# Is 10 gallons divided 3 ways too much?



## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

I've been bitten by the betta bug and can't seem to get the idea of bringing home a flashy finned pet out of my mind. I don't want to spend any more money on filters and heaters to set up my 5 gallon, so that's why I'm wondering about my currently divided 10 gallon. The problem is that my original betta will have gone from 10 gallons, down to 5, and then down to 3. I divided it into 2 about 3 months ago, and he recently had a tail accident either with the filter or he bit it himself. So is it worth dividing again? Other than vac. a bit more, will the maintenance change any? I currently do a 50% water change once a week.


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## tanseattle (Jun 28, 2012)

This is what I got. The three white bars are divider. When I need to divide, I drop a plastic down. I also have both clear plastic and solid plastic. When I use both clear and solid plastic and remove the solid piece when I want them to flare (exercise).


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

oh yeah you can divide the 10 3-way. I have one of those currently and I love it. My 3 boys are very happy in it.


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## Ant10a (Jun 16, 2012)

You definitely can! I will be doing so shortly as well! lol


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## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

So will the 50% water change that I've been doing be enough?

Right now, I have a HOB filter on the right side. It can't move, so will filtration in the farthest section be a problem?


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## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

Also, I plan on getting a VT. (I currently have a VT and a CT.) Would it be better to put my CT in the section with the filter instead of a VT. Will switching the fish I have now into different sections upset them? It would be like putting them into a whole new tank. I ask about this because the VT I have now has most of his tail missing. Not sure if he ate it, and I worry about stressing him out.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Put the strongest fish near the filter. So it's up to you which you think is strongest.
I don't think switching them around will bug them. If they have a favourite plant or something just move it with them.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## TuckerLove (Jun 10, 2012)

I had 2 divided 10 gal tanks, divided 3 ways. The one tank was perfect, none of them were stressed out or anything. The 2nd one though wasnt so good. 2 of the 3 destroyed their fins in a matter of 2 days. As long as you watch them, and make sure they arent to stressed you should be fine. Make sure there are tons of plants and hiding places


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## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

Okay, I'm pretty convinced to do it! I measured it out, and each section will be 6.5 inches across the front. All of my plants should easily be crammed in there to provide good coverage.

I just hope that I won't have to do more than one water change per week, and that the section farthest from the filter will have decent circulation. 

I would love to see pics of 10 gallons divided 3 ways!


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## mursey (May 9, 2012)

Ok, here is mine but FYI I have no substrate as you can see, but I will be adding it soon. (It's easy to vacuum with no substrate, but I am going to attempt to make some or all of my tanks planted, although I will be keeping some of my silly decorations as well.)










Hmm now it looks uneven. I had just moved the one divider but now it seems it's still "unfairly divided". That's ok, they are not glued there. I just tied hammocks to one of the dividers today.


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## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

That tank looks awesome!! I bet the bettas really love it! What kind of leafy plants are those? Is the filter on the right side?

I measured mine out and taped the dividers to the outside of the tank to see how it would look, and I believe that the outflow from the filter will be falling into both the middle and rhe right section.


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

That was an awesome and colorful tank!


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

This is my 10 gal. there are a few live plants and they have grown a bit since this picture but you get the idea.


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

cute birdy :3


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## DoctorPanda (Oct 2, 2011)

mursey said:


> Ok, here is mine but FYI I have no substrate as you can see, but I will be adding it soon. (It's easy to vacuum with no substrate, but I am going to attempt to make some or all of my tanks planted, although I will be keeping some of my silly decorations as well.)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


wow, that looks AMAZING  I want to redo my tanks now, because something like that would definetly go with my colorful room. Where do you get your stuff, if you don't mind me asking? I don't think I've ever seen stuff that colorful in any of the pet stores around here


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

nice tanks!! mine is only divided once lol


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## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

Ivandert, I really like your's too! I think I need some live plants.:-?



Okay, I divided mine today and the 2 original bettas are still side by side. The only problem I've found is with the dividers. I had an old divider with the wide blue ends like mursey has on the right divider. I used those 2 ends on the backside so that I could use report binders on the front since they're thinner. I used suction cups to help keep them from moving. Once the 2 bettas saw eachother, I noticed that they were able to stick the tip of the mouths between the report binder and the glass.:shock: I made sure that the report binder was pressed right up next to the glass, so I'm not sure why this is happening?


