Freshwater (gasp) Betta Tank

[kinetic]

Tank: AquaMaxx 2.6g Low Iron Tank

I've been out of the hobby for awhile. It was a downward spiral, with an Elos 170 and spending a lot on a lot of premium gear. Overall, everything was dying. This $10k system did far worse than my $200 total AIO 20 gallon tank. So I had quit.

I can't stop thinking about putting another tank together. My next one will come soon, but in the meantime, I put together a pretty minimal tank for a Betta fish. I might make it into a planted tank soon.

I've been running a tiny HOB filter for a couple months now, but I'm waiting on some glass lily pipes and a canister filter to pretty it all up before taking photos of it. I've struggled finding a good canister filter that's small enough, so I'm planning on putting a flow valve and cranking that thing way back.

 

[JVU]

Nice photography!


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[kinetic]

Nice photography!


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Thanks! Mostly just good white balance editing to get it all right, and a quick edit on the Priime app.

 

[Wlachnit]

Wow...that looks like a Polaroid One step.


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[kinetic]

Wow...that looks like a Polaroid One step.


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It is! I need to get better with using it though. I've been mostly shooting instant film with a Lomography camera: https://microsites.lomography.com/lomo-instant-wide-camera/ which has a little control of focus and all that.

 

[Ibn]

Welcome back, Art!

Take a look at the Eden 501 for a smaller canister that works with 9mm glass lily pipes. If you want a bit more flow, then take a look at the Eheim 2011 and run additional tubing on it to keep the flow manageable. Otherwise, in tank wise, take a look at the Eheim 2008 or the Eheim Skim350.

 

[kinetic]

Welcome back, Art!

Take a look at the Eden 501 for a smaller canister that works with 9mm glass lily pipes. If you want a bit more flow, then take a look at the Eheim 2011 and run additional tubing on it to keep the flow manageable. Otherwise, in tank wise, take a look at the Eheim 2008 or the Eheim Skim350.

Thanks Eric!

I got a ZooMed 10 being delivered tomorrow, seems to be the same thing as the Eden 501 in terms of specs and even looks. Hope it works! I got a pair of 10mm glass lily pipes. I couldn't find anything smaller. Do you have any recommendations where to find smaller ones? I guess 1mm isn't that huge of a difference.

 

[Ibn]

It might work then depending on the tube wall thickness of the filter. You can find the glass lily pipes on eBay. I think I got mine from AquaticMagic, but there's quite a few more vendors now than before when I did a cursory search.

That 1mm won't matter. Just use some hot water on the tubing if needed.

 

[iCon]

Welcome back!

 

[kinetic]

Good news: ZooMed 10 works great. I ordered a (way too expensive) 3/8" valve (that's probably rated for a ton of pressure, but it was the only one I could find at 3/8") and stuck that on the return to ease up on the flow. The lily pipe in/outlet look amazing. Maybe I should just use lily pipes for returns on a reef tank? They probably make really large diameter ones... Not sure how go from hard PVC -> glass though.

 

[kinetic]

Latest photo. For some reason my tank water is kind of green and not that clear. I wonder if the new plants are creating a bit of a bacteria bloom all of a sudden.

My betta over the last few months lost a lot of color in the bottom fins. I've tested water quality, and it's pretty much perfect. I might need to vary up his food.

Anyway, latest photo with lights off during the day!

New lily pipes:





More FTS with light off:

 

[ashburn2k]

Hey wondering how this tank is doing? Did the cloudy issue go away?


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[kinetic]

Hey wondering how this tank is doing? Did the cloudy issue go away?


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Oh yah! The tank is 100% clear now after adding the small 3watt UV. Took about a week and it’s been great ever since.

I’m running the UV 24/7 now without a problem.

I also recently added a heater to see if that’ll help. I never heated a small Beta tank, but figured it wouldn’t hurt. Temp stays at 76-77* these days. Betta actually seems a bit more active.

 

[ashburn2k]

How’s the experiment with UV off so far?


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[Bruce Spiegelman]

That t=would look awesome with a school of Neon Tetras too.

 

[kinetic]

No cloudiness in the betta tank without the UV on for a few days.