# Betta compound - DIY project



## iheartmybettas (Jan 31, 2011)

I have 9 5 gallon tanks which at this moment are spread all over the house so my husband and I have decided to build a betta compound in our front room. It is going to be amazing!  We have the skeleton of the base done so far which can also house 4 ten gallon tanks in the base if needed. The actual tank housing with be cubes, 5 across and 2 high. I am going to buy 1 more 5 gallon to make 10 total. The base is 8 feet wide, 24 inches deep, and 27 inches high. The housing will be 8 feet wide, 16 inches deep and 4 feet high (each cube 18 in wide, 16 in deep and 2 ft tall). Here are pictures of the progress so far. You will have to excuse the super messy garage! I will continue to update this thread with the progress... :lol:


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## Amethyst (Feb 17, 2011)

Wow that looks amazing! Great job!

AMETHYST


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## Goomba3 (Jan 20, 2011)

Wow! Looks awesome! Can't wait to see the results. (And garages are SUPPOSED to be messy, haha.)


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## Malvolti (Nov 15, 2010)

I look forward to seeing it covered in tanks! ;-)


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## vilmarisv (Apr 17, 2010)

What a nice hubby!
Definitely have to post pics when done!


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## iheartmybettas (Jan 31, 2011)

Amethyst said:


> Wow that looks amazing! Great job!
> 
> AMETHYST


Thank you!


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## iheartmybettas (Jan 31, 2011)

Thanks everyone...and I have to admit my husband is pretty amazing!  I just helped clamp wood together while he did everything else.


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## Malvolti (Nov 15, 2010)

Hey, Clamping is the MOST important job! That's like 90% of the work right there.

BTW: I love that in your sig the husband comes AFTER the Bettas and all the other pets.:lol:


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## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)

This is similar to my "Barrack" idea, my boyfriend will be building it  it will be five foot high two foot wide and a foot deep. it will have four shelves plus storage underneath. each shelf will hold one tank (just under 2 foot long, one foot deep and 16 or so cm's tall. each single tank will have a filter/heater bay at the rear and each tank will have its own light,filter and heater. 
It will hold 24 fish. ON TOP of this tank i will have the current planted tank aside for spawning, ill have a female sorority (currently i have 7 girls but ill have maybe 10-12 ladies in total) and my eight bay tank 

and it all started with one little fish


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## iheartmybettas (Jan 31, 2011)

I haven't been able to get on as much and post the last couple of day. I want to post some updated photos of the "compound"...

The base/stand finished out. We just painted it all black last night. I will post pictures later.




















These are the cubes that will fit each 5 gallon. You can see the blue base to one of the 5 gallons on top to give it a little proportion.


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## iheartmybettas (Jan 31, 2011)

Malvolti said:


> Hey, Clamping is the MOST important job! That's like 90% of the work right there.
> 
> BTW: I love that in your sig the husband comes AFTER the Bettas and all the other pets.:lol:


Lol! Thanks for trying to make me feel like I contributed Malvolti! I actually used some power tools (not well) to help finish out the stand. :shock:


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## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)

iheartmybettas said:


> Lol! Thanks for trying to make me feel like I contributed Malvolti! I actually used some power tools (not well) to help finish out the stand. :shock:



LOL im usually given a power tool, ill use it then it gets taken off me quick smart and replaced with something else eg Drill -Screwdriver lol


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## kathstew (Feb 23, 2011)

This looks awesome! I can't wait to see the finished product!


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## iheartmybettas (Jan 31, 2011)

Abby said:


> LOL im usually given a power tool, ill use it then it gets taken off me quick smart and replaced with something else eg Drill -Screwdriver lol


Same here! Haha! I did very minimal power tool usage. :lol:



kathstew said:


> This looks awesome! I can't wait to see the finished product!


Thank you!!  I will definitely continue to update.


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## BlackberryBetta (Feb 6, 2011)

Wow, that is gonna be amazing! Keep posting pics please!