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## mursey (May 9, 2012)

DoctorPanda said:


> wow, that looks AMAZING  I want to redo my tanks now, because something like that would definetly go with my colorful room. Where do you get your stuff, if you don't mind me asking? I don't think I've ever seen stuff that colorful in any of the pet stores around here



Thanks! (I just redid it again last night, ha ha. Finally got some gravel in there.) Anyway, I got a lot of silicone anemones from Amazon.com and some from ebay. Just type in "silicone anemone", "silicone coral", or "silicone plant" under the Pets section. Or type those words into google and click Shopping. That is how I found the ones I wanted. The little houses or caves I made myself though. I bought silicone kiddie cups and cut them with craft scissors and glued them with aquarium sealant glue, then glued aquarium plant leaves to some of them. The silk plants are just from Petco, but there are a lot on Amazon too. 

I will post a new pic soon, I just changed the colors around to match a little better. Everything is green, blue, or green-blue now because I ordered real plants and I want something where real and fake plants might blend in a little .. but I'm really not sure how that will work! 

I could tell you how/where I got the stuff to make the little betta houses but I think most people would think it was a waste of money. When I just started making things for bettas I was paranoid about anything being too sharp so I made and ordered a ton of things that are made of silicone. I made filter baffles out of silicone cookie sheets, hammocks out of the scraps .. you get the idea. It's kind of ridiculous but I have fun doing it.


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## mursey (May 9, 2012)

Here are the changes I made yesterday.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Betta splendens need a minimum of 2.5 gallons so you can divide it 4 ways make sure the tempature stays around 80F degrees and is properly filtered not to strong or the bettas will struggle or a 20 gallon you could have three or more females.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Ivandert nice tank but looks a little dirty nice pet bird.


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## MollyJean (Dec 29, 2009)

I wouldn't go past 3 personally. Betta need more horizontal space and breaking a 10 gallon into four will give them less horizontal. It's all vertical space.


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## a123andpoof (Apr 10, 2010)

I have 3 10g 1 has been divided by 4 and the others are soon to be. My bettas have no problem with it. And are perfectly happy.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

divided into four is 2.5 which is the minimum 3.3 is better would not surprise if some people did 10 way division.


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## mursey (May 9, 2012)

I really really want to replace my 10 gallon with a "Mr Aqua 12 gallon LONG" and divide that instead. 

Then again my 10 gallon tank was $10 and that awesome 12 gallon long is around $70.  I just wish more companies made tanks in the very long shapes. 


http://www.marinedepot.com/Mr._Aqua...Rectangular-Azoo-AZ1119-FIAQRA-AZ1123-vi.html

Here is someone's video of that long tank.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNP8-J32yHo


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

ChoclateBetta said:


> Ivandert nice tank but looks a little dirty nice pet bird.


It had actually just been set up, it's the IAL making the water brown, and it has the all natural looking pebbles.


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## LionCalie (Sep 24, 2011)

I've seen Petco selling a 15 gallon glass tank kit for a decent price in stores. I'm tempted to pick one up. Same height as a 10 gallon but 2 inches wider and 4 inches longer.


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

i dont see why you cant divide it four times, i mean it looks odd, but honestly its just like when people divide their 5 gallons in half..


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## LionCalie (Sep 24, 2011)

The only downside to dividing a 10 gallon 4 ways is each section losses a significant amount of horizontal space, which is what Bettas prefer.


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

ohh..... hm...


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## megaredize (May 21, 2012)

mursey said:


> Here are the changes I made yesterday.



your tank is soooo pretty and the bettas are beautiful


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## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

I would love to divide the 10 gallon four times just so I can get another betta, but 3 already seems hard to clean between and keep fake plants held down. I'm tempted to set up my 5 gallon, just so I can get 2 more. I'm addicted!


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

lol, i am so lucky, 3 out of 4 of my tanks were free and the other was 15 $ w the hood light gravel tank and filter! i have 2... 2.5's, a 20 gallon (<---All those free) and a ten gallon,(15$ w/the works) my 20 long is divided 4 times, my 10 gallon twice, and my 2.5s each are not divided of course lol. and one is my hospital tank. so i have room for 2 more bettas, but id have to divide my ten gallon again and i would only have a half gallon hospital tank...


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## mursey (May 9, 2012)

megaredize said:


> your tank is soooo pretty and the bettas are beautiful


Thank you! The bettas are just Petco bettas. The middle one (Pinkerton) still has a huge chunk of (caudal?) fin missing. But he seems to be happy & maybe someday they will grow back.


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

The bettas really match the tank!


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## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

Well, it does not look like this as those big decor pieces are in the 20G now










and I had this one when I lived in Alaska. SOmetimes the middle one like to visit his neighbor :shock:


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## mursey (May 9, 2012)

I took out the 2 fake silk plants today to make room for live floating plants (labeled EASY BEGINNER plants) that came in. The bettas seem excited .. maybe because it's the first time I also fed them frozen food instead of freeze dried. They are probably thinking "What the heck is going on today? Live plants and worms and daphnia? " Hee hee .. bettas are so %$#^ cute.


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