I was thinking about getting a minibow aquarium for my room (either the 2.5 gallon or 5 gallon.) I like the minibow, but they come with the filters, and I'm afraid it might be to strong for a betta. Also, I was thinking about getting a java fern, but when I set up a minibow 2.5 for my nana's betta, I realized the bulb is a 15 watt, and I wasn't sure if that would be to bright to grow a java fern.

I have a 2.5 gallon minibow! I keep a female veiltail and a male halfmoon doubletail in mine. You can adjust the filter strength so its nice and strong or a bit weak. When I have mine set any higher than it lowest setting my girl get a little stressed but my male on the other side gets no current so if its for just one betta it should be fine. I grow water wysteria in mine.Dunno about java fern though. I'm sure someone with more knowledge on that type of plant can help you.

I believe that the java fern can grow in low light. Kissy will know. You could also place a fake plant in the current so it doesnt flow so strong.

I'm also trying out live plants in my Betta tanks at the moment.

I have some Java Fern in a 10 gal tank, also with a 15 watt flourescent light and it seems to be doing really well.

Like Erin says, Java Fern supposedly does really well in low light environments, so I would have thought that in a 2.5 -5 gal tank with that kind of wattage it should really thrive.

Kissy is the plant expert, I'm sure she'll give you more info, as I'm a live plant newbie

as mentioned Kissy will probably know but I bet it would do fine. I have a bamboo plant in my unfiltered vase and it is doing great just with the lamp next to it.

Boy do I feel popular lol

Are you sure the minibow comes with a 15W light? That seems like an awful lot for a small aquarium, and kits that small usually come with a 5W. Is if florescent?

Anyways, its really hard for java fern to get too much light, but its possible. Even if it was a 15W florescent on your 2.5, a lot of the light would be lost since its a small tank and it should be fine. If you get a lot of clear spots that do not grow in green however, that could be a sign of too much light. If you like java fern, try the lacy tipped variety! Its very pretty and usually stays smaller than the broad-leafed variety. Just remember to attatch it to rockwork or ornaments and not to plant it in the substrate

The filter really depends on the betta. Most will tolerate some flow, but in rare cases they will not tolerate any sort of water or air movement in their tank (like my silly betta). Most do fine in reasonably flows, and if you think its too strong, you can try placing a solid ornament infront of the water output.

I'm gonna jump in here- I'm almost 100% positive it comes with a 15watt. When the one it came with died I replaced it with a 15watt because thats what it says on it. Hope that helps.

I have both the 2.5 and the 5 gallon minibow tanks, they both come with 15 watt incandescents, but they can be replaced with these 10 watt mini compact florescents bulbs.

I have a Coralife Colormax bulb in my 6 gallon planted tank, but its not very bright and has a purple-ish hue to it, so I am thinking of replacing it with a Coralife 50/50.