Filter too strong for betta

This is a check valve

and this is an adjustment valve

You can find them less expensive. This is just to show you what they look like

Thanks so much for the info. I was having trouble picturing where it would go, but that makes sense! Definitely gonna look into both these thing!

 

Thanks so much for the info. I was having trouble picturing where it would go, but that makes sense! Definitely gonna look into both these thing!

I know what you mean. I was where you are now when I first started on my fish keeping journey many many years ago

 

I made my lid! Cost me $11. $4 for the glass, $3 for the pvc corner siding, and $4 for the little handle.

Can’t wait to get a better light. It was unfortunate, because I couldn’t find a “regular” hood lid in a 5.5 gallon size, and the current one I have cannot accomdate any different lighting options.

I feel accomplished haha. I really appreciate everyone’s help! I can’t wait for my sponge filter to come in so I can get it all set up and continue cycling (although, I’m enjoying my plants, so I’m in no rush for a fish).

 

For the same purpose of not having my plants eaten I got me two nerite snails They have not even touched my plants . However, They also don't spend any time on the gravel neither. My gravel are tiny stones, maybe sand would not even be comfortable for them to move on, I am not sure. But they do great job keeping all my decorations, driftwood and glass clean from algae which started showing up in my tank

 

View attachment 431185
I made my lid! Cost me $11. $4 for the glass, $3 for the pvc corner siding, and $4 for the little handle.

Can’t wait to get a better light. It was unfortunate, because I couldn’t find a “regular” hood lid in a 5.5 gallon size, and the current one I have cannot accomdate any different lighting options.

I feel accomplished haha. I really appreciate everyone’s help! I can’t wait for my sponge filter to come in so I can get it all set up and continue cycling (although, I’m enjoying my plants, so I’m in no rush for a fish).

You are so clever I don't think you could have bought a ready made one that would have looked or worked any better.

 

For the same purpose of not having my plants eaten I got me two nerite snails They have not even touched my plants . However, They also don't spend any time on the gravel neither. My gravel are tiny stones, maybe sand would not even be comfortable for them to move on, I am not sure. But they do great job keeping all my decorations, driftwood and glass clean from algae which started showing up in my tank

I LOVE snails, I have mystery or apple snails as some call them but you can't have th3m in every state, I love my snails as much as my fish maybe even a bit more.

 

I LOVE snails, I have mystery or apple snails as some call them but you can't have th3m in every state, I love my snails as much as my fish maybe even a bit more.

I barely see mine. I have lot of coconuts around the tank so my fishes can hide.... but mostly the snails hide .... they do wonderful job cleaning all the coconut surfaces, even form inside

 

You are so clever I don't think you could have bought a ready made one that would have looked or worked any better.

Thank you! I honestly thought it would turn out worse haha.

 

Love the lid Staci! I wish I was creative and handy enough to do something DIY like that
How is the cycle going?

 

I barely see mine. I have lot of coconuts around the tank so my fishes can hide.... but mostly the snails hide .... they do wonderful job cleaning all the coconut surfaces, even form inside

Same kind mystery snails? Mine are so active, they do have lazy days such as today I swear one of mine grew almost double it's size in 2 days. When I got mine the shells were see threw but much better now that the have calcium. I love love my snails lol

 

Love the lid Staci! I wish I was creative and handy enough to do something DIY like that
How is the cycle going?

It was super easy if you ever feel like giving it at go! I figured it was cheap enough that if I messed up catastrophically, it wouldn’t be super devastating.

Cycling is going going very slowly! I’ve been stalled at 0.25 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 0 nitrates....luckily I’m in no rush to get fish (out of fear of keeping a living thing alive), so I don’t mind being patient.

 

It was super easy if you ever feel like giving it at go! I figured it was cheap enough that if I messed up catastrophically, it wouldn’t be super devastating.

Cycling is going going very slowly! I’ve been stalled at 0.25 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 0 nitrates....luckily I’m in no rush to get fish (out of fear of keeping a living thing alive), so I don’t mind being patient.

You could probably jump start your cycle if you upped the amount of ammonia. I know it is just day 5 so really early in the cycle but it will cycle easier and probably quicker with more ammonia to grow and feed the bacteria.

 

You could probably jump start your cycle if you upped the amount of ammonia. I know it is just day 5 so really early in the cycle but it will cycle easier and probably quicker with more ammonia to grow and feed the bacteria.

I looked everywhere for pure ammonia, and couldn’t find anything (not even at my local janitorial supply store). Are there any other ways to up the ammonia effectively? I’ve just been doing fish food.

