[Eudie]

I typed this up for a particular post, but since the topic seems to come up quite often, I thought I'd plant it here for future reference.


DIY tank dividers

Walmart carries #7 craft canvas in the craft department for under $1 for one sheet which is more than enough to divide a 10 gallon tank several times. It has holes so your water will flow through but they are small enough that the bettas won't be able to wiggle through them.

Then go to the school supplies dept and look for clear report covers that have the little plastic spines that slide down the side of the cover to hold the pages in. It's these little spines that you want. A package is around $1-$2.

Next, pet department for aquarium sealant. Cost about $3.

You glue the spines inside the tank with the aquarium sealant. (One of my guys here at work set mine up for me and he ran two lines of sealant right next to each other and then set the spine right in the middle. It worked great and has held for about two years now.) Let them set for a couple of days until the vinegary smell is completely gone.

Then cut your craft canvas to fit into the spines. Make sure you cut them big enough to make a tight fit. Then work the canvas down into the slits in the spines. It takes a little work to get them in the first time, but once you get them in it makes a great divider and shouldn't run you over about $5 total.

I also like that I can slip the canvas out in seconds when I want to do a complete tank cleaning.

If I can make these ANYBODY can!

[Faded Intimacy]

Can anyone take a picture of these folder spines for me? >_o
Thanksss~

[BettaGuy]

Does this help?,

[Faded Intimacy]

Does this help?,

Yes!
Thank you! <3

[Eudie]

Mine have been in one tank I didvided for over two years now and not one time has a fish wiggled through or jumped over so I'm very pleased with them.

[BuddyBetta]

Is there any way you can ever get the glued dividers out if you deside to change the tank set-up though? Is there any way to make dividers for a 10gal. that are easily removable??

[Cthulhu Bird]

Piece of cake to make dividers for a ten gallon. Just follow the instructions above. You can divide a ten gallon into three (or sometimes four) compartments.

The mesh bits that you slide in between the report spines are easy to remove, they are not glued to it. The spines are glue with aquarium sealant to the sides of the tank. I imagine you can remove those if you truly want to, but it would be easier to buy another ten gallon (which generally are sold for 10$). I'd think to remove them, you would use the same type of scraper you use to scrape stickers off the window of your car. Thats just a hunch, though. Can't really think of any 'easy' removable dividers unless you want to spend 10$ on the pre-made dividers sold in petstores. Those are not worth their price I bought some and will never use them. They are cheap, don't let a top sit evenly on them, and just, poorly made.

Now that may be a new type of project to find out, trying to create removable dividers. I am sure it can be done, much cheaper too than the pre-mades.

[RedEarSliders]

You could also jam 2 peices of the canvas into the dividers, and cut them a little long, and jam them into the tank, the pressure *should* hold it in.

[BuddyBetta]

Thank you! now that I see what the glue looks like I agree it doesnt look too hard to remove with a razor or something. Now my only challenge is finding the canvas at a local store lol It is the 7 Mesh PLASTIC Canvas/Plastic grid right??

This post has been edited by BuddyBetta: 15 August 2007 - 01:55 PM