# 2 gallon betta tank at work



## ucdchan (May 9, 2009)

I recently started a 2 gallon tank at work about 3 weeks ago. Everything seems to doing good so far, but I'm a bit worry about water circulation. There's no filter, no heater, no airstone... so I'm just relying on the betta to swim around for current. I'm debating if I should add a filter or DIY canister filter in there.

Here's some info on the tank:
2.5 gallon vase from target (~2 gallon of water after adding gravels)
Substrate = soil + turface
plants = sword chain grass, hornwort, frogbit, + unknown plant that look a little like bamboo.
Inhabitants = Crowntail Betta, 5 cherry shrimps, 4 ghost shrimps, ~20 MTS
Light = desklamp 13watt CFL 6500k. + a few minute of natural sunlight at the end of the day.

Here are some pictures:

















































The betta is very active when the light is on (set on a 8hr timer). The shrimps are also very active and some are berried.
Here's a video of the cherry shrimp close up: 




I'm thinking about the DIY canister filter listed in this article: 
http://www.petfrd.com/forum/articles.php?action=viewarticle&artid=87&page=1

What do you think think? Do I need a filter? I haven't change the water so far (i got substrate from an establish tank), just topping it when needed. There are some brown algae on the glass. Plants seems to be growing well... I can see a stream of bubbles from the sword leafs during the day.


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## aquabillpers (Apr 13, 2006)

That's a nice addition to your office!

You don't need to add a filter to that tank. Just change a little water every now and then and it will be fine. 

You don't need a lot of water movement. As you surmised, the betta will add enough.

I'm not sure that the dwarf swords will get enough light. Watch them; if they start turning brown remove them. You don't have a lot of water to dilute the contaminants that would produce.

"Streams of bubbles" can be caused by breaks in the leaves.

Good luck!

Bill


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Looks good! I wouldn't mess with success.


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## t1824003 (Jul 30, 2009)

Here is my suggestion I think you should put some of crystal red shrimp into your tank. It will look a lot nicer.


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## HX67 (Sep 24, 2009)

I would definately go for at least an aeration to get water movement. 
It keeps the aquasphere more stabile throughout the day (and night) and adds security against a detoxication of water if bacterial activity suddenly pics up for some reason and eats up the oxygen.
Keeping heat up to levels preferred by Betta is tricky in a container that small...

The unknown plant looks like a Cyperus?


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

I really enjoyed the shrimp video. Nice camera!

Upon reading your initial letter more carefully, I would keep the lights on for 12 hr instead of the current 8 hr. Your plants may start to go downhill eventually with such a short photoperiod. 

Also, you have a thick blanket of floating plants and Hornwort. You might want to move the light just a little closer to the surface so that rooted plants get more light. That way, they'll do well and keep your substrate healthy. 

That said, this tank must be a pleasure to look at while you're working!


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## ucdchan (May 9, 2009)

Here's an update on the tank:

The betta fish died a month ago, probably cus the temperature dropped too much over the weekend. Since then, nothing is eating the baby cherry shrimps so now there's probably hundreds in my tank. The ground plants grow really thick and crowded, so I pulled out 70% and it's still a little thick.

I put in a nerite snail to eat the algae on the glass.. it did for the most part, but lay eggs all over the place. Oh well...

I also put in a CPO Dwarf Mexican Orange Crayfish. Here are some videos:


















I have duckweed covering 80% of the surface.. hopefully that'll control the algae a bit. I'll probably move some shrimps out once i have a place for them. Water is still good, except it has a slight tint yellow.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Cool tank. On a tank with nothing plugged in but lights, the best suggestion would be to go native. I have a 3 gallon tank at work and used critters from this part of Texas (pretty close to my office location is some cool dive spots for plants and critters). I was fortunate enough to find some pygmy banded sunfish and glass or ghost shrimp in waters way colder than the tank water will ever get, and the waters I found them in also get hotter than my tank will ever get, so no worries...


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## firefoxjc (Mar 15, 2010)

Nice looking beta tank. JC.


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## Jark (Feb 6, 2010)

After seeing this I rushed to target to see what vases they have at target. I am going to set up something similar, but try the dry start method and carpet plants with some crypts.


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## jschall (Apr 13, 2009)

Marineland makes a great all-in-one 3 gallon aquarium that's filtered and perfect for bettas. Lighting isn't great (9w t5) but it's decent and I've seen mods for more. The filter and light keeps the water temperature up reasonably well, but you may want to add a small heater.

Hate to be "that guy," but bettas are tropical fish. They need stable water temperatures 72 degrees or more. Please don't keep them in less than about 2-3 gallons of water. Vases and bowls are appropriate for snails and shrimp, and not much more.


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## lake_tuna (Mar 18, 2010)

Hey ucdchan, did you have any ammonia problems when you first set up the NPT and before you put in fish or invert in there? I set up a 2.5g, and it's currently inhabitable because of ammonia.


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## ucdchan (May 9, 2009)

The lab I was originally in use to have some what stable temp, but I guess it wasn't enough. I move to a new cube since then and the temp is way more stable, unlike computer labs. I'm actually enjoying the shrimp tank much more than the betta. They're breeding like crazy and I have to scoop them out every other week. When I set up the tank, i used turface(substrate) from my existant tank to place on top of the soil. The tank probably had high ammonia at the start for a few days, but it was okay after. This is a really simple tank and my coworkers had been asking me for plants. They're starting their own tanks now. I probably won't add any heater since it's a shrimp only tank and the temp is pretty stable here. Probably 70-74 degrees. I add about 1 Liter of water a week due since the umbrella palm plant sucks up so much water.


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## lake_tuna (Mar 18, 2010)

Did you have any problems with water turning yellow during the first days?


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## ucdchan (May 9, 2009)

It's been over 2 years since I set up this tank at work. It's still going strong. The cherry shrimp i put in there overpopulated so fast that I had to take most of them out. I had around 300 juvis in there at one point. It's surprising consider how small it is.
I also breed some CRS in there, but they were wiped out when I went on Peternity leave for 3 weeks. The cherry shrimps survived tho. Now I have only cherry and 6 Endlers in there to control the population. Their color is superb.

Video of the tank

The endlers are super colorful in real life.

As for the 300+ red cherry shrimps I got from the tank, I sold them on AquaBid.com and BreedInUsa.com and made decent money. Not bad for a 2 gallon tank (probably 1.5 gallon of water due to substrates).

I think I'll keep it just Endlers for now. They've been living there for over a month and they're super active and have plenty of room to swim around due to their size.


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## jerilovesfrogs (Nov 29, 2010)

pretty cool that the little nano tank is still up and running. =] i really like rcs, but endlers are nice too. if you keep males and females, be prepared!


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## jemminnifener (Nov 15, 2011)

I've thought about doing a similar type setup at my work place. Do you find the distortion of the round vase to be too much? I'm trying to find large glass vases/jugs/pitchers/beverage dispensers with a flat face but have been mostly unsuccessful. Most of them are round, probably to allow for maximum liquid capacity.

What kind of maintenance and feeding do you do?


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

It's really matured well since the first time I saw this post; very nice. I like the endlers in there rather than the shrimp because they seem more "alive" in their movements, but obviously it's opinion.


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## frroK (May 9, 2011)

great little nano. I have something similar set up but it is emersed right now. I am planning on getting an 8 inch cube from the craft store, cut up the dhg i have in here and throw some cherries in there.


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