I am not quite sure what to do with this... it's a 2.5gal acrylic tank with a mini sponge filter. I had my daughters betta in it but the filter is too much for the betta. Are there any fish that would be OK in this tank? Would it be smart to use it as a quarantine tank for goldfish?

Why not just remove the filter? Is it built in?


There are some killifish species that would be ok in there. Please do some research and see what you like. They can be quite beautiful. Search suggestion: fundulopanchax gardneri misaje


I think it's too small to use to quarantine goldfish. It will be hard to keep the water parameters stable long enough.

I was thinking of getting another betta and removing the filter.... if I got the tank cycled properly first with the filter, and then took the filter out... would I ruin it? Am I better off just restarting without it? I might jump on that, my LFS has these very neat looking solid black bettas labled as 'black siamese fighters'... I have never seen or heard of these before, but they have them priced at $19.99. There also had a nice selection of doubletails, half moons, and veiltails that seemed decently priced... think I might just get another betta.

Ther are other filters that you can try and because of the small tank,they wouldn't run too much.Penn Plax makes one called Small wonders I think,that work for smaller tanks.You can buy the Set-up with just the filter,or the deluxe kit that also comes with a pump
There are also tricks that you can do for the filter that you have.On filters that I thought were too strong for my Betta,I added lots of silk plants,or a tall ornament, right where the water fell out of the filter to help block some of the movement..That seemed to break the quick moving speed of the water.
Being that the filter is the main place where Bio-Bugs lay to cycle your tank, removing it would surely remove your cycle.You have the option of using no filter also,but frequent water changes would have to be done weekly to keep the water safe.
Those Betta's sound pretty awesome.I almost bought a Black one myself-actually he was black/white,very cool looking,but I didn't feel comfortable with getting him shipped now.Good luck,and let us know what you end up doing.

I had put a plant in front of the filter, took it apart and decreased the opening for intakes, pointed the outlet valve against the side of the tank, even added a tiny piece of sponge inside of it to block the flow... well the next day my wife checked the tank and my daughters crowntail got sucked into the filter. His rays are beat up and he was in bad shape, but we moved him to a quite warm place in a large bowl and is starting to heal up and become active again. I don't want to have to deal with that again, that's for sure. Well it's settled... i'll let you know which betta I decide to get. Are the black 'siamese fighters' hard to get? Am I getting ripped off with that price? Thanks a ton... these boards have saved me alot of hassle and made this a very enjoyable hobby for me.

Sorry to hear that the poor fish went through all that,but I 'm glad to hear that he's making a good recovery.
The only other thing that I've known people to do,is to stick a little piece of pantyhose around the filter intake tube.I know that I did that in my Applesnail tanks,and it stopped the babies from getting sucked up or stopped them from getting caught in it..An idea to consider anyway.
Locally around here,we don't see many varieties of Betta color's,and I don't think that I've ever spotted a Black one.Our local pet stores charge around 10.00 for standard colors-red/blue,etc,so personally I don't think that your price is bad considering that you don'y see the color much.They have Auction places like Aquabid,or even Betta places on line,but I really don't think that you could get a better price-especially with a shipping price being added onto it. I say GO FOR IT!!! You'll have to let us know how it goes.Good luck!

I will probably be picking him up tommorow. I'll get some pictures of these jet black babies. ;D

I can't wait to see your piccies! I have never seen a solid black betta before, especially not in a fish shop around here! Congrats to you!