# Dividing a 20 Gallon Long



## stevenjohn21 (Dec 4, 2010)

I have a 20 gallon long tank which i have decided to divide and get ready for the best looking Betta's once they get older (3 week old fry right now) I will be using the DIY way to divide the tank by using plastic mesh sold at craft stores so my 1st question is how many times could i divide the tank ?

For filtration im going to use a Marineland Penguin power sponge filter rated 170gph. I was thinking of putting the powerhead/sponge on one side of the tank and attaching plastic tubing to the outlet which would dump the water out on the opposite side of the tank. My 2nd question is would this work ? Would the powerhead be strong enough to push the water thru the tubing to the other side ? My plan was to place a heater in the middle of the tank.
Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.


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## Calmwaters (Sep 2, 2009)

What kind of fish will be going into the tank? Sorry I am sure theres a post here some where about it but I have been away for a while and am unfamilar with your tanks.


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## stevenjohn21 (Dec 4, 2010)

Sorry i thought i had wrote it above, i just edited it. Im going to be keeping Betta's


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## Calmwaters (Sep 2, 2009)

I have a 20 long and before I had it divided in 4 and it worked well I had two small sponge filters one on each side.


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## stevenjohn21 (Dec 4, 2010)

I was hoping i could give each fish 3 gallons so i could keep 6-7 fish.


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## Calmwaters (Sep 2, 2009)

You could do it that way to and I am sure it will be fine I only had 4 bettas and liked them haveing 5 gallons each. A member on the betta side made dividers out of plexiglass and it looked much better than the mesh ones. Her user name is ChristinaRoss you could search her post I belive and be able to find her instructions.


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## zof (Apr 23, 2010)

With bettas I would think you would want to skip the HOB or power heads due to them liking pretty still water, I think 6 would be a good number to aim for since you could divide it twice in width and once in length to get pretty good size pens. I like the double sponge filter idea, should keep the water moving even if relatively slow.


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## ladayen (Jun 21, 2011)

I would encourage you stick with 4, but either way dont do more then 6, divided as Zof said.


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## stevenjohn21 (Dec 4, 2010)

6 bettas would have just over 3 gallons of water which is enough right ?


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## ladayen (Jun 21, 2011)

stevenjohn21 said:


> 6 bettas would have just over 3 gallons of water which is enough right ?


 
Depending on who you talk to. I would say no. Although many do keep Bettas in that or less. Again I really encourage 5g per betta.


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

They would have 3g each, but you have to take into account the space in inches. When dividing such a large tank, your better off with a little extra in gallons to achieve the inches you need per fish. 

Like a 10g tank... if you want to give a fish 1g each, you would need to divide it 10 ways. They would never be able to turn around! lol

3gal is fine, but the space won't be.

Personally, I would divide it into 4 and keep a little room on each side for your pumps so Bettas can't get to them.


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## small fry (Oct 14, 2010)

I agree with Pitluvs. 5 1/3" of swim space isn't alot of space to turn around. That would be pretty cramped. You *could* do it if you needed to, but I would rather give the bettas a little bit more space to swim, not cramped up next to a filter etc. In theory it works, though.


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## zof (Apr 23, 2010)

+1 the less like a prison our tanks are to our fish the better. I'm not a betta keeper but don't female bettas get along? Maybe you can use a larger space for a female sorority.


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## small fry (Oct 14, 2010)

zof said:


> +1 the less like a prison our tanks are to our fish the better. I'm not a betta keeper but don't female bettas get along? Maybe you can use a larger space for a female sorority.


Female bettas can get along, but they will also fight in conditions that aren't proper for a sorority. If they are kept properly, this is a great experience! :-D

@stevenjohn21 This is a great and rewarding route, just make sure that you do research. You may want to swing over to TFK's betta forum (_log in with your TFK username and password_) and post a topic there. They need a certain amout of female bettas (too few can cause many problems), and tons of hiding spots. Start a thread there and I am sure that they can help you.


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## stevenjohn21 (Dec 4, 2010)

Thank you, i just started a thread over there. I have heard not to keep males and females in the same body of water even if it is divided and blinded, why is this ?


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## small fry (Oct 14, 2010)

Hmm...I don't know. I have always heard that it is Ok to keep a male and a female in a divided tank. I have read here and in other places that if you are dividing a tank 3 ways with clear (see-through) dividers, that it is best to have the males on either side and a female in the middle so that the male won't see each other. 

Oddly enough, there are afew people on BettaFish that keep males free-roaming with the females, but I would never recomend that to anyone. Usually that starts out with a young PK/PKHM or DT/SD being mistaken as a female. There is no concrete method, and it usually doesn't end well. So do not attemp that!

But, I don't know. Were they talking about that on BettaFish? Maybe someone else can shine some light on the theory.


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