# Recommendations? Tank that's modern, but has a "slosh-proof" lid



## Lady Courage (Oct 2, 2012)

Hello all!

As you can see, I'm brand new here and this thread is the #1 reason I joined. Though I'm sure you'll see a bit more of me later too. 

Currently, I'm looking to upgrade my tank. I don't want something huge, 5 or 6 gallons tops, 3 more like it. Be_cause_... I've just learned I may be going on a year long RV trip in the next 6 months.

So I need to find a tank that has a "slosh-proof" lid. I could just get one of those with the giant hoods, but I _really_ don't care for those... I prefer the look of the Fluval Chi, Ecoxotic EcoPico or Aqueon Evolve. However, all the lids to those look like the slightest slosh of liquid would slip out under the hood.

They say that Class A RV's don't slosh liquid much, but they do recommend one take precautions. I don't expect a water tight seal, but I really need to find something that will keep _most_ of the small sloshing contained.

Thanks so much y'all!! :-D


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## homegrown terror (Aug 6, 2012)

i've been wanting to design a movement-proof fish tank for months. i think i could do it using gyro stabilisation kinda like this rig for a camera, but with a tank instead:


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## inuudo (Aug 21, 2012)

You might want to consider the Fluval View. I had one until recently but transitioned my betta to a more traditional 5.5 gallon glass rectangle. 

The lid on the View fits securely and has enough of an opening for feeding and for the betta to get air. The box claims that the tank is 15 litres (just under 4 gallons) but I think they are including the reservoir section that the filter housing slides into. I think the actual tank part is more like 3 gallons. The body of the tank is fairly narrow, which might suit your RV living environment better than a wider footprint. One thing I really liked about the tank was the visibility -- it's basically a flattened oval and quite tall so you see your fish all the time.

A couple of things that I didn't particularly like: the lid would vibrate periodically, the filter media seemed substandard (I never cycled the tank -- just did a 20-40% water change every day), and the outflow spouts had to be baffled with sponge to soften the water motion for my betta. Something else that I was ambivalent about was the lighting system -- it's l.e.d. lighting with a switch for white or blue light (daylight/moonlight). I liked the lights themselves, but they are wired into the lid, so if the lid was off there was no lighting.

Despite the drawbacks, I would use the tank again if I had minimal desk space, outlets, or some other space limitation. It is a bit spendy around $70, but it is often on sale.

Here's a photo of mine:


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## Lady Courage (Oct 2, 2012)

homegrown terror said:


> i've been wanting to design a movement-proof fish tank for months. i think i could do it using gyro stabilisation kinda like this rig for a camera, but with a tank instead:


Oh my word, that is SUCH a cool idea! I love it! Don't even have the first idea where to get that gyro unit... That's a really cool idea, it would be so steampunk and industrial! And functional. lol I love it. XD



inuudo said:


> You might want to consider the Fluval View. I had one until recently but transitioned my betta to a more traditional 5.5 gallon glass rectangle.
> 
> The lid on the View fits securely and has enough of an opening for feeding and for the betta to get air. The box claims that the tank is 15 litres (just under 4 gallons) but I think they are including the reservoir section that the filter housing slides into. I think the actual tank part is more like 3 gallons. The body of the tank is fairly narrow, which might suit your RV living environment better than a wider footprint. One thing I really liked about the tank was the visibility -- it's basically a flattened oval and quite tall so you see your fish all the time.
> 
> ...


Oh, thank you! That's _exactly_ what I was looking for! I will look into that, thank you so much. It's a pretty tank too! I like it's shape and how easily you can see everything in it. Thank you!


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## BettaQi (Jul 26, 2012)

Lady Courage said:


> Oh my word, that is SUCH a cool idea! I love it! Don't even have the first idea where to get that gyro unit... That's a really cool idea, it would be so steampunk and industrial! And functional. lol I love it. XD
> 
> 
> 
> Oh, thank you! That's _exactly_ what I was looking for! I will look into that, thank you so much. It's a pretty tank too! I like it's shape and how easily you can see everything in it. Thank you!


On sale at PetSmart now!


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## Lady Courage (Oct 2, 2012)

Thank you so much everyone! I went out of town the other day and lo and behold- Petsmart there had it in stock! So! I have a Fluval View sitting beside me, waiting for me to finish doing my research so I set it up RIGHT. lol I know it's the tank I want, I just want to make sure I get the right plants and such.

