Is My Betta A Bad Swimmer Or Am I A Bad Betta Keeper?

Hello Everyone,
So I bought my halfmoon betta about a year ago and the filter I had for him was too strong. So I went and bought him a Tetra WhisperPF10. I have a 5.5 gallon tank and the filter is still too strong for him. He never goes near the filter and when he does, he has struggle swimming. I even added a piece of a sponge to slow the flow and I kept the water as high as I but the current is still too strong for him. What should I do?

 

In think of you lower your water level, the current might be easier for your betta. That's what I do with my acquaclear 20 on my 5.5g.

 

Halfmoon bettas are bad swimmers because of their heavy finnage so they can't handle flow that well. I'm assuming that you have the intake covered with a sponge, you can also try creating a baffle for the outtake or switching over to a sponge filter which is gentle for bettas.

 

You should be able to baffle that filter with a cut up plastic cup, usually the cups the betta's come in (or even a plastic water bottle) is what I use to baffle. That should slow the flow, and then just move some plants, or decors in front of the filter a bit. Personally I like those HoB filters on Amazon for 5.5 Gallons, and or, Sponges so the flow doesn't bother my betta's.

 

I put extra sponge right at the outflow. It helps quite a bit. Before I did that? I had a giant decoration placed right in front of it, and that helped quite a bit

 

I found that filling the tank up to the same level as the output tends to help. Then the water doesn’t go down at all it just goes out.