lilmingo

Hello everybody,
I was one of the ignorant people who was keeping her betta in a 1.5 gallon aquarium, but now that I've been reading all of your comments on the forums, my little guy is being upgraded to my 5-gallon tank (which of course means I'll have to get an even bigger tank for the fishies that are currently in there---aww, shucks :-D). It's got a heater and a filter, but the only thing I'm concerned about is the flow-rate. There's no way to adjust it, so I want to make sure that it's not going to be over-powering for my betta. It looks like most of the current is at the surface of the water and in a column right below the filter output. Does anyone have experience with the Eclipse 5-gallon Hex Aquarium? Do you have any advice re: whether the current will be too strong?
Thanks!!

susitna-flower

Shouldn't be...can you adjust the flow by putting more filtration in, or using a sponge over the intake, or putting more water in the tank. All these things effect the flow in mine, though I do not have your filter, and don't know for sure how strong it is....I just think several here have the same thing for bettas,

They should be along soon to help....

luna

I've got my Kappa in a Hex-5, and she loves surfing the current from the BIO-Wheel. Your guy, being a guy, will have bigger and heavier fins than Kappa does, so he may need more practice strengthening himself, but there's enough room in the tank that if he doesn't want to be in the current, he can get away from it.

I suggest setting up some sort of small cave that faces away from the flow of the water (meaning it faces away from where the water is coming out of the BIO-Wheel), so it will be sheltered from the current if he wants a place to hide and rest.

Having some plants (either real or smooth fake - test on some nylons to make sure he wouldn't snag his fins) to swim through and rest on would also be good.

Tazmiche

Hi, thanks for getting your mini mate a better home. Can you turn the flow of the filter towards the glass?? it slows the flow and that is what i have done in 2 of my tanks!!!We love them and they us, WE and THEY have to addapt to life together, not many of us are mega rich!!!

luna

chickadee

Here is an example of one type of baffle to cut down on the flow from a Bio-wheel. You can use filter floss pads or craft canvas (plastic canvas) or part of a 2 liter soda bottle cut to fit. Anything that will divert the flow will work.

Rose

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COBettaCouple

We've had a male and a female each in 5g hex tanks. They were totally fine with the current, although it is possible to change the filter if you end up wanting to. We put a whisper filter on after one of the hex tanks had the filter go down.

chickadee

If you absolutely do not want to continue with the Bio-wheel my suggestion would be to remove it completely and clean it and put it away and get a sponge filter and use it in the tank instead. You need to keep the bio-wheel assembly for when you may need it to remove meds from the tank and to use carbon in but otherwise the sponge filter can be set up to be totally adjustable to flow at the rate that is good for the betta. I did that with two of my hex tanks and it worked great.

Rose

lilmingo

Thank you for the great advice!! Once my 10-gallon (fishless-ly!) cycles, I'll be moving my guy into the 5-gallon tank; it sounds like the current won't be a problem, but if it is I know what to do :-) Thanks again!!