fish stress and threw him around. The other divided area'a would get a film on the top layer of the water. So then I put a sponge filter at each end and it helped.
> But still was not the best, So this is when I started building a betta drip system.
> And I found these 1.5 gallon with lid's for 1 dollar each. So even while the bettas are not in the drip system yet, The 1.5 container's are awesome and cheap...


I've developed either a bad case of fin rot or they're biting themselves from the stress of being in a divided tank. Still trying to determine which. If anyone can help me determine which it is... I have pictures on my profile, in an album entitled "fin rot." Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

The filter I've used is just an under gravel filter with floss and charcoal in the discharge. The floss and charcoal slow down the current as well as provide the added filtration. That's one of the things I liked about this tank. LOL.


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## Dead Sunlight (Jun 14, 2010)

ya, one of the males has started tail-biting, arg.


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## Dead Sunlight (Jun 14, 2010)

ur bettas are tail biting. notice that there is no crusty greyish black fin edging.


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## Sarada (May 11, 2010)

I just divided one this morning so we will wait and see. The girl jumped over with ease this morning so I made adjustments to the water level


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## Lion Mom (Jun 14, 2010)

Personally, I don't care for them. I used to have a 20 gal. tank divided three ways and a 10 gal. tank divided in two. It has been my experience over the years that the males in divided tanks seem to have shorter life spans than those kept in individual tanks. I believe that is due to the stress of constantly living in such close proximity to another male. 

I find it interesting that so many say not to show a betta a mirror for more than 5 minutes at a time so they don't get stressed out, yet will put them in divided tanks where they are subjected to that stress 24/7. Shrug. 

There is also the matter of divider failure. Happened to me once and it was not a pretty sight!

And, of course, there is the disease issue - one gets something, they all have it. 

In any event, those are my feelings on the subject.


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## FloridaBettas239 (Jun 29, 2010)

I find once divided, the fish flare at each other every now and then just for 1 day or 2... Then they don't even care for each other it actually stimulate's them and let's them strech there fin's every now and then when they do look at each other... And streching and stimulating is all part of keeping good halfmoon's.. I have never seen or heard of tail biting or short life span over seeing another betta, Even when you do divide them it is not like the surface the divider flaring the whole time...


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## Dead Sunlight (Jun 14, 2010)

yes, after a few days, they will get used to each other.


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## Neelie (Feb 18, 2010)

having had more troubles with my divided than anywone else on here im guessing, i can outline what the cons are anyways. the pro's have faded a little since i've seen how much better they do in critter keepers.
now, i guess my problems were already programmed because my 32g long is split 6 ways, which is too much imo.

first couple of weeks went good in my divided. 3 fish, so the tank was half stocked. water stats were all perfect and stable. added more fish until i had the compartments filled. all went well for a while until the 1st started to bite its fins. i swapped him to the corner compartment thinking he needs some space but it didnt improve. 
it wasnt long till the 2nd started to bite. however, i ignored it and they stopped after 2 weeks or so. 
i then had to move house, which all went well and i set up the tank again with no problems. 

then, disaster hit.
an unknown illness caught draco, my super delta dragon. i took him out but he died just 2 days later. then, it spread to another 2 fish withing a few hours. i took the tank apart and put my remaining fish into critter keepers where they were doing fine. another that had caught it, recovered.

my point; if something goes wrong in a divided, you risk your whole stock. thats is a con that weighs out all pro's imo. hence why i wont list the obsious pro's... 

im now setting the divider up again however, as i believe the illness issue was my own particular fault...

the flaring that has been addressed is indeed stressfull for the fish at first, but after a few weeks mine had adjusted. infact i think to a certain extent mine enjoyed each other's company. so it seemed


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## Sarada (May 11, 2010)

Mine flare over tanks that are several feet away regardless. Unless they each have their own room in the house they still freak over the other fish.


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## Welsh (Apr 13, 2010)

Sarada said:


> Mine flare over tanks that are several feet away regardless. Unless they each have their own room in the house they still freak over the other fish.


Mine do this too, my RT swims to the corner of his tank and pines for the other male, its cute lol

This is a good thread, I have been debating whether to divide my 6.5 gallon so that I can get a CT but my main concern has always been the tail biting and also the fact that if something goes wrong then the whole tank goes down lol


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## Mizzle (Sep 2, 2009)

BerkB33 said:


> Was wondering what some of the posters here thought of their divided tanks. I like somethings about my 10 gallon divided tank...but there also maybe a problem with them. I'm learning that a split tank may cause stress for the fish. Being able to "see" the other bettas in the tank may cause repeated flaring and stress...thereby causing other maladies. How's everybody else doing with their divided tanks? What, if any, problems are you experiencing? What do you enjoy about them? Have you had disease spread with a divided tank?


