Water flow, oxygen, and Betta

Hi,

I'm new to the hobby and got my first aquarium, a 15 gallon with one Betta and a few Neon tetras in it. They have only been with me for 2-3 weeks. I figured out that my Betta doesn't like the water flow as he just used to hide behind the filter all day. While searching through the internet, I learned that Bettas don't like water flow and some people put a sock/stocking to slightly block the filter output and reduce water flow. I did this and my Betta liked it a lot, he was finally moving out and was very active. However , just this morning, my neon tetras were gasping for air... So I removed the sock and I'm now back to where I started, my neon tetras are fine but my Betta is hiding behind the filter.

My question is, how do I balance this out so that both of them are happy? Would an air pump provide the necessary oxygen level without altering the water flow? Also, I think my filter's water flow is not that strong as compared to what I see in other aquariums online.. It is an ASAP Filter 300 (4.2w and 300LPH) that came with my aquarium kit.

Hoping I could get some ideas to solve this. Thanks!!

 

Is it a HOB (Hang-on back) filter, or an internal one?

If it's a HOB, one of the best things you can do on the cheap is to go buy a soap holder for your shower and some marbles or rocks. Put the rocks into the soap holder, and suction cup it to the back of the tank under the HOB. That'll still allow for surface agitation (oxygen exchange) but will essentially stop the flow as soon as it enters the tank.

Otherwise, yeah, an air pump would work pretty well with your current filter sock.

 

ChrissFishes01
It is an internal filter. I see, so an air pump doesn't affect water flow. I'd try to look for a suitable one then. Thanks

 

ChrissFishes01
It is an internal filter. I see, so an air pump doesn't affect water flow. I'd try to look for a suitable one then. Thanks

To be clear - it will cause a bit of an upward flow around the bubbles, but it's usually much gentler than a power filter will be, especially with an air stone attached.

 

Before we say for sure it is lack of oxygen causing what is happening we might need to dig deeper. You said you have had these fish 2 or 3 weeks. Did you cycle the tank before adding the fish? If not then you are doing a fish in cycle and it is possible ammonia and or nitrites are rising in the tank.

If you don't already have one I recommend you get an API Master Freshwater Test Kit. With it you can keep an eye on the parameters of the water. If you already have one what is it telling you?

How often are you doing water changes? How much are you changing each time?

 

Before we say for sure it is lack of oxygen causing what is happening we might need to dig deeper. You said you have had these fish 2 or 3 weeks. Did you cycle the tank before adding the fish? If not then you are doing a fish in cycle and it is possible ammonia and or nitrites are rising in the tank.

If you don't already have one I recommend you get an API Master Freshwater Test Kit. With it you can keep an eye on the parameters of the water. If you already have one what is it telling you?

How often are you doing water changes? How much are you changing each time?

Ah, I did cycle the tank before putting in any fish for 3-weeks ish. I also regularly test them with API and do water change maybe 50% twice a week.

Do you think its still possible that oxygen wasn't the cause even though they immediately stopped gasping for air on the surface 1 hour after I removed the sock from the filter? They're doing fine now. I just thought it would've been a weird coincidence.

 

Ah, I did cycle the tank before putting in any fish for 3-weeks ish. I also regularly test them with API and do water change maybe 50% twice a week.

Thank you for the clarification. Just for our information and to help us help you, what are your most recent readings for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates? May as well share the pH number too.

Do you think its still possible that oxygen wasn't the cause even though they immediately stopped gasping for air on the surface 1 hour after I removed the sock from the filter? They're doing fine now. I just thought it would've been a weird coincidence.

It is possible and you are right, it does seem lack of water movement was stressing them out if simply removing the baffle stopped them from gasping.

I am going to recommend you add a sponge filter to this tank and run it along with the original filter. This way you can baffle the original filter to keep the betta comfortable and still have the extra water movement for the neons.

I do have to ask why you are doing 50% water changes twice a week? How many neons do you have in this tank? I am a firm believer in keeping the water fresh and clean. Even daily 50% water changes wouldn't be too much but normally one 50% water change each week is enough. The is 'specially true if a tank isn't over stocked.