I still love the idea of the gyro tank- I mean, SERIOUSLY love it -but I've no idea where to start with that. Did a little research to see where I could find the gryo part, but came up with nothing. The View is much easier. lol

Thanks again!


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## inuudo (Aug 21, 2012)

I'm glad that worked out for you. Thanks for the update. Please post photos when it's set up.


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## Lady Courage (Oct 2, 2012)

Will do!  Checkin' out my LFS tomorrow for plants. Didn't even know I had one! But I googled it yesterday and found that the smart and the co aren't the only fish stores in town. Haha!


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## Lady Courage (Oct 2, 2012)

Well, I've moved Dr. Seuss over to the new tank, though I'm still trying to find all the plants I want/need. But even though I've put a sponge under the output, he is not looking too happy in there. :-(

But I think it might be that he's a very weak swimmer... Gotta be honest- I bought him with a lot of incorrect information in mind and got him a 1/2 gallon, no filter tank. He's been living in that up to this morning.

When I was very young, 9 or so, I was in love with bettas. I did all the research I could get my little hands on and followed all the advice from the "experts". These so-called experts told me it was OK to have my fish in a champagne glass, if I so wanted.

Soooo... I have a really good memory for facts and was confident that I remembered how to take care of a betta well enough to go ahead and get one. But I also care about my animals enough to want to double-check myself. So I got home and did some more research- and discovered all the books I'd ever checked out or bought were WRONG (and I had quite the little collection of betta books!!). Then before I could dash out and buy a new tank I found we may be living in an RV and didn't know what to get, then capital suddenly had to be spent on "important" things, etc.

So Dr. Seuss has been living in a little 1/2 gallon tank for about two months while I tried to find a tank and save up the money to get it. He was very happy, except for being a bit bored. Loved his plant, loved playing with our fingers, went insane over food, enjoyed being carried around the house when I went to change his water and was brightly colored and bubblenest building happily.

And now... The sponge helped, but he's still looking _very_ stressed and dull. I put him in this morning with the water from his tank. The temp is fine, the water is freshly treated and clean, the sponges are in place to baffle the output... Is there anything else I can do? I've heard on the forums here that putting a sponge near the input is good for cycling in a small tank, would that also slow the pull of the water in this tank? Or should weak little Dr. Seuss get some muscle and be OK with the gentle flow in a few days?

I feel bad. The poor baby's fins are torn a bit now! They've _never_ torn before. Been a bit curled (from cramped living conditions, I'm sure) but never torn. Poor Dr. Seuss. :-(


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

*i have heard that the 6.6 gallon bookshelf tank is WONDERFUL!*


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## Lady Courage (Oct 2, 2012)

Thank you MyRainbowBettaFish! I did look at that tank. I like the shape, though I'm not sure it would fit in an RV very well... lol Thank you for the recommendation though! Very good to know.


Aaaand I think I spoke too soon. lol Dr. Seuss has perked up again and his color is returning. Also, he's swimming around much more happily. Even took the time to look at me instead of hiding in his familiar plant. lol I feel better now! I guess he's getting used to it.

Still planning on getting plants and taking pics! It looks pathetically bare as of now.


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## birdielikestomatoes (May 2, 2012)

He might have bitten his fins to help him move around more. When I moved Steve from a vase to a tank with a filter I noticed that he had some trouble swimming around, soon after I noticed that he was biting his beautiful long tail, so that he could (I assume) swim around better.

But I'm glad to hear that he's perked up! If you thought he looked great in the 1/2g just wait till you see how much color he'll have in a few months!

And of course, welcome to the site.


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## Lady Courage (Oct 2, 2012)

Ah, that's a thought... OK, makes sense. I guess. Poor baby. I feel bad to have stressed him so, but I know he'll be happier in the long run. Thank you!

Ooooh... I hadn't thought about how much better he will look now... He really did look good in the 1/2g.










So, better than that? Wow. I'm really looking forward to this. :-D


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## birdielikestomatoes (May 2, 2012)

Oh wow, he truly is a stunner. I'm not exactly sure how he'd get prettier but I'm sure it'll happen. From my (limited) experience all my bettas have gotten darker and more vibrant once they were moved into more habitable homes.

Here is an example of one of my girls. Though the quality is horrible in the 'before pic.'


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## inuudo (Aug 21, 2012)

The first couple of days that Fluffy was in the Fluval View, he was kind of pathetic. :roll: Oh poor me. Woe. I can't swim. Flail & flounder. etc. This happened whenever he roamed away from the pointy ends at all. 