 Harder to keep clean & do tank maintenance. Doens't look very good imo. Easier to keep more bettas


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## Jayy (Dec 23, 2009)

You guys are REALLY scareing me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Because I'm planning to divide my 10 and 35 gallons and from these replies I don't know If I'm still going to. Is there some way you can lower the stress by adding more plants??


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## Jayy (Dec 23, 2009)

A replie from someone with a divided tank would be great!!


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## Lion Mom (Jun 14, 2010)

Jayy said:


> A replie from someone with a divided tank would be great!!


HUH??? I replied because I used to do divided tanks. I don't anymore & explained why.


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## Jayy (Dec 23, 2009)

I didn't mean it that way. I just wanted a replie from someone to help me out.


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## FloridaBettas239 (Jun 29, 2010)

I seen someone said something about the kritter keepers, They are ok but for a decent size kritter keeper like say 1.5 gallon is 8.00 - 14.00 dollar's or more. And you can buy a bare 10 gal tank for 10.00. I have done this a couple time's, got a 10 gal for 10.00 and built a acrylic top lid for it with a sponge filter for under 20.00 And that's a huge 10 gallon for the them..


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## FloridaBettas239 (Jun 29, 2010)

Divided tnak's are not that bad, The biggest problem I found is a film get's built up on the surface of the section's without the filter.. I had 2) 10 gallon tank's with 3 lee's aquarium divider's, which gave each fish a 2.5 gal section to siwm in. I put gravle in each section & plant's plus decor... And like I said I didnt really have a problem with fish flaring or stress strip's, just the stuff that built up on the surface. So I went and got 2 sponge filters plus a gang valve and put them in each end section and everything was good to go, no more film on the surface and I also could control the flow in each section so the boy's were not getting thrown around..


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## Jayy (Dec 23, 2009)

oh, ok thanks!!


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## puppyrjjkm (Aug 2, 2009)

I LOVE divided tanks. If you do it right I think it looks good and it's nice to have far fewer tanks. I have a 20 long divided into 6 and a 10 gallon into 2. Certain fish can get stressed and tail bite (personal experience) while others don't mind and make massive bubble nests (personal experience also). My 8 boys have always been in divided tanks, they do flare occasionally but not enough to stress them out.


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## BerkB33 (Oct 23, 2009)

Thanks to everybody for posting...I have learned a lot. Please keep going with your responses, It's helping me decide what to do with my two divided tanks! Maybe I should have made this thread one of those "voting" or "poll" types?

There are a few ideas on "obstructing" the bettas "view" of the neighbors...putting in some plants is one suggestion I heard and black solid plexiglass with small holes drilled for circulation, it obstructs the vision more than the embroidery cloth and should result in less flaring and stress.


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## Jupiter (Aug 30, 2009)

I really love my divided tank. Cleaning is so much easier! And I like the way it looks, as long as it isn't 'cramped' (like when my 10 gallon was split into 5!)
Some of my bettas flared constantly at each other the first few days-you can obtstruct their view with plants. Some bettas don't like it, though...they get stressed and can tail bite. It really depends on the betta.

Right now, though, the two I have only flare at each other if they pass by one another by chance-but it keeps them occupied.  
Both of them are quite happy. Othello keeps trying build a bubble nest, but the filter unfortunately ruins it. 

The only problem I have is that filtering isn't as effective on the side that doesn't have it. You also have to make sure the divider is secure and that the bettas don't have room to jump over the divider!


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## BerkB33 (Oct 23, 2009)

A lot of the posters here have discussed the fin rot and biting fins problem. I was a victim of those, or one of those problems. I wasn't sure which problem I had until I posted pics on this site. Some of you helped me to recognize which was what?!?! Well...to make a long story short...the problem I had was hard tap water becoming even harder as I did water changes. Once I started "mixing" RO water and the tap water, to reduce the "compounding" of hardness, the fish rejoiced! You can almost see it in their "posture." I live in the San Joaquin Valley of California, most all the communities in this agriculture rich area use wells to supply their municipalities water. After all the years of farming the ground water is VERY HARD...as I continued to do frequent water changes, the tanks hardness slowly increased, to eventual levels that were disturbing the fish. So...by diluting the tap water with RO water I can keep the hardness down. It seems the fish were telling me the water was too hard by biting their fins. Thank you folks for helping me resolve, I think, my issue. BTW all four bettas are showing new fin growth currently. Thanks again.


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## FloridaBettas239 (Jun 29, 2010)

I have hard well water, like knock you down when it hits you. I never add R.O water. This has been for years and haven't had any problems.


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## BerkB33 (Oct 23, 2009)

Don't claim to be a hydrologist...just lettin' you know what worked in the bettas tank to stop the tail biting...when I used the RO water to dilute the hardness (and whatever else may have occured) of the tap water, the fish have stopped biting and all four have new fin growth. Whatever gets you to the desired result!