 

Thank you for the clarification. Just for our information and to help us help you, what are your most recent readings for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates? May as well share the pH number too.

It is possible and you are right, it does seem lack of water movement was stressing them out if simply removing the baffle stopped them from gasping.

I am going to recommend you add a sponge filter to this tank and run it along with the original filter. This way you can baffle the original filter to keep the betta comfortable and still have the extra water movement for the neons.

I do have to ask why you are doing 50% water changes twice a week? How many neons do you have in this tank? I am a firm believer in keeping the water fresh and clean. Even daily 50% water changes wouldn't be too much but normally one 50% water change each week is enough. The is 'specially true if a tank isn't over stocked.

pH - 8
Ammonia - 0-.125
Nitrates - 10-25
Nitrites - 0

Ahh do you suggest going with another filter rather than getting an air pump? would that be better?

I honestly just want to remove leftover food by my neons when I do water change so its more of getting rid of them that leads me to this 50% water change twice a week. My gravel vac right now isn't very efficient in removing them so I tend to remove a lot of water in the process.

 

pH - 8
Ammonia - 0-.125
Nitrates - 10-25
Nitrites - 0

Great numbers. Thank you for sharing them with us.

Ahh do you suggest going with another filter rather than getting an air pump? would that be better?

Personally I do prefer HOB (hang on back) filters to internal filters. I suspect if you upgrade to a better filter the sponge filter won't be needed. I do recommend one rated for a much bigger tank.

Unfortunately filters are highly over-rated by the manufactures so getting one rated for a tank at least twice as big as our actual tank size will be much more efficient.

We can never have too much filtration. Too much water movement is possible if it affects the fishes ability to swim comfortably but never too much filtration.

I honestly just want to remove leftover food by my neons when I do water change so its more of getting rid of them that leads me to this 50% water change twice a week. My gravel vac right now isn't very efficient in removing them so I tend to remove a lot of water in the process.

Gotcha, If there is a lot of food being left behind it might be better to cut way back on the amount of food going in the tank. A better, more efficient filter should help you out too. Doing 2 water changes certainly isn't a problem but if you don't already have one I will suggest you get a turkey baster. They are the perfect tool for spot cleaning between water changes.

I never have to worry about leftover food. My little vacuum cleaners clean up every bit of food that makes it to the bottom. These are my little corys. I know some folks are not going to agree with me about having corys with a gravel substrate but as long as the gravel is smooth it isn't going to damage their barbels. I speak from personal experience. I had corys and gravel for many many years and my little guys and girls never experienced barbel damage. I actually never saw any until I switched over to pool filter sand a few years ago. Fortunately the lost barbels have grown back.

I normally don't recommend fish to help keep our tanks clean but I do recommend you think about getting some for this tank.

 

Guessing you have the aquael leddy 60 kit based on the filter that you have? I have a asap 600 in my spares box that I trialled - I wasn’t a fan. Performs well but you can’t redirect/alter the flow, and getting the sponge block in and out of the filter housing is like trying to clean the inside of a coke bottle with a dish sponge. Takes some doing to get it back in.

If you like internals rather than hobs, a fluval U2 does a good job, has fully adjustable flow and includes more space for media.

 

mattgirl Thanks for the detailed explanation. I'll consider adding corys later on. I'll do some digging about them during the holidays for now. On the filters, If I add a new one, should I just let the old one running with the baffle or do I eventually remove it after some time?

carsonsgjs Yes that's my kit. I haven't really thought about HOB vs internals but for now I'm just going with the simplest and cost efficient setup that I could get. If I use a HOB do I need to worry about my Betta jumping out of the tank?

 

mattgirl Thanks for the detailed explanation. I'll consider adding corys later on. I'll do some digging about them during the holidays for now. On the filters, If I add a new one, should I just let the old one running with the baffle or do I eventually remove it after some time?

You are so very welcome. Run both for at least a month. This will give the new filter time to get well seeded. You can then remove the original filter or just continue running both.

If you don't want to run both you can just move the media that's in the original filter over to the new one. Should you do this you will be losing the bacteria that is growing on the filter housing but that may not be enough to really matter.