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## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)

is it going to be a tall stand or a long low stand? i cant tell lol


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## iheartmybettas (Jan 31, 2011)

Abby said:


> is it going to be a tall stand or a long low stand? i cant tell lol


The stand is 27 inches tall so a little over 2 feet. There will be a 48 gallon breeder in the bottom of one side and then I am trying to get this 40 gallon from someone for the other side. In total the whole thing with cubes is about 6 feet I believe. We still have another row of 5 cubes to build.


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## TXsouthrngrl (Feb 27, 2011)

Wow you have totally read my mind! I have been wanting to make a small betta wall full of 5 gallons but I'm trying to decide how to make it pretty yet still have easy access for cleanings and such. I cant wait to see yours!


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## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)

ok i see  how long till its up and running?


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## iheartmybettas (Jan 31, 2011)

Abby said:


> ok i see  how long till its up and running?


Possibly this weekend. We are trying to figure out if we need to add a dedicated circuit. My brother in law is an electrician so he can hook it up but it could delay completion.


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## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)

yeh im sorta stuck on space before i can make my betta barrack but i may be in desperate need of it soon


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## iheartmybettas (Jan 31, 2011)

Abby said:


> yeh im sorta stuck on space before i can make my betta barrack but i may be in desperate need of it soon


I hear ya! I think we have purchased at a similar rate!


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## Cravenne (Dec 20, 2010)

This is a wonderful idea...truly. I'm so excited to see more pictures as you go.


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## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

I'm doing something non-standard for my rigs, I've got a twenty amp regular breaker line headed out across the ceiling that will split into a bank of four fifteen amp ground fault outlets. My whole setup shouldn't use more than six hundred watts in total. The framing for the outlet box includes long cross members and anchors for support of hanging things. This way the outlets won't be able to get wet.

Such is the fun if you have to rebuild the guts of a whole place.


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## GienahClarette (Jan 28, 2011)

I _was_ wondering about how you were going to power all of this. xD It'll be good reference when I can have more than one tank. I'm super excited to see how this goes!


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## Tomsk (Mar 4, 2010)

Lol,I was thinking of the ammount of power leads that will be behind that unit!.
It will look awesome when its full of tanks 

Tomsk


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## iheartmybettas (Jan 31, 2011)

The power is definitely an issue. We are currently working on that. Fortunately half of my husbands family are electricians. The base is being moved indoors tonight. That is if I can help my husband lift it. I am skeptical!


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## iheartmybettas (Jan 31, 2011)

We are very close to being done with the betta compound. Here are some updated pictures.

The base and 1 row of cubes is in. The base has a 48 gallon breeder in the bottom with fancy guppy mommies and babies. We still need to make the finishing touches on the cubes which is getting ferring strips to frame out each cube. The top won't be visible when the second row is added which is why it is unpainted. As for electrical, we figured out we weren't pulling that many amps to blow a breaker so my husband just added more plugs on the wall.


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## Goomba3 (Jan 20, 2011)

Oh wow! Looks awesome! You said those are 5 gallons on top, right? They look a lot smaller than that. Guess there isn't much nearby to act as a size comparison. Either way, excellent job!


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## denaliwind (Feb 27, 2011)

Impressive! I would love to do something like that! I really love the little betta cubes. Everything looks so nice and organized!


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## TaylorW (Sep 4, 2010)

WOW. That is beautiful! I can only dream of having something so awesome and amazing in my house one day @[email protected] Great job, it looks wonderful!!!


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## wildmagic713 (Sep 6, 2010)

I need something like that, only vertical XD

If I could get something two feet wide and a foot deep and 6 feet high with 6 shelves, I'd be very happy XD

That would give me room for 5 tanks and a storage shelf, which equals 10 fishies


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## iheartmybettas (Jan 31, 2011)

Thanks everyone! I am ready for it to be done. It is already great getting the tanks consolidated into one area rather than all of the house! :lol:



Goomba3 said:


> Oh wow! Looks awesome! You said those are 5 gallons on top, right? They look a lot smaller than that. Guess there isn't much nearby to act as a size comparison. Either way, excellent job!


Yes they are each 5 gallons. If you look at the tank on the end in the first picture, that is a 10 gallon sorority if that gives you some perspective maybe. 

