# Penn plax divider...any experience with them?



## FRIENDLYFISHIES (Aug 7, 2012)

Ive been looking for a divider for my betta tank, pen plax seems to be the most popular...in one of my other posts members mentioned making my own but I dont know that I will ever get around to it and id probably royally screw up the measurments lol. I see pen plax dividers come in many sizes and appear easy to install...anyone have experience with them? Can the bettas jump over these easily? Do they keep the fish seperated well. 

Also on a different note...
If all of my bettas went through a quarenteen period before placing them in the tank together and they all appeared healthy, what are the chances that my bettas would actually get sick??


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## FRIENDLYFISHIES (Aug 7, 2012)

http://www.aquacave.com/Penn-Plax-Tank-Dividers-P1492.aspx

also if anyone used or uses these could you share some pics so I could see how they work in the tank??


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

You can always make your own with plexiglass I'm not a fan of buying stuff like this because the low price means low quality. And the last thing you want is having it fall down and having your two fish go at it.


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## FRIENDLYFISHIES (Aug 7, 2012)

True. It seems like they would work from the very few pics ive seen on google but i do agree with you about not wanting it to collapse...id be devistated if my betta injured/killed one another. Its kinda too bad they dont make tanks with glass dividers already in place for Bettas..they make these 
http://www.petlanddiscounts.com/detail.asp?product_id=523100 but they seem incredible small...I was looking for pics of actual bettas in them, nothing out there, but based on what it says it sounds waaaaaay too small...I dont see why they dont make these kinds of tanks on a larger scale, im sure theyd sell them, id buy one! lol. But not this one, too small. Still curious if anyone used these and how its worked out, any others? 

Cory, how hard is it cut plexy? I ask because I think dad actually has some unused plexy in his garage, just dont know what tools to use to cut it. If hed let me have it I could play with it a bit. It is clear though which might be the only down fall.


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

The Penn Plax dividers are ok. They are kinda a pain to install and the hooks that keep them from coming off prevent the hood from sitting flat on the tank. But they do work... we had no jumpers, but it did seem like water flow was quite restricted.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

I'm sure if your dad has plexi in the garage he should have the tools to cut it for you. It's not hard all you need is a saw and a good eye to get a straight cut. And you could have it done in a few min.

What tank are you splitting up? And what fish are going in it? If I remember correct is it for Bettas?


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

I'm gonna adress the second question asked about the bettas getting sick. There is always a chance that your bettas will get sick even if you quarantined them. You could overfeed them, or not change the water enough, or or or. There really is a lot of things that you could do to make your betta get sick. But if you quarantined them they wont get sick from each other.


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## daynadsmall (Jul 11, 2012)

I've had good luck with the Penn Plax in the past from the standpoint of them staying in place. They do restrict water flow by quite a bit, though, so I would recommend a small filter for each side rather than just one filter in one half or another. Another word of caution: Make sure you don't fill the water too close to the top of the divider -- I made that mistake once and had a betta jump the fence and mix it up with the other one. Also, the fish can see each other through there, so make sure there are plenty of plants and decor for them to "get away" from one another.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i have used almost every kind of divider you can think of..one of te best is one that my wife makes from plastic canvas from the craft store...it comes in colors(black is best). it is easy to cut and fit ; and the larger mesh sizes (5 and 7) allow for good water circulation....she uses the spines from binders to keep the tops and edges rigid...
it costs a little more than $1.00 to make a divider for a 10 gallon tank...


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## FRIENDLYFISHIES (Aug 7, 2012)

hxcchic good to know! thank you! Cory yes bettas, I have a 5.5 gal I want to divide, and I actually think I have another 5.5 somewhere in the attic in which I could also divide. lohachata I like the sounds of that! Do you have any pics?


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Lohas idea is most likely the best bet. You can easily cut that stuff. I used it for my java moss wall and I used suction cups to hold it against the back of my tank. So I'm sure you could split the whole tank using it. 

A even better idea is a moss wall splitting the tank. That would look sweet. And would be a good starter plant for you.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Really big fish can knock them out of the track and get past. Really young fry can sneak under. Should be fine for a betta, though.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

the only problem with doing a solid divider or a moss wall is that the water circulation will get cut off...some dividers have really small holes which almost completely cuts off flow..the larger #5 canvas(5 holes per inch) will allow good flow and still keep fish apart...


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Damn John just had to point out the flaws in my great idea lol. So I will counter that with saying you can put a small filter on both sides Like a 10 gallon tank each side having a small 5g whisperer


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## FRIENDLYFISHIES (Aug 7, 2012)

dont have enough plugs lol! im actually trying to figure out how everyone plugs their numerous tank in in one area...would that be an outlet needed for a heater/filter/possibly air stone and lid...i see some betta set ups with like 12 little 2 gal betta tanks lined up...the plug factor even with a surge protecter outlet bar baffles me...are they dangerously plugging 2 of those big bars into one area? Im all worried just having my bearded dragon and guppies all plugged into one area nvm numerous tanks lol. Any advice in dealing with the electricity situation?


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

It's called power strip(s) 

I had the plastic one that had the holes in it for my 20ga. I didn't like it. I used it because my cherry barbs had bred and I thought hey keep adults from the fry! Yeah, Fry go right through those little holes LOL. But aside from that I didn't like the fit and it was annoying as heck to put up.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

frys and microcenter sell 4' long power strips with 12 outlets. They all say "don't use around water", but the true "outdoor-rated" strips are ridiculously bulky and odd shaped. All my basement outlets have ground fault interrupters so I don't worry too much. If I use a lot of little pumps and lights, the draw can add up, but I would only trip the breaker when I turned on a shop vac. When we put a heat pump in the basement, we added capacity so no issue anymore. Most fish equip is low power compared to the computers, moniters, printers, etc. they expect you to use them for. 

Unless you can't stand the blub-blub-blub, you can use one air-pump to drive several sponge filters. 

Someday I will replace all the plugs hanging off shop lights with wired-in lighting and that will help the spaghetti.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i ran 2 new circuits with 30 amp fuses when setting up the fishroom here..each circuit has about 6 4 way boxes...but i still am using about 20 power strips....


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Once upon a time, before we had a lot of tanks. We divided a tank between a holding mbuna on one side and a goldfish and "angelicus" cat (probably a pictus) on the other. I really don't remember why we had those two, maybe they came with a used tank. Anyway, one day the mouth was empty and the goldfish and the cat were rocking on their huge round bellies. Another time we discovered albino zebra fry prefer dark mothers. Fortunately the Melanochromis mother wasn't picky, she just held them with her own fry.


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## FRIENDLYFISHIES (Aug 7, 2012)

wowza wowza wowza thats a lot of numbers for my little math numb brain LOL! We live in a super old house with super old wiring, nothing we plan on touching lol...I will have to figure out a different electrical plan but it sounds like yall are on top of it!


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