 

I looked everywhere for pure ammonia, and couldn’t find anything (not even at my local janitorial supply store). Are there any other ways to up the ammonia effectively? I’ve just been doing fish food.

Well shoot, that is a bummer I know it will be really messy but I guess you could just put in LOTS of fish food or if you are willing to do it you could get a couple of hardy fish and do a fish in cycle.

Personally I have never considered fish in cycling a bad thing to do. As long as one has the time and willingness to do a lot of water changes it can be done without harming the fish.

 

Well shoot, that is a bummer I know it will be really messy but I guess you could just put in LOTS of fish food or if you are willing to do it you could get a couple of hardy fish and do a fish in cycle.

Personally I have never considered fish in cycling a bad thing to do. As long as one has the time and willingness to do a lot of water changes it can be done without harming the fish.

I think I’ll re-evaluate my cycling technique once I put the sponge filter in. I assume that will virtually reset my cycle? Maybe I can put more effort into it the second time haha.

 

I think I’ll re-evaluate my cycling technique once I put the sponge filter in. I assume that will virtually reset my cycle? Maybe I can put more effort into it the second time haha.

Sounds like a plan but you won't necessarily have to start from scratch. You could just go ahead and run both the sponge filter and the original one until the cycle is complete. Once you get your Betta you can remove the filter you have right now if you find it is too strong for him.

If you decide to go the fish in cycle route some LFS's will take the fish you use back once they have finished their work. Personally I have never done that but some folks do. I have just always started with some fish that I know I want to keep.

 

Sounds like a plan but you won't necessarily have to start from scratch. You could just go ahead and run both the sponge filter and the original one until the cycle is complete. Once you get your Betta you can remove the filter you have right now if you find it is too strong for him.

If you decide to go the fish in cycle route some LFS's will take the fish you use back once they have finished their work. Personally I have never done that but some folks do. I have just always started with some fish that I know I want to keep.

Ooooh awesome! I figured there would be someway to prevent the cycle from starting over. So simple! I’m learning so much; thanks!

 

Ooooh awesome! I figured there would be someway to prevent the cycle from starting over. So simple! I’m learning so much; thanks!

That is the beauty of this forum. No matter the problem there is bound to be someone that has been there, done that and will know the answer to just about anything that comes up.

 

HI Staci! Just wanted to say your tank set up is gorgeous! Love your custom made lid as well, your fish is going to have the nicest home!

I’m new to sponge filters too, just put one in our big tank. First time setting up airline tubing and a t valve (my air pump has outlets for two airline tubes, but I’m only running one sponge filter) and a check valve. The only thing is, I haven’t found a quiet air pump yet! We moved our 12 gallon to my bedroom, it’s only running an Aquaclear 20, and it’s very quiet compared to the Eheim air pump running in my son’s bedroom for his 10 gallon. I’m going to try another less powerful Eheim air pump. Also have a Penn Plax air pod for the 90 gallon, it’s louder than the FX6 canister filter! So my limited advice is to research and find a quiet air pump if you can (if noise bothers you).

Are you in Canada? I’m in BC went to many stores looking for ammonia without additives, found out many people use Old Country ammonia to cycle their aquariums. You can find it at Home Hardware. I started off cycling with fish food as well. Found it hard to target ammonia levels and the decomposing food got really nasty. If you wanted to try liquid ammonia, try there! Good luck!

 

HI Staci! Just wanted to say your tank set up is gorgeous! Love your custom made lid as well, your fish is going to have the nicest home!

I’m new to sponge filters too, just put one in our big tank. First time setting up airline tubing and a t valve (my air pump has outlets for two airline tubes, but I’m only running one sponge filter) and a check valve. The only thing is, I haven’t found a quiet air pump yet! We moved our 12 gallon to my bedroom, it’s only running an Aquaclear 20, and it’s very quiet compared to the Eheim air pump running in my son’s bedroom for his 10 gallon. I’m going to try another less powerful Eheim air pump. Also have a Penn Plax air pod for the 90 gallon, it’s louder than the FX6 canister filter! So my limited advice is to research and find a quiet air pump if you can (if noise bothers you).

Are you in Canada? I’m in BC went to many stores looking for ammonia without additives, found out many people use Old Country ammonia to cycle their aquariums. You can find it at Home Hardware. I started off cycling with fish food as well. Found it hard to target ammonia levels and the decomposing food got really nasty. If you wanted to try liquid ammonia, try there! Good luck!

