I have a 2.5 gallon tank that currently houses Marley, and a 5.5 gallon tank that currently houses Poseidon. I have some extra money and I'm going to the mall this weekend so I'll be visiting two pet stores. I wanted to pic out the two bettas in the worst condition to buy and nurse back to health. But I have no more room. So I was wondering if I could split both of my tanks in half. The 2.5 comes with a divider but I would probably have to make one for the 5.5 gallon unless I can find it in a pet store. I wanted to first keep the two new bettas in different fish bowls, then after about a week put them in Marley's tank (the 2.5) with the divider. Then put Marley with Poseidon. Is it cruel to divide a 2.5 gallon tank in half? Also do you think its right to, even though you want to buy the betta in wors condition, buy it according to color? Idky but I just want to have a variety of color. Granted if they are in bad shape I probably won't get a good idea of their actual color. I was thinking anything besides red or torqouise. I'll pobably only find blue, why are they so common?

Also when I get these sickly bettas what do you reccomend I use to help them out? I'll be getting bettafix and I'll add stress coat. Anything else?

If youre going to be buying sick ones you certainly dont want to put them in with your healthy ones! Also I would feel kind of bad dividing the tanks after your bettas have gotten used to having all that space. If they had started out that way then its fine but I wouldnt cut them down now. Thats just me though.

I have had to use antibiotics to treat severe finrot and bacterial infections in my bettas. Bettafix is just diluted Melafix and in my opinion isnt too useful. You can judge how severe the fish are though and medicate accordingly.

I also choose my bettas by color and dont feel bad about it. There will always be one special one that stands out to me, like Cirrus in the picture above. The second I saw him I knew I had to have him. Sadly I dont have him anymore and I really miss him.

One other note, if you ever do decide to divide your tanks, you want to probably silicone or securely fasten in the divider. They can be very tricky and I have known of them squeezing through all kinds of dividers. They can also jump very well so make sure the divider is high enough to actually touch the lid of your tank!

Don't worry, I wouldn't put the sick ones with the healthy ones. What I'm going to do is move Marley from his 2.5 gallon tank into Poseidon's 5.5 gallon tank with a divider so Marley gets 2.75 gallons, and Poseidon gets 2.75 gallons. I don't think Poseidon will mind since I have only had him in the 5.5 since April 8. And Marley will end up with more space so they'll both be happy.

what I was woried about is the new bettas. They would be going into Marley's old tank which would be 2.5 gallons divided in half, from what you said it seems that if they come straight from the store into a divided 2.5, they;ll be ok. I guess it's better than just those tiny bowls in the store <_< I would first put them each in a regular bowl for a few days, just so the two new ones don't infect eachother, but in no way will either new one come in contact with Marley or Poseidon I guess I'll just go for it and see what happens. If its too small for any of them I might be moving my goldfish from their 10 gallon tank into somthing bigger so then I could put bettas in that.

One more question though, where can I get aquarium sealer to make my own divider? I don't think they sell them at pet stores... mabye home depot?

Most pet stores sell tubes of aquarium sealant. The report cover strips can be found at office and school supply stores and the plastic mesh can be found at craft stores or dept. stores.

I have known people to use silicone from home reno stores, but you have to be very careful to not get one that has any kind of mold or mildew retardant in it. If you buy aquarium sealant then you know it is safe.

Also, as jsrtist mentioned, you should put the dividers up to the top of the tank without a gap at the surface because bettas can jump. You can lay a piece of plastic mesh over the top of the tank resting on the divider as a barrier. Another good thing to do is to keep the water level down about 1 to 1 1/2" from the top of the divider.

I have had good success in treating fin rot type problems with Jungle Fungus Eliminator. It treats both fungus and bacterial problems. I think it is a good one to have on hand.

Hugs for thinking to buy the sick bettas. I hope you can have success with them and keep us posted.

thanks for the help! Ill probably be going to about 3 different pet stores this weekend so i'm sure if they sell aquarium sealent at most pet stores, these ones will have it. But If I can't I'll still have time since I'm going to keep them in bowls for a while. I might even try convincing my girlfriend to get one! Then three will be saved! Haha before I got any pets, none of my friends had any, now two of my friends each have bettas, and my grilfriend had a hamster. She would be keeping her betta in a regular fish bowl if she got one, but thats better than the pet store.