# question for aqueon mini bow 2.5 owners



## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

I've had this tank for about a week now, and although it's not 'great', it does do the job. My question is, the incandescent light that came with it gives off a very yellow tint, can this be replaced with a fluorescent bulb? If so, what should I look for? 10W or a 15W? Any help would be greatly appreciated :-D


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## Twilight Storm (Apr 14, 2011)

I got the aqueon 50/50 flourescent for the aqueon betta bow-which is the same tank I think. If you look under the hood it should say what the max is your tank can take. I think it may be 15 watts. most of the mini flourescents are 10 watts. 

I don't know about different bulbs... but the bulb I bought creates a very bad smell when the light is on. The strong smell scares me and I put the incandescent back in. I had contacted aqueon and they replaced the bulb with a different one. The smell is still strong after about 15 min of having the light on.

Personally I am sticking with the incandescents for now. but if you do find a flourescent that does work with no scary strong odor please PM me.


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## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

I got a ZooMed Ultra Sun 10W 2500k CFL, seems to be working great
http://www.petco.com/product/111943...ct-Fluorescent-Bulb.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch


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## LionCalie (Sep 24, 2011)

I had the same problem. I couldn't stand the crappy yellow tint the incandescent bulb gave off. Not to mention I noticed the hood would get really hot because incandescent put off a lot more heat than fluorescent.

I would recommend a fluorescent bulb if you want good lighting; 10 watts is good for the 2.5 gallon.


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## atomicjade (Mar 29, 2012)

Not sure if this is helpful, but I had an Aqueon 16 gal. bowfront and I used it for saltwater. I replaced the lights with two power compacts (fluorescents) and one burnt out rather quickly.


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## keroni (Apr 27, 2012)

I purchased the 2.5 beta bow yesterday, along with another beta to live with my existing beta (which I had in a mini bow 1 for some time before the filter died). The new addition was quickly able to squeeze between the partition and the wall and fortunately my older beta was able to get through to the other side (I didn't see this happen). I re-adjusted the partition attempting to rectify the problem but the new guy got back over on the wrong side last night and has traumatized my older fish. He'll be lucky to make it. I don't recommend this tank and have written to the manufacturer to ask if they have improved the partition.


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## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

it's a great tank for a SINGLE betta once you swap out the filter and replace the incandescent light with a CFL


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## keroni (Apr 27, 2012)

lesson learned  What filter are you using with yours?


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

The light linked is great I have it in my mini bow 2.5 and my mini bow 5. It will grow plants very well and makes your tank look much better as well as making your fishs color pop. I would recommend trying live plants with that light, the only thing you may need, depending on plants, is ferts. Of course many plants will do fine with just ammonia, what your fish creates. Anubias, java fern, hygrophila difformis or any hygro plant is easy, swords as well. Ludwigia, rotala, and some other plants may require ferts.

With the new light you would need to watch the time the light is on. It can grow algae, very well if you keep it on too long. 12 hours should be the max.


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## wulfie (Apr 17, 2012)

keroni said:


> lesson learned  What filter are you using with yours?


I'm using the Marina i25 internal filter, it's still just a tad too strong, so I'm gonna baffle it with a rubberband and some filter sponge


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## gbose (Dec 2, 2010)

I replaced the incandescents in two of my tanks with Fluorescents I got at Walmart in the pet/fish section. They work fine!

GBose


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## tomcat (Sep 22, 2012)

*mini bow 2.5 with 2 bettas*

I have the mini bow with a divider. The divider fits very snuggly and goes to the top of the tank. I have two betas. A beautiful female, Ruby, on the filter side, and a gorgeous white male, Ghost, on the other side. No problems. Although I will tell you not to put a male on the filter side at the intake catches their fins and damages them. I am using the tank as equipped but am glad to see the recommendations on changing the light bulb.


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## vilmarisv (Apr 17, 2010)

Be very careful when removing and replaciing the bulb. Those tanks are famous because the bulb socket will break for no reason... happened to me with 3 of those tanks and I realized what I had bought too late. They are now all used to hold water during water changes.


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

vilmarisv said:


> Be very careful when removing and replaciing the bulb. Those tanks are famous because the bulb socket will break for no reason... happened to me with 3 of those tanks and I realized what I had bought too late. They are now all used to hold water during water changes.


My 2.5 gallon's hood broke, so I guess thats why... Cheap tanks... Hope my 5 gallon's didn't, because I might use it in the future again.


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## jag14 (Sep 23, 2012)

I almost got that 2.5 tank. I found a 3 gallon Marineland tank for the same price. It has a led light that I really like. The filter that came with it is not good for bettas. It is a 90 gallons per hour internal filter. It is a whisper, good quiet filter, just not suitable for bettas. Mine lasted 3 days before I found him sucked up under the filter. I will be using an azoo power filter designed for desktop tanks instead. I did start to get the 2.5 with a divider. I really like this 3 gallon Marineland set up.


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## scootabout (Sep 23, 2012)

Man. Does it not bother anyone else that the place where the filter sits in the MiniBow covers up half the lightbulb?


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## goldfishyman (Jun 8, 2012)

jag14 said:


> I almost got that 2.5 tank. I found a 3 gallon Marineland tank for the same price. It has a led light that I really like. The filter that came with it is not good for bettas. It is a 90 gallons per hour internal filter. It is a whisper, good quiet filter, just not suitable for bettas. Mine lasted 3 days before I found him sucked up under the filter. I will be using an azoo power filter designed for desktop tanks instead. I did start to get the 2.5 with a divider. I really like this 3 gallon Marineland set up.


 http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/...ies/how-dampen-filter-flow-your-betta-115070/ try this on the intake to slow down the filter flow. Always add a sponge to the intake basket. I bought that to try out but went to amazon.com to see the reviews. The small Aqueon tanks are bad news. One person said he put it in his daughters room and heard a loud pop. Ran to her room found that the cord had been ejected from the wall socket because the light had melted and shorted out. I promptly returned the tank. I use the tetra 1.5, with internal impeller pump and filter and LED lights. They make larger sizes so give those a try. I do push the filter to the bottom with a sponge to prevent he fish from getting sucked in and I add custom filter material with a sponge replacing the cartridge it comes with.


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