shellbell4ever

In my 2, 10 Gallon divided betta tanks, I have the whisper 10,I have noticed that my Boys Bishop and Hicks spend alot of time behind,on the side or under the bottom of the filter,I have even seen them kind of stuck to the intake area apparently sleeping(LOL)But when they see me and they come up front to eat at mealtime I can see the current playing with their tails...is the current to strong?Am I stressing them out?how can I minimize the flow of the current?The other side of the tank has the bubble wand for circulation and the females always seem to love playing in the bubbles as the the boys did not.... and if the males ever decide to make a bubble nest I didn't want the bubble wand or current from filter to destroy the nest.ANY Suggestions would be Greatly Appreciated!!

Fishies-for-me

I can't answer the current part but I can make a suggestion as to making the filter intube safer for them. You said when they sleep sometimes they get sucked up to the filter , if you take a sponge insert from a filter ( doesn't matter what kind as long as it it the size you want and open weave). Cut a hole down the center and slide it over the filter tube...this works great for keeping my guppy fry from the filter and should prevent ripped fins. It may even supply a little more resistance for the water and cut the current a little ,but not sure ....good luck.

COBettaCouple

Bettas do like some current to swim in but have to work up their swimming strength. A piece of filter sponge over the outflow can usually reduce the flow strength.

You could try cutting the netting from the frame of a fish net and securing it over the intake tube (like you would for a fry tank). That lets some debris in but should give their fins less chance of getting pulled in.

For the males to have a spot to bubble nest, you could cut a styrofoam bowl in half and tape it to the side of the tank.. but you'd need the water level lowered enough that the tape would have a dry surface to stick to.

shellbell4ever

I have considered the suggestions here and came up with an alternate plan...using the same mesh I used for the dividers and rubber bands I have cut down the intake of my filter (some) which in turn reduced the out flow, Both my boys (Bishop and Hick's )seem much more comfortable and more active in their tanks
Thanks Everyone!

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COBettaCouple

Hmm.. looking at those pics, I see the filter model is different that what I was thinking of and I wonder -- on the back of those filters, near the bottom, is there a little sliding switch that you can move left & right?

shellbell4ever

No there isn't There is on the smaller model I have in Bonnie's and Clyde's Tanks But not this one But the mesh canvas seems to be working!! My boys seem much happier and more active as well YEAH!!

COBettaCouple

Ah, that stinks.. every filter should be adjustable.. but that's definitely a great idea you had for that type of filter.

chickadee

Sorry but I do not like the Whisper in tank filters for that reason. They do not adjust and the flow intake is so strong that Male Bettas do have a problem with them almost all the time. The HOB filters are okay as they can generally pull away from them okay but the width of the in tank filters makes it hard as they are nearly as wide as the fish is long.

About the only thing you can do to protect the fish from the current is to cover the intake with some filter padding or something like thin sponge from a filter of some type. Make sure whatever you use has been cleared for aquarium use. Sponge and other things meant for household use contain chemicals to prevent spoilage and will poison your fish.

The other thing is the outake on those filters do not take well to putting things in front of them as they have the "waterfall effect" and do not have much to attach anything to. It makes it difficult to try to slow the flow from the top.

My actual suggestion would be to get another filter like a HOB filter like a Penguin even that you can at least put a baffle on to slow the flow. It has a very small intake tube and even my baby betta fresh from Thailand had no problem with dealing with it when I put the baffle of a small piece of filter pad on the front of it. He never stuck to the intake either. EHEIM makes an excellent HOB filter called the Liberty that has wonderful reusable easy to clean filter media. I love them too and they are FULLY ADJUSTABLE to a small trickle of flow and a river of flow so you can slowly adjust it to acclimate your betta to the filter and no baffle is needed. The HOB filters also have the added luxury of making your fish more room to swim as the major portion of the filter hangs on the back of the tank outside of the water. The only part of the filter that goes into the water is a slim tube.

Rose

COBettaCouple

Yea, that's exactly why we replaced our in-tank whisper filters with little Azoo HOB filters. I'll have to try those Eheim Liberty filters sometime.. I'm sure we'll get to the point that we need more filters.

shellbell4ever

Yes I agree,
My Boys do seem happier with the adjustment I have made...But as soon as I can, I will be replacing those filters with the hob type,if for no other reason it will add to the swimming room in the tank!!!Not to mention the adjustable flow option

COBettaCouple

Yea, the more swimming room, the better.