What's The Concesus On The Aqua One Betta Barracks?

[Tyrannosaurus]

Hi,

Just wanted to know what experienced betta keepers thought of the Aqua One Betta Barracks as shown here:

I've been trialling them for a few days and my results are mixed, some fish stay active in them, but look sort of stressed, others quickly go into 'lie there' mode, others don't seem too bothered. I like them for their convenience, but I'm not sure they're good for the fish. There's only 10cm by 10cm by 12cm of swimming space, after all.

What say you guys?

[SamH]

I haven't tried them but there has been a few discussions on them. I believe that if I were to ever have one, I would plant the sump and rotate the Bettas daily between their compartment and the larger tank. Any fish kept in a restricted environment such as that is going to be less active. I would also put a bit of java fern and/or moss in each compartment to look nice too.

JMHO

[Adrienne]

I have not tried them either but I have seen plenty of fighters in these barracks and imo none of them look overly impressed. In fact I would say they look depressed. I don't know whether its the size of each barrack or what. Most of the fighters do seem to lie over in them which normally happens when there is too much current flowing but I can not see how this could happen in these. Maybe if there was a good daily waterchange on the barracks they would be happier.

I have heard that they are hard to clean.

[Tyrannosaurus]

Yeah, the only way I have been keeping them clean is by siphoning out all the mess at the bottom of the tank daily. I do agree that the fish don't look overjoyed with them, there is an awful lot of filter noise too for such a small tank. I think that's kind of the death knell for the barracks, which is a pity.

(I didn't put the fighters you sent down in there, Adodge, they're currently chasing danios about in the community tank quite happily. It's actually amazing how well they traveled.)

Secondary question for anyone who knows:

Is it okay to have males and female separated but in the same aquarium where they can see each other if you're not planning to breed?

[SamH]

Is it okay to have males and female separated but in the same aquarium where they can see each other if you're not planning to breed?

I'd say so. She may drop eggs though but they should eventually get used to each other.

[Tyrannosaurus]

I'd say so. She may drop eggs though but they should eventually get used to each other.

I always wondered about this, quite often the females get their breeding stripes on and I wonder if that is bad for them.

[Ashzbetta]

ive lost more fish than survived in them. depression gets them pretty quick. i had mine with plants in the tanks. i would only suggest it for seperating young males.

i have just taken mine down and set up a new tank for my males

[Tyrannosaurus]

ive lost more fish than survived in them. depression gets them pretty quick. i had mine with plants in the tanks. i would only suggest it for seperating young males.

i have just taken mine down and set up a new tank for my males

I took mine down last night, I didn't have them up long enough to lose any fish, but there's one female who still looks miserable from her short stay in there. Kind of an expensive mistake to make eh?

[Adrienne]

Its interesting to hear from you both about the barracks.

How many males do you have Tyrannosaurus? You can keep a male in with as many females as you like without major issues although I do find the females sometimes have a scrap over who is going to be number one with the male in there.

Do either of you know how much actual water movement is in the barracks? I just keep my males in coke bottles so they don't have a huge amount of space but they are pretty much always on the go.

[Ashzbetta]

i found that they were too small for adult males. the current wasnt too bad as you can adjust it. i always found the pipes and nozzles to keep blocking, getting jammed and then id get annoyed at it also there was alot of water loss with mine and i had to put 2 litres of water into it every night, when i first got it i lost 3 heaters cuz i kept forgetting to top it up . so yeah i took mine down. i however willl keep it for back up for seperating young males.

but in my opinion they arent worth it

[k1w1y2k]

We had 1 and stopped using it as they got depressed and lost alot of males. We also had a couple that jumped out. I have noticed that even the lfs dont use them much any more.

[Ashzbetta]

i stopped mine from jumping by making lids and tryed to minimise stress by making plastic dividers to go between compartments so they couldnt always see each other. i took the cards out for 20 minutes every day

they are too small and cause too much stress on fish

[Tyrannosaurus]

Its interesting to hear from you both about the barracks.

How many males do you have Tyrannosaurus? You can keep a male in with as many females as you like without major issues although I do find the females sometimes have a scrap over who is going to be number one with the male in there.

Do either of you know how much actual water movement is in the barracks? I just keep my males in coke bottles so they don't have a huge amount of space but they are pretty much always on the go.

I have hm, 5 males at the moment. Two are separate entirely in their own place, and a couple are separated but in bottles in a community tank with females. There doesn't seem to be much fighting at all as yet between the females, at least, not that has resulted in any serious fin nipping. Because there's a couple of males, the attention of the females is fairly split.

The water movement in the barracks can be manipulated from a mere drip to a fairly steady stream capable of moving the fish's debris about the tank. The current is actually not bad, but I did find that many fish looked depressed and worse than that, cramped in them. I've gotten rid of mine with the caveat that they're only good for short term storage and early fry separation.

[Tyrannosaurus]

i found that they were too small for adult males. the current wasnt too bad as you can adjust it. i always found the pipes and nozzles to keep blocking, getting jammed and then id get annoyed at it also there was alot of water loss with mine and i had to put 2 litres of water into it every night, when i first got it i lost 3 heaters cuz i kept forgetting to top it up . so yeah i took mine down. i however willl keep it for back up for seperating young males.

but in my opinion they arent worth it

Yeah, I was always splashing water everywhere with them, and keeping them clean meant taking out a bit of water. I do think they would probably be okay for just separated males maybe, but I'd prefer the coke bottle method after having tried both now.