That is the one draw back to running sponge filters. I just bought a new air pump for my 5.5 gallon tank hoping it would be quieter than the 2 I already have. It isn't

I have a really small one with just one outlet that I have had for years. It is fairly quiet. I had been using it for quite a while but then I set up a 2 gallon jar for a snail tank and needed to add an air stone to it so needed a stronger air pump to run both the sponge filter for the small tank and the air stone for the snail jar.

Quiet ones seem to be hard to find. I would hate to have either this pump or the one I have on my 55 in my bedroom. Since neither are, the louder than I like pumps aren't a problem for me.

If you set them on a piece of foam it does help some but the vibrating bellows necessary to produce the air is going to make some noise no matter how you set them up.

 

Same kind mystery snails? Mine are so active, they do have lazy days such as today I swear one of mine grew almost double it's size in 2 days. When I got mine the shells were see threw but much better now that the have calcium. I love love my snails lol

It is nerite snails. It is hard to see them because of all the coconuts and driftwood being the same color as them And they go on cleaning inside of the coconuts too. They leave so much chopped of dark pieces (from the wood and coconuts) behind them though. I wanted to actually ask about the calcium.... is it some liquid, or tablets, or additive in food? It is because one of my snails has scratches since I bought him and I did not see any significant growth in two months. But then again, it is nerites, maybe those stay small?

 

HI Staci! Just wanted to say your tank set up is gorgeous! Love your custom made lid as well, your fish is going to have the nicest home!

I’m new to sponge filters too, just put one in our big tank. First time setting up airline tubing and a t valve (my air pump has outlets for two airline tubes, but I’m only running one sponge filter) and a check valve. The only thing is, I haven’t found a quiet air pump yet! We moved our 12 gallon to my bedroom, it’s only running an Aquaclear 20, and it’s very quiet compared to the Eheim air pump running in my son’s bedroom for his 10 gallon. I’m going to try another less powerful Eheim air pump. Also have a Penn Plax air pod for the 90 gallon, it’s louder than the FX6 canister filter! So my limited advice is to research and find a quiet air pump if you can (if noise bothers you).

Are you in Canada? I’m in BC went to many stores looking for ammonia without additives, found out many people use Old Country ammonia to cycle their aquariums. You can find it at Home Hardware. I started off cycling with fish food as well. Found it hard to target ammonia levels and the decomposing food got really nasty. If you wanted to try liquid ammonia, try there! Good luck!

I’m in Ontario. We have a Home Hardware that I always forget about (there’s a Home Depot right across the street from it where I always go)! Such a good idea! I’ll check it out today, thanks!

I’m not super concerned with any noise as of now; I sleep with a pretty loud noise machine every night, anyways haha. It has apparently been good preparation for owning a bedroom aquarium!

Fingers crossed my Home Hardware has the ammonia! Then I’ll have to start researching how to use it.

 

It is nerite snails. It is hard to see them because of all the coconuts and driftwood being the same color as them And they go on cleaning inside of the coconuts too. They leave so much chopped of dark pieces (from the wood and coconuts) behind them though. I wanted to actually ask about the calcium.... is it some liquid, or tablets, or additive in food? It is because one of my snails has scratches since I bought him and I did not see any significant growth in two months. But then again, it is nerites, maybe those stay small?

Well what I do for calcium is snail jello there are tons on recipies online. They love it. Also cucumber but even more so zucchini. I also use boiled egg shells without the inner membrane crushes in a filter midia bag in my filter which enriches the water with calcium they can absorb, then a small price of cuttle bone in the tank, now there is such thing as over calcium-ing lol I only do one crushed egg shell and I feed the snail jello once a week and the cuttle bone stays in always until dissolved them replace, this takes a long time to occur though,

 

I’m in Ontario. We have a Home Hardware that I always forget about (there’s a Home Depot right across the street from it where I always go)! Such a good idea! I’ll check it out today, thanks!

I’m not super concerned with any noise as of now; I sleep with a pretty loud noise machine every night, anyways haha. It has apparently been good preparation for owning a bedroom aquarium!

Fingers crossed my Home Hardware has the ammonia! Then I’ll have to start researching how to use it.

This should tell you exactly where to find and how to use ammonia

Ammonia instructions for a fishless cycle

 

This should tell you exactly where to find and how to use ammonia

Ammonia instructions for a fishless cycle

Thank you! I was hoping someone would point me in the right direction!

 

Thank you! I was hoping someone would point me in the right direction!

