Iggy's 17gal Adult Betta Barracks

[Iggy]

I figured out how I am going to make a adult betta divided tank, using a shared filtration and heating system, now its just a matter of getting some 3mm acrylic sheets,.

I will be using a powerhead with a quickfilter attachment (a fine floss filter filled with carbon pellets) and will put the tubing on the powerhead main outlet and run it to the other side of the 17gal tank I setup.

I plan on having a total of 6 divided spaces with 2.8gal per adult betta. The slow but constant flow of heated & filtered water at the far end of the tank will eventually work its way to the intake of the powerhead and create a mild circulation adaquetly for bettas.

My current hood/light is not quite what I want it to be, but it will do for now.

At the moment, I have Carey the Yellow Male betta testing out the full tank by himself while I start to add dividers.

I was able to retire 1 of my 12 active tanks today... 4 more to go!

Photos will be posted as soon I can get my hands on my dads digital camera again!

 

[PreciousGems]

That sounds so neat! My dad is building me a basic barrack system...sometime... Its fantastic how you are able to give them 2.8 gallons all to themselves, I hope I am able to give mine at least a 1/2 gallon when they are in the barracks. Good job and take lots of pictures of the process .

Alexa

 

[Iggy]

Oh my God! I am soooo tired. I just finished builing my 17 gal betta barracks system! It took me about 6 hours to build, but it was worth it.

I will get pics up soon. I am too tired tonight. I built the barracks and took-down and cleaned 5 tanks today. All my small tanks are for sale now, and now all my tropical fish have heated and power-filtered spaces. My adults bettas have 2.83 gallons each now.

Not only did I build the barracks, today was my water change day, so I hauled 32 gallons of water back and forth as well.

Why do I do this again???? Oh ya, I nuts

 

[theeyrietrainer]

so which kind of barrack system did you do iggy? the drip system or the ones with the tanks there on a rack?

hrmm, your tanks are for sale eh..im interested! whats your price?!

 

[Iggy]

Until I can get pictures up, I will try to describe the system with words...

The tank is 30" long, by 12" deep and 12" tall. It has a perfecto hood with a single flourescent light. I built 5 dividers using 3mm acrylic sheets I cut using a jig-saw and drilled 168 holes in each to allow water flow. The dividers where cut to fit tight against the hood, leaving no gaps to allow the fish to jump over and get at each other. (I used CAD drafting to make a paper template first).

Each divider was spaced about 5" apart, making 6 compartments. I filled each compartment with gravel and decorations.

On the far right compartment, there is a Hagen 201 power head with a quick filter attachment (this filter attaches below the powerhead and has a round tube with floss and optional carbon inside it). I bought some 1/2" vinyl tubing and ran it through a whole I made in the dividers above the water line to the far left side of the tank. On the left side of the tank, I put a 150w heater.

The water is sucked up on the right by the powerhead, then pumped to the left side of the tank via the tubing, where it gets heated and sucked back towards the right-side of the tank.

Its an enclosed system, all the parts are inside the tank so the outside looks clear and no hoses showing (only 2 power cords off the back). Its very quiet compaired to my old air-pump system and no messy airline system I had for my 5 tanks before.

I have my 3 girls on the left, and 1 space (sick fish in another tank) then 2 males on the right.

The males are still pretty excited, but not as bad as when I first put them side by side.

 

[bettabandit]

*cough cough* lets seem some pics! I did it with a 20 gallon long but I did it the recyled way with cross stitching mesh sheets divided up so I could fit about 18 males and water was good due to my canister filter. I'd like to see what the acrylic looks like though.