# Enough flow without stressing betta?



## iceburg (Jan 30, 2015)

I have a 10 gallon mid-tech tank with a male crowntail betta. It has an AquaClear 20 HOB filter. I've found that if I run the filter at full strength the returning current is too strong for the betta. For the first few months I just ran it at half strength, but that felt like I was wasting a lot of filtration capacity. So, I made a simple baffle based on a thread from bettafish.com (http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=30139) which does a thorough job of directing the current down and back, even with the filter running at full. Unfortunately, it's working too well and I can see the pants aren't getting enough flow out at the corners. Any suggestions for a better baffle or way of directing the flow in a way that won't push the betta around?


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## nayr (Jan 18, 2014)

Floaters can absorb alot of current and give the beta a nice peacefull nest building area up top... mine loves hiding in the frogbit roots.
imho, its more that they will be exhausted by high current always having to swim.. some spots with a strong current wont hurt the betta as long as there's some still water at the surface for it to occupy.


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## dukydaf (Dec 27, 2004)

I had a similar issue with an eheim, but the HOB filter is more problematic due to a large area for the outflow. Seeing the post in the link, you can cut the bottle at one end only. This way there will be some directional flow for the plants.

I agree with nayr, as long as there are enough spots with low flow the betta will go there when he wants to rest. These spots should be towards the surface. My betta took some time to build muscle but now he can swim against the current when he wants to play. He also has some low flow areas to build a bubble nest... just in case a female comes by )


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

I've kept a betta in a 20g long with an Aquaclear 70 (meant for up to 60g tanks) all I did was cut a thick foam "sock" to put over the intake (prevents guns from being sucked in and shredded also good first flow reduction), and a cut piece of foam over the outflow which really helped reduced flow. I even planted the foam and removed the filter lie to put terrestrial plants in. I had riccia, wandering jew, and fittonia albavines (I think I spelled that right). It did not kill flow completely though as I had floaters in the tank and they were always pushed to the opposite wall (filter was on left side wall of glass not "back" of tank). But the betta had no old elm going everywhere in the tank.

What plants are you concerned about getting a lack of current (what species)? Are you running a co2 system or auto fert dosed and concerned the lack of flow is leaving the plants in question with less ferts/co2? Or is it an algae prevention concern?


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## iceburg (Jan 30, 2015)

Thanks for the ideas and advice. I am mainly worried about flow due to algae problems on my zosterifolia and hygrophila angustifolia in one corner of the tank. Also, I will be adding CO2 injection once my regulator arrives, so I'll need it for that.

I think making a differently shaped baffle may be be my best bet. Directing it sideways may be the way to go.


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Have you considered a mini/nano power head in tank? I've never used one with a betta so can't say if it's good or not, but it's something to investigate.


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## iceburg (Jan 30, 2015)

Update:

I've played around with some variations on the baffle without much luck. It seems like the majority of the flow generated by the HOB is downward and slightly forward and can be stopped easily but doesn't redirect well with anything I've tried.

It's becoming really clear that I am having problems from lack of circulation (algae always in the same spots, mulm/debris accumulation on one half of the tank). I have been able to improve circulation a bit with an air stone, but I'm only really able to run that at night since the surface agitation releases my injected CO2 really fast.

I'm thinking of trying a nano sized power head, but I'm not really sure what size would be appropriate for my 20"x10"x12" tank. I also hate the idea of spending money to increase flow when I had to use the baffle to reduce the flow out of the filter, especially since I just bought my CO2 system less than two weeks ago and need to upgrade my lighting too!

I'm looking at this powerhead from Amazon: Amazon.com : Hydor Koralia Nano 240 Aquarium Circulation Pump 240 GPH : Aquarium Water Pumps : Pet Supplies. Does it seem like 240 gph would be an adequate but not excessive amount of flow for a standard 10 gallon? It sounds like it would be a lot for a betta. In addition to overwhelming the betta, I don't want it blasting my star grass (H. zosterifolia) which is fragile enough to get beat up if near the filter return and is at the end opposite the spot the betta uses as his resting/feeding territory which make me unsure where to place a power head.


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## Bloomer (Mar 22, 2014)

I have a number of Koralia 240's and one may overpower a 10 gal. They're great circulators, but have a fairly high velocity output. In comparison, the larger Koralia 600 has much more flow, but it's not as much of a jet (that's way too big, though, flow and physically large). The Nano 450 is definitely too large, it can push water across a 4 ft tank. I don't use circulators in any of my tanks any more, but multiple 240's were OK in bigger tanks, the 450's seemed to move water through the plants too fast, making algae a problem. 

Hydor has some very small pumps I've used in dead corners to keep build up down and those are about right for local circulation, their effect dissipates a foot or so away. 

We have 3 betta tanks, 2 eheim Aquastyles, 6 and 9 gal, and a 6 gal fluval edge. 

The edge has an AC 20 which is kind of an odd filter in AC's line. I love AC's and they are the only HOB's we have (9 of them). With the 20 turned down halfway and a lot of frogbit in the tank and a sponge on the inlet, it works OK and isn't too harsh. Suction isn't very good though and when the sponge starts loading and it can almost stop flowing. The AC 30 won't do that even with an extension on the intake tube. If you watch it, the AC 20 will work OK, we had the same issue with plants until the tank was loaded with floaters. The betta in that tank lounges in a tangle of frogbit roots right in front of the filter output, there must be a dead spot near the surface. 

The eheims don't have any issues at all with flow, their internal corner filters are very gentle and our guys can perch in watersprite in the opposite side of the filter corner and sleep all day! 

I think sponges work best in betta tanks, but with CO2, probably not a great idea. 

Other than the diffuser, AquaTop makes some decent corner filters that may be OK, the smaller ones have gentle output and they're all inexpensive. The tiny Tom, etc., canister with a spraybar doesn't move much water, their pumps are not too strong, whether you want to experiment with one, IDK.


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## iceburg (Jan 30, 2015)

Thanks for the information bloomer. Took a look at some of those small Hydor pumps and after reading some reviews I decided to try the 100 gph model which some reviews said was very adjustable. Should get here in a couple days so I'll see how it works then.

Thanks again.


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## Bloomer (Mar 22, 2014)

iceburg said:


> Thanks for the information bloomer. Took a look at some of those small Hydor pumps and after reading some reviews I decided to try the 100 gph model which some reviews said was very adjustable. Should get here in a couple days so I'll see how it works then.
> 
> Thanks again.


Flow in betta tanks is a common issue, make the tank too dead and disease can be a big problem, too lively and the fish end up stuffed into something to avoid exhaustion. The pump you mentioned should make a difference. The ability to dial it down is a big plus, I doubt much flow is needed, watch for a few days to be sure your betta doesn't somehow get pulled against the intake; if so, a baffle would be easy to contrive. We use small airstones in our betta tanks for circulation, no CO2, the stones work well.


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## iceburg (Jan 30, 2015)

I received the tiny Hydor pump (



) Friday night and set it up Saturday morning. The device itself is tiny, about the size of a chicken egg, but the suction cup mounting bracket is probably about 4" so I mounted it on the back. It's very adjustable which is great. I started it off on a low setting, but dialed it back a bit more as my betta was sort of swimming in-place into the current and I'm not sure if he was having fun or struggling to reach his favorite spot. I'm still playing around to get the flow just right, but I really like this little pump.

Thanks for the advice here!


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## Bloomer (Mar 22, 2014)

Glad it's working out so far. One of our bettas used to like to attach itself to the sponge on the filter suction tube. I thought he was ailing at first, but he would swim up to the sponge, stay stuck to it for a while, then easily swim away. Weird.


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