Betta Barracks?

[SamH]

I can't seem to find much information on building Betta barracks, none at all from NZL.

I plan on trying to breed Betta's but instead of simply jarring the young males, I want keep them warm and in clean water. I'm think 4.3L food storage containers with a PVC pipe spray bar spraying warm, clean water from sump below and overflowing back down into sump. I can provide a plan if clarification is needed.

Does any one have or has had Betta Barracks?

Has anyone ever built them before?

Any info on Barracks or general Betta breeding and jarring will be much appreciated.

[Scottie841]

Pet pets in Palmie have an auqaone one for $300ish that looks good

[SamH]

Pet pets in Palmie have an auqaone one for $300ish that looks good

How many fish does it hold?

[alanmin4304]

When I was breeding fighters I used to raise the males in seperate quarters where they can see each other and keep showing off. I think they get better fin development by doing that. I built a large tank that fitted inside another tank and put mesh on the bottom instead of glass. Then divided it into seperate chambers of about 75mm square and sat the whole thing inside the slightly larger tank. Excess food dropped out through the mesh and to do a water change you just lifted the whole inner setup and dropped it again. If you make it with enough clearance at the side and bottom you can siphon the waste away.

[GBoyd]

Heres mine (or at least one version, still evolving)

http://aquarium.1a.co.nz/2009/01/cell-block-betta/

[Jfishfanatic]

The Aqua One barracks have 12 compartments. I have one, I would say its ok but you could design something better and larger.

[SamH]

I was thinking twelve or so compartments. How big is each spacein the aquaone barracks?

I was thinking of using roughly 20x15x15cm containers.

[Jfishfanatic]

Heres a pic;

compartments are 100x100x150mm. And spaced very close together. Has a buit in sump.

[SamH]

How much did that cost?

[Navarre]

Hi All I have a glass system that is 1200 long and 200 or so wide split into 100x 100x 150 (there abouts) boxes it has a hole at each end for plumbing and small gaps under the partitions for water flow.

needs some clean up

Open to offers if anyone wants it.

I have a fry tank that I stole the idea of (thank you by the way)

That has a section that runs along theh back wall the whole lenght of the tank in this sits the spray bar, return hoses etc and heater.

in front of this is devided front to back into 6 compartments for fry with small gaps under the glass to allow water to return.

Perhaps you could do something like that

Navarre

[fishbreeder]

thats kinda what i was thinking, but didnt know how to keep the water moving and filtered with having a filter in each box. i will happily have two filters. how do i do water flow, do i need heaps of holes in the partitions?

[SamH]

Might see if the guy who made my two biggest tanks still does custom jobs. 6 compartments along the front, 6 along the back, heater and filter media in the middle and compartments on each end. Here's a plan of it:

On an angle

Plan (Birds eye)

Should wait to see if I can actually breed Bettas before I get it made though.

[alanmin4304]

If you got the centre portion divided up as well and mesh on the bottom you could put the whole lot into another tank and heat that. To water change the lot at one time you simply lift it up and drop it again. Doing water changes on individual jars can be a total pain.

[SamH]

I was considering slots underneath each compartment so all of the water flows between the middle partion and the rest of the tank, heating all of the units.

[diver21]

http://www.baker.ws/bunkhouse.html

(from gboyds post)

i was looking into building one of these but beanie baby boxes seem hard to some by or are really expencive for what they are. I still plan on building one similar to the one in the above link but quite a bit smaller, and instead of the beany baby boxes i was thinking more along the lines of the jimbo's petfood containers, bigger space for the fish. and i have talked to a few shop keepers about the aqua one tanks and they all say that it gets really green really quick

[GBoyd]

I think there is more to a project like this than is first evident.

The Aqua One system has very small containers, not so good for long term fancy betta, without room they will get permanently bent rays.

The containers are glass, which makes cleaning easier. I use RO water and change water in my jars every 2 days, and scrub them at least once a week, because they get slimy feeling. The Aqua ones will be getting green due to:

1. Uneaten food

2. too much light

3. Not enough water changes

Almost every betta barrack plan has a UV filter. There is a reason for this, even though it is contrary to most tropical fishkeeping lore. Kill all bacteria, good and bad if you want to avoid algae, finrot and disease spreading.

Adult betta in jars don't eat much, so you need a very good mechanical filter to get the uneaten food out of the water.

[fishbreeder]

i love your plan sam, thats kinda what my husband wants to do. and then he wants to put a couple of females in the middle compartment to get them used to the males so when i put two together to breed they are familiar.

love the design. our is a bit different. only have room for 6 males with a center piece.

[alanmin4304]

If you breed and raise fighters properly you can get hundreds of fry, half of which you would expect to be males, so where are you going to put the rest?

[fishbreeder]

you could always bottle them.

[alanmin4304]

It takes a couple of minutes to do water changes on a few hundred bottles. That is why most of the people in NZ sell their fighters at the unsexed stage and wonder why thy don't get much for them.

[GBoyd]

yes, its quite a problem, how to keep lots of fighters economically. Divided tanks will only get you so far. To do it properly is going to take a lot of space and resources.

[SamH]

Yea, I'd love to have a huge setup like that (the above link).

[Billaney]

When i have breed fighter as long as you raise them together and don't return one to the tank if you have taken one out you can keep 100's of them together is say a 4 foot tank, It looks amazing to see 2males together !!

[fishbreeder]

thats what the guy at the fish shop told me too. he said a guy turned up with a bucket with 200 odd fighters in it coz he was going overseas and needed to sell them. he said he had them all together , that he had 400 together lots of males in there, that he spawned a few females at same time adn when the babies were a few weeks old, he put them all together and he had no problems, i think he had plants and things like those boats you can get for tanks for them to hide in.

we are going to try it. i have some fry that are 2 weeks old and going into a tank later this week. i have put 3 pairs together tonight. will i be able to put them all together, even though there will 2 1/2 week gap??

i guess as long as your tank is large enough its fine.

[Billaney]

I found if i took one out even for a few hours i did not put it back .