I, of course, panicked, as any clear-headed, right-thinking new betta owner would.  

I rigged up the foam baffle for the output spouts (which worked great!) and added a piece of foam to the inside of the filter housing to baffle the intake (which did nada!). In the meantime (2-3 days by the time I figured it all out and obtained supplies), Fluffy had muscled up a bit and was handling the water movement a bit better. 

I think that he probably would have adjusted to those output spouts just fine if I'd let it be, especially because I kept the water level quite high so there wasn't much of a waterfall effect. I found him snoozing comfortably next to the intake vents a few times -- scared the crap out of me the first time because I thought he had been suctioned onto it and couldn't escape.

If you thread stalk my past posts, you'll find some explanation about and photos of how I baffled the filter.


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## Lady Courage (Oct 2, 2012)

*@birdie* Oh wow... He looks _gorgeous_ now!! Some serious green sheen on those pretty fins! Well then, I can't wait to see what happens in this new tank. :-D Since you said that, I've been seeing pics all over the forum of bettas before and after. It's pretty astounding what proper care does for bettas!

*@inuudo* lol Poor Fluffy. That's exactly what Doc was doing yesterday. Today however, he's even happier. Swims right under the sponges and peers at them curiously. lol I rather think he's beginning to enjoy the slight water movement up there.

I did go stalk your old posts! They were super helpful! I found Doc plastered against the intake as well, which scared me badly too. lol However, after watching him, I've now realized the silly fish is going there to rest _on purpose_. He likes it! Haha! So I think I may try to wean him off the sponges eventually... But if he doesn't like going sponge-less, I like your setup MUCH better than the one I threw together the other day. lol So I'll do that if I must. One hardly notices the sponge the way you did it, nor does it seem to require much fiddling. You're one smart cookie. 

Thank you!


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## inuudo (Aug 21, 2012)

The way I initially set up the sponges at the outflow was way more complicated than it needed to be. I didn't need any of the sponges inside the top of the filter housing or on the spouts themselves. The revised version (in the later thread) with enough sponge to fit across the tank under the outflows (2 elastic bands, and 2 plastic twist ties shaped as hooks) was much easier to manage for cleaning and did a better job of baffling.

If I were still using that tank, I would probably stuff some more filter media in that housing -- the filters that are made for it seem quite minimal, and there is all that space. I'd try a bag or the biomass tubes, perhaps on the bottom instead of the sponge for the intake vents.


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## Lady Courage (Oct 2, 2012)

I saw the later post and it did look like you'd got the engineering better in the second one. It's brilliant!

Huh, that's a thought... True, there's an awful lot of space back there. Though activated charcoal _is_ a very potent substance. Don't need much of it to filter out bad things. Certainly something to think about! Thank you for the suggestion! Hadn't even crossed my mind, but it's a very good idea.


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## inuudo (Aug 21, 2012)

If you're not going to cycle the tank, I don't think you'd need to add anything to the filter system. I had the tank set up for a month, never cycled it, and did daily water changes of 25-60%.


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## Lady Courage (Oct 2, 2012)

Okie dokie! I don't have pictures of my tank setup yet, but it's FINALLY ALL PUT TOGETHER. I don't have the shrimp I want yet, but my plants and my decorations are in place. When I do get pics (I think this afternoon when there's less sunlight and glare on the acrylic) I think I'll make a new thread for it. But I'll post the link here to it. 

I love love love my tank thus far. It's so beautiful, the whole family occasionally comes by just to stare and watch the plants sway gently and Dr. Seuss play amongst the leaves, stems, rocks and driftwood. He loves it every time I rearrange his tank, which I've done several times before I was happy with it. lol When I put him back in from the holding tank he spends the rest of the day staring at the changes I made and carefully swimming around them to see what else is new. LOL! Such a personality!

So thank you again for all your help!! I'm very happy with the View thus far and I can see how it shall be perfect for RV living.


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

Make sure you have a good quality heater to keep the tank nice and toasty.


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## Lady Courage (Oct 2, 2012)

I do.  It doesn't have a thermostat, but I keep a very close eye on it and it's quite consistent. It makes Dr. Seuss a very happy fish. ^.^


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## inuudo (Aug 21, 2012)

I'm dying to see pics!!!!


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## Lady Courage (Oct 2, 2012)

I started a new thread to keep it clean. lol Here it is! With my current one lonely picture... I'm determined to get more though, so stay tuned. XD

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?p=1297326


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