Pre-Made Unit for DIY betta barracks?

[AnimalNerd98]

I was browsing Facebook Marketplace and saw someone selling one of these 0.5 gallon “self-cleaning” tanks. Amazon link below. I thought it would be a decent option for someone who doesn’t want to do drill holes and attach gaskets to mini tanks (a bit pricy though for 0.5 gallon tanks) for a betta barracks system. I’m wondering if anyone has used these in a betta barracks set-up and/or if they know the inner workings of why this design works (how it sucks from the bottom). 
 

As Seen On TV 56028 My Fun Fish Tank, 4 3/4 x 6 x 10-Inch https://a.co/eMOjKmI

Edited October 1, 2022 by AnimalNerd98

[TheSwissAquarist]

I think the KeepingFishSimple YouTube channel made a video about a (cheap) DIY better rack.

[Chris]

Interesting idea. I'd like to do a betta barracks in my fishroom - eventually.

I think if I were to set one up as a display in a store it'd be worth it to pay extra to have acrylic/glass drilled for each little tank. I'd never want to attempt to drill such thin glass myself - although I guess you could use 1/4" glass to minimize cracking risk. The thinner the glass, the higher the risk.

I honestly like the idea of a 10 qt food container, if I could find one that was decently clear. It's 2 1/2 gallons (plus the water volume you'd get from a sump below), a decent-ish footprint, and plastic, so that drilling can be done with normal drill bits or soldering irons. I feel like there are prettier solutions, but it'd be cheap and I think it'd work quite well.

[Flumpweesel]

To my eye they look really to small for Betta could just be the image but that's less than 2litres of swim space.

I've divided tanks with plastic canvas which would hold up long term (I kept it in place for 6months no issues only removed to repurpose tank)

Maybe look at different types of tank dividers if you don't want to drill glass this also allows your tanks to be more adaptable to changes in the fish you keep.

[Patrick_G]

It looks like a good shortcut for a betta rack, but it’s too bad the container is long and tall instead of a cube or short rectangle. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 10/7/2022 at 10:00 PM, Flumpweesel said:

To my eye they look really to small for Betta could just be the image but that's less than 2litres of swim space.

I've divided tanks with plastic canvas which would hold up long term (I kept it in place for 6months no issues only removed to repurpose tank)

Maybe look at different types of tank dividers if you don't want to drill glass this also allows your tanks to be more adaptable to changes in the fish you keep.

I expect the reason why beta racks exist is because people were looking for a cheap system to grow out their betta juveniles/ sell them at a store. If you think about it they probably only spend at most a month in them.

On 10/8/2022 at 1:48 AM, Patrick_G said:

It looks like a good shortcut for a betta rack, but it’s too bad the container is long and tall instead of a cube or short rectangle. 

I agree with @Patrick_G, bettas usually live in shallow water with a big surface area.

[AnimalNerd98]

On 10/7/2022 at 2:00 PM, Flumpweesel said:

To my eye they look really to small for Betta could just be the image but that's less than 2litres of swim space.

I've divided tanks with plastic canvas which would hold up long term (I kept it in place for 6months no issues only removed to repurpose tank)

Maybe look at different types of tank dividers if you don't want to drill glass this also allows your tanks to be more adaptable to changes in the fish you keep.

I have used tank dividers in the past (both canvas and the sturdier ones from Creative Pet Keeping). They definitely work, but I was looking at these tanks as either grow-outs or for higher volume betta set-ups. I ordered one to see what it looks like and it is indeed horrendous. Back to the drawing board 😂

On 10/7/2022 at 5:48 PM, Patrick_G said:

It looks like a good shortcut for a betta rack, but it’s too bad the container is long and tall instead of a cube or short rectangle. 

Yes, seeing one in person, I realized it’s way too tall as well. It takes up more vertical space than I originally thought. But, I think I figured out how to hook stuff up if I wanted to DIY something with a similar design in the future 

[Flumpweesel]

Are you in the UK? there are some Betta systems my Facebook market place at the moment

[AnimalNerd98]

On 10/6/2022 at 5:50 AM, Chris said:

Interesting idea. I'd like to do a betta barracks in my fishroom - eventually.

I think if I were to set one up as a display in a store it'd be worth it to pay extra to have acrylic/glass drilled for each little tank. I'd never want to attempt to drill such thin glass myself - although I guess you could use 1/4" glass to minimize cracking risk. The thinner the glass, the higher the risk.

I honestly like the idea of a 10 qt food container, if I could find one that was decently clear. It's 2 1/2 gallons (plus the water volume you'd get from a sump below), a decent-ish footprint, and plastic, so that drilling can be done with normal drill bits or soldering irons. I feel like there are prettier solutions, but it'd be cheap and I think it'd work quite well.

I am also looking at food containers, haha! I actually just used one recently as a water reservoir for my terrarium misting system 

On 10/8/2022 at 2:37 AM, Flumpweesel said:

Are you in the UK? there are some Betta systems my Facebook market place at the moment

Nope! Sadly, I’m in the US. Honestly, I would love to just have something similar to the rack that Aquarium co-op uses but even they ended up changing out the tanks 🙃