No bubble nesting with this tank

Cujo is in a Hex 5 tank that has the bio-wheel filtration system. At the point where the water exits from the wheel there is quite a bit of water movement. Right now the water is slightly low and there are bubbles where the water from the wheel enters the tank water.

Back in the days when Cujo was in his one gallon tank (all of 10 days ago ) he used to have bubble nests going in the back corner every day. Now there is too much water motion at the top of the tank for a nest to get started. Cujo still blows bubbles but has no nest.

It seems to me that the improved water filtration is more important than bubble nests, but nesting is an important part of his behavior. He seems to be a very happy fish, very active and very full of himself...

What are some of your thoughts and opinions?

 

I found a great link online to help reduce the water flow of a filter. The site is meant for an over-the-side filter, but I sort of adapted it to work for my Hex5. With the plastic in place any my aeration in the back of the tank at low flow, the front of the tank is almost still and would probably be able to house a bubble-nest if my silly betta would ever blow any.

If you'd like I can post pics of how I executed the filter control on the Hex5.

 

I was just reading through some other posts and saw the link to the PetFish article about using a cut up coke bottle to block the water flow. Is this the one you are talking about?

Please do let me know how you adapted it to your hex5, as I was just looking at my filter system with this idea in mind and it doesn't look as simple as the pics show in that article.

This would also make it easier to feed him. Sometimes the current catches the pellet before Cujo can grab it, and then off it goes...

 

My male Lava made an enormous bubble nest when I first got him that covered nearly 3/4 of his 10 gallon tank. Since then he has never made another. Happiness has nothing to do with making a bubble nest. My other male never made a bubble nest ever and he was the happiest little guy.  Having a clean well filtered tank with things to explore will keep him busy and he will be happy. People place far too much importance on bubblenests. It only matters if you are breeding.

Try cutting a piece of bonded filter pad that you can buy in a bag and placing it between the filter water flow and the tank lid. It will keep the water from splashing so hard and quiet the tank surface. Also keep the water level high enough so teh water doesn't have so far to fall.

 

Yep, that's the link I was talking about, sorry I forgot to paste it!

I actually didn't do a great job attaching my bottle and I mean to re-do it, because I cut the bottle too much and have to sort of balance it while my tank is shut and readjust it any time I open the top. But here's what I have temporarily, and I can show you in a few minutes or so when I get the new one up the better way to do it.

 

Aren't the edges of the bottle kind of sharp? I'd be worried about my fish injuring themselves. The filter pad method is safer and the water is absolutely quiet. It also has the added benefit of double filtering the water.

 

I was worried about the sharp edges too. I had two solutions for this, one is rounding off the sides a little which I've done on the new one and the other is lining it with hot glue like a little "bumper" (which I have to wait a few days to do, since I don't have my glue gun here). Dory's been playing in and around the new addition all week and there's been no issues.

I wanted to use the filter pad/floss idea like you suggested, but with this filter I'm not quite sure where exactly to stick the floss without it interrupting the biowheel or it falling in the tank every time I lift the lid (which is often, my tank is uncycled so I have to test parameters often).

Shown is my revised little design:
1. There's a notch in the bottle because of the shape of the frame on which the filter stuff sits.
2. The tape is doubled up like that because if it's not, the bottle comes loose and whacks against the biowheel.
3. Finally the new design fits in under the hood so it's less ugly and whatnot. I put some of the label back over the sticky parts of the bottle so it wouldn't stick to the lid when I close it.

It works well. I tried to take a little video to show how still the food pellets sit on top of the water, but Dory gobbled them up too quickly to tell Here's the vid anyway, cause it's cute and you can hear Dory crunch crunch on the pellets

 

Wouldn't glue be poisonous to the fish?

 

"Hot glue" is really just a plastic polymer with a somewhat low melting point that's sold in stick-and-gun form. It's not biodegradable and doesn't break up in the water. I'd never use any real "glue" like Elmers or superglue because they'd be toxic. I do appreciate the concern though.

Do you use the filter padding to interrupt flow in Eclipse tanks? If so, where do you stuff the filter pad so it stays in place and doesn't interfere with the biowheel?

 

This is all very interesting, I appreciate the dialog here, and the pictures.

It looks like we have the exact same tank, antisen, so I too would like to know if Phloxface has ideas about where to put the extra filter material. The area with the bio-wheel has limited space in there, and anything that has any thickness to it would probably interfere with the wheel turning.

I thought about sharp edges to the bottle, too. But I don't have a glue gun... Hrm.

I would definitely consider Cujo to be a happy fish by his actions and antics, despite his green Fungus Clear water lol... I just didn't know if it was a biological need that I should try to enable him to fulfill, or if he is gonna be ok even tho he isn't prepared for a hot lady betta to swim by at any moment!

 

You have to jam it between the lid (the one with the light and feeding door) and the front of the filter where the water comes out. I find bonded filter pad works best because it's thin and can fit. A piece of filter floss will work too. As long as you can still close the lid. It doesn't interfere with the bio-wheel because it's not touching it. You do have to take it out and put it back in every time you need to lift the lid but I've never found that to be a big problem. I like the fact that the filter pad collects extra dirt that was missed in the filtering process.

 

That's quite a bit simpler than what I did! Ah well. I'll probably employ your method once my water conditions are more stable and I take the lid on/off less often. Thanks for the tip!