We will probably have everything completely done this weekend and I will try to get some better pictures. I think my husband took these with his phone or something.


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## Goomba3 (Jan 20, 2011)

Oh wow, that is a huge set-up, then! Can't wait to see some more pictures.


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## Comatose (Nov 7, 2010)

Ooh, very nice. Now I'm going to have to try and convince my parents to let me build one.


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## Stardancer (Jan 2, 2011)

That is a gorgeous setup! If I collect that many fish (I'm trying to go relatively slowly  I will definitely have to put something like that together. It's organized and it's pretty, too!


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## iheartmybettas (Jan 31, 2011)

Thank you, thank you!  My husband is putting the crown molding around the top row of cubes and painting it today while I am at work. So hopefully we can move it in tonight when I get home. I am super excited! Yay!


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## iheartmybettas (Jan 31, 2011)

Ok here are some not so good pictures of the compound with the second row added. I will add more pics tonight probably...


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## denaliwind (Feb 27, 2011)

WHOA! That looks awesome! Thanks for offering to make me one too. xP


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## inTOXICATEDx2 (Mar 21, 2011)

WOW. That is amazing, can't wait for the "better" pics!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Nice setup!!


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## peachesxo (Jan 20, 2011)

k, yeah, i'm jealous.


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## gabetta (Feb 12, 2011)

were did you get your 5 gallon tanks from


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## iheartmybettas (Jan 31, 2011)

Thanks everyone!  I will try to actually post more pics this weekend.

The fish tanks came from fish.com on clearance for $15. I think they still have them! Can't beat the price!


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## doggyhog (Apr 30, 2009)

That looks fantastic!!!!


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## Sweeda88 (Dec 6, 2010)

That looks AWESOME!!!


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## jesstanner (Apr 5, 2011)

That. Looks. So. Awesome.!!


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## luluo (Apr 6, 2011)

That is really fantastic!


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## Betta Fet (Apr 7, 2011)

Wow that is an awesome set up! Very nice. 

I live in Cali so my first thought was "what if an earthquake hit?", but then I realized that you live in Texas...LOL...

One thing that I would add is a sort of downward hanging half door in each cube to hide the top of the tank. Inset magnets could hold them open when working on a tank. That's my only suggestion (and I know it would be alot of work), do with it what you will.

EDIT: Second thought, one long "door" could hang over the whole row ....

Anyways it looks great, nice job.


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

This thread is dripping with jealousy ! Lol.


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## Gizmothefreaky (Apr 10, 2011)

Fffff... Do want!! But i think i would be killed on sight for making something like this... Mom already thinks im crazy with three fish. XD


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## iheartmybettas (Jan 31, 2011)

Neil D said:


> This thread is dripping with jealousy ! Lol.


Lol! I do have the most awesome husband on the planet. He is very useful! Lol! He actually helps a lot of people build things for their aquariums like stands and canopies.



Betta Fet said:


> Wow that is an awesome set up! Very nice.
> 
> I live in Cali so my first thought was "what if an earthquake hit?", but then I realized that you live in Texas...LOL...
> 
> ...


You know I actually thought of that but I think my husband was pretty much "No". Haha! He did talk about painting the lids black with that spray paint that fuses with plastic. I kind of like the blue though. 

The thing still isn't even complete yet. We (as in he) haven't trimmed out the front of it. It looks cool in the dark because you can't tell but in the light there is unpainted wood on the front since it will be covered eventually by trim.


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## Fermin (Apr 18, 2010)

Looks great!


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## carzz (Mar 8, 2011)

Hey!!! It reminds me of hotel splenden....  Its just a bit more fabulous!
Do you think you would mind terribly if I borrowed you husband for a week to build one for me???  I'd buy you a fish for your/his efforts!!!


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## Omboc (Dec 25, 2010)

This is one of the most amazing betta setups that I have ever seen! I am completely envious, it just looks so simple and neat. :-D


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## Warlock (Aug 12, 2011)

i am very interested in building something like this>!? but all the pics are gone!  

are there updates?! 

or does anybody have some to add?!

thanks


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I don't think the op comes here anymore.


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