[brandynva]

Hi there. I am fairly new at this. I bought Bob last week at Petsmart and got him a cozy 1.5 gallon house and after reading realized it may be a wee bit small. He just didn't seem to have enough room to stretch out. So I got bit by the bug and went and got him a 5 gallon glass aquarium today. I got it all set up. I didn't use the power filter that came with it. I transferred the Whisper 1-3 gallon in tank filter. I also got a heater. It's not adjustable, but as I keep my house fairly warm, (76), I just needed a boost. I also made him a cave/tunnel out of a terracotta pot that my boyfriend cut in half. He seems to like it very much! I figured I would share. Any comments are welcome! Thank you for taking the time to look. I am loving being a betta mama.

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/ab312/kd4plz/IMG_3120.jpg

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/ab312/kd4plz/IMG_3126.jpg

[AnthemForAFallenStar]

Looks great, just to let you know he a Blue/red Multi VT. I wish I could setup some tanks like that for all my guys lol.

[Nelson]

Aw, he's so cute. Your tank is soooo nice! I really want all my guys in 5gals like that.

[Carmenellie]

I love how clean and sparkly the new white gravel looks. I hope it stays that way. :) I felt the same way when I had my fish in one gallon bowls. It was like- they were so cramped. Zyperis didn't even have room to swim cause his fins are so ridiculously large. They look much better in a five gallon space.

Oh, have you blocked the holes in the bottom of your terracotta pot? Fish will sometimes injure themselves trying to swim through them. It's a good precaution to take.

:) Good luck with your new fish baby!

[LouisaMaeBrown]

Very pretty tank and fish. :)

[brandynva]

Thanks for the comments! We cut the bottom off the pot and rounded the edges so they aren't sharp. I plugged the top hole with a blue stone, which makes the inside of the cave blue with the light. It's rather pretty. :) Now I need to figure out how to keep him away from the intake of the filter. :pull_hair: I put a big rock under it, but I don't think it will work long term. Perhaps panty hose? Anyway, I am excited to see him stretch out. He fairly flies across the tank now. I hope the gravel stays white too. I got a vacuum hose thingy and will try to stay on top of it. hehe

[Nelson]

With that filter you won't need to worry about him getting stuck to the intake at all, it's not strong enough.

[LouisaMaeBrown]

^Agreed. I've used that filter before. He won't get stuck on it. :)

[brandynva]

That's good to hear. Do you guys think it will tear his fins? I noticed when he swam near the tube his fins got sucked up in there a little bit. (I can be freaky paranoid about this stuff hehe)

[LouisaMaeBrown]

I doubt the suction is strong enough to damage his fins. If it was a power filter I'd worry more, but it's just driven by air so it should be fine.

[kelly528]

Nice setup! Aren't they fun to make?

Make sure you clean the tank every week... excess nitrates = green algae = hard to get off white gravel!!! But I seem to be the only one who has encountered that problemo (hey--- I was 8!).

[mela_star]

Where do you guys get those pots? I see them in a lot of the gallery pictures here where it includes tank pictures; I think my boys would like them.