You are so very welcome. I've never done a fish-less cycle so I try to point folks doing it to someone that knows what they are talking about. I know the basics of what needs to be done but don't know the actual numbers

 

HI Staci! Just wanted to say your tank set up is gorgeous! Love your custom made lid as well, your fish is going to have the nicest home!

I’m new to sponge filters too, just put one in our big tank. First time setting up airline tubing and a t valve (my air pump has outlets for two airline tubes, but I’m only running one sponge filter) and a check valve. The only thing is, I haven’t found a quiet air pump yet! We moved our 12 gallon to my bedroom, it’s only running an Aquaclear 20, and it’s very quiet compared to the Eheim air pump running in my son’s bedroom for his 10 gallon. I’m going to try another less powerful Eheim air pump. Also have a Penn Plax air pod for the 90 gallon, it’s louder than the FX6 canister filter! So my limited advice is to research and find a quiet air pump if you can (if noise bothers you).

Are you in Canada? I’m in BC went to many stores looking for ammonia without additives, found out many people use Old Country ammonia to cycle their aquariums. You can find it at Home Hardware. I started off cycling with fish food as well. Found it hard to target ammonia levels and the decomposing food got really nasty. If you wanted to try liquid ammonia, try there! Good luck!

That is the one draw back to running sponge filters. I just bought a new air pump for my 5.5 gallon tank hoping it would be quieter than the 2 I already have. It isn't

I have a really small one with just one outlet that I have had for years. It is fairly quiet. I had been using it for quite a while but then I set up a 2 gallon jar for a snail tank and needed to add an air stone to it so needed a stronger air pump to run both the sponge filter for the small tank and the air stone for the snail jar.

Quiet ones seem to be hard to find. I would hate to have either this pump or the one I have on my 55 in my bedroom. Since neither are, the louder than I like pumps aren't a problem for me.

If you set them on a piece of foam it does help some but the vibrating bellows necessary to produce the air is going to make some noise no matter how you set them up.

I’m in Ontario. We have a Home Hardware that I always forget about (there’s a Home Depot right across the street from it where I always go)! Such a good idea! I’ll check it out today, thanks!

I’m not super concerned with any noise as of now; I sleep with a pretty loud noise machine every night, anyways haha. It has apparently been good preparation for owning a bedroom aquarium!

Fingers crossed my Home Hardware has the ammonia! Then I’ll have to start researching how to use it.

Just wanted to try to help out with my two cents worth, but I've had very good luck with Tetra Whisper air pumps in function as well as the noise department. I still keep them on top of a small folded piece of cloth which still helps. They come in all different sizes, and from my experience, are pretty affordable. Not sure if you can find one in Canada, but maybe could do shipping? Anyway, they look like this.

 

Well what I do for calcium is snail jello there are tons on recipies online. They love it. Also cucumber but even more so zucchini. I also use boiled egg shells without the inner membrane crushes in a filter midia bag in my filter which enriches the water with calcium they can absorb, then a small price of cuttle bone in the tank, now there is such thing as over calcium-ing lol I only do one crushed egg shell and I feed the snail jello once a week and the cuttle bone stays in always until dissolved them replace, this takes a long time to occur though,

Thank you! This is very helpful. I just got rid of my old carbon from my filter so I have quiet lot of free space in it. So I’m definitely going with the eggshell, cucumber and zucchinI ideas thank you!

 

Thank you! This is very helpful. I just got rid of my old carbon from my filter so I have quiet lot of free space in it. So I’m definitely going with the eggshell, cucumber and zucchinI ideas thank you!

Your very welcome

 

Just wanted to try to help out with my two cents worth, but I've had very good luck with Tetra Whisper air pumps in function as well as the noise department. I still keep them on top of a small folded piece of cloth which still helps. They come in all different sizes, and from my experience, are pretty affordable. Not sure if you can find one in Canada, but maybe could do shipping? Anyway, they look like this.

That’s great news! That’s the exact one I ordered! Super affordable and it’ll be shipped on Monday. Glad to hear you’ve had good luck with it.

 

Really pretty tank, looks like velvet...

 

I've noticed that my filter in my tank keeps pushing my betta around. I've tried numerous ways to slow down the flow, but none of them really work. Can bettas live without a filter? If so, how would I need to care for the water? Also, if I wanted to get a different filter for the tank, what is a good, small one that won't make a big current?

 

what kind of filter are you using?

 

what kind of filter are you using?

It's just the one that came with the tank. It is an Aqueon tank.

 

You can make a baffle for your filter.

 

You can make a baffle for your filter.

How do I do that?

 

 

In my opinion, sponge filters are best for bettas as they don't appreciate high flow of water current at the surface level.