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## cmndrJOE (May 8, 2010)

Berk: I live in Fresno (clovis actually), and we have horrible water in my area as well. I treat the water with.... shoot I can't remember, I'm at the bar, so I will check when I get home for ya. Also, when I first joined the site, a few people reccomended leaving your water out for a day or two before you do your changes. Atho I never had any problems before I left the water out, I do it anyway, and have no problems with it.

As far as divided tanks, my 10 gal is divided into 2, with one boy on each side, and have had absoluetly no problems with it. I actually divided it with a plyable divider I found at petsmart for just a couple dollars. (Again, I don't remember the brand or type off the top of my head, will get that info for you when I get home). It's fully breathable, the water can flow freely from through it. My boys can see eachother, but not fully, as it obstructs their views to just shadows of eachother. I have 1 sponge filter and 1 heater for this 10 gal, and have never had problems with alge, film, or other unwanted stuff. They're both happy and healthy.

I have 2 other fish in smaller tanks, 1 boy and 1 girl, all in top of my dresser. They can all see eachother, and they all regularly check each other out, maybe an occasional flare, but that's it. I'm 100% happy with my divided tank. I'll get some pictures later tonight.


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## FloridaBettas239 (Jun 29, 2010)

Usally when they tail bite, It';s either a sick betta or a mutation in the gene's of the fish, which you wouldn't want to breed and pass on. But if R.O water fixed your problem great. But hard or soft water will not have a problem on fish they adjust there blood and liver to the hardness...


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## BerkB33 (Oct 23, 2009)

Thanks Commander...I did just what you suggested with the "hard" water I was using, it sat for a couple days, de-chlorinated, salted, and bottled. I use Prime to de-chlorinate. It's entirely possible that my "theory" is still incorrect anyway...they went for about 10 days, no torn fins, new growth, and WHAM! One of the four chomped on his tail again! I surrender. You know, I was watching my divided tank yesterday, I noticed that the "lone biter" remaining is in the end compartment. That compartment is about 10 inches from my 55 gallon tank full of barbs. I watched him as HE watched the barb tank. Then he swam across the glass facing the other tank....he "seemed" a little shook up...Correct me if I'm wrong but, couldn't the furious activity in the barb tank be "disturbing" to the betta and thereby tail biting ensue? I'm really reaching, now! I'd really like to solve the problem...I like the divided tank...and I'd rather not have to seperate the fish.


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## nochoramet (Oct 2, 2009)

I have had a 10 gallon divided into 3 and a 2.5 kritter keeper for Chance because he's a tail biter, but THEN Fishy and Fru (both in the 10g tank) started tail biting as well. And then I found out my new dorm only allows 1 tank so I took Chance to my boyfriends. He started pining and refused to eat, so I took him back with me and redivided my tank into 4. Other than tail biting, I LOVE my divided tank. Makes cleaning so much easier, takes up less space, looks very nice to me. My boys don't flare at each other but they do tail bite. They're a little stressed out by seeing one another I guess but other than that they're doing awesome. I'm thinking about getting some more plants to obstruct their view a little bit, maybe that will help. Just my 2 cents.


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## Phoxly (Jun 14, 2010)

Having a divided tank is the same risk level as having a community tank, if one gets sick, they can all get sick, thats fish keeping for you. 

I haven't seen pics of a properly decorated divided tank yet, it is always the plastic mesh dividers, with one plastic plant centered in each divide. I think there should be lots of plants, lots of hiding places, and definitely live plants if you can do it. I think a small piece of driftwood in each divide would be fantastic, but to each their own. 

When I divide my 20 gallon long, however I choose to do it. I'll use plexiglass and drill holes in it for circulation, and sealant, and get java moss to drape down the majority of the glass with a clear spot in the middle for occasional viewing?


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## fishmadcraig (Dec 17, 2009)

I have a square tank which is UK Gallon 15. I dont really care for it since its been divided. It used to house a black moore until he got too big for the tank and we put him into the 65 downstairs

I think the dividers are just ugly, and they limit you to what you can aquascape with aswell, as each section is seperated it can ruin the feel of an otherwise very nicely decorated tank. It can remove the atmosphere i feel, too.

I'm cylcing a tank for one of my boys so that i can have the 15 with one guy and a school of Neon Tetra's, which of course, also wouldn't be possible whilst divided because of the amount of swimming room that Neons need.


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## BerkB33 (Oct 23, 2009)

From what I can see this group seems to be split right up the middle on their feelings toward divided tanks. All individuals having good reasons for their preferences. One thing did "stick out" in the comments that I saw...everyone does somewhat agree that the use of "dividers" can/does cause stress in the fish. It also seems that some bettas are more inclined to be "tail biters" (genetics, personality, etc.) than do others. Like people...some are more calm than others. The solutions the group has come up with to eleviate this "biting" issue are..."camoflage" the dividers to block view, use black plexiglass instead of needle point cloth, decorate more for less boredom, or finally just seperate to individual tanks. Does that summarize the thread accurately enough? I've got a few of these things to try before I "throw in the towel" and get them seperate tanks.......thanks for your posts.


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