# Anyone ever kept a betta in a strong current?



## snafuspyramid (May 27, 2010)

I recently bought a siamese fighting fish for my 90 gallon community. 

The current is very strong, and the betta is struggling to get around. I don't want to dampen the current, since it is necessary for the plants.

The new fish is a crowntail, so its tail isn't anywhere near as long or obstructive as regular betta's. It still isn't much use for swimming though.

The tank is densely planted, so some areas of the tank are quite still. The betta relaxes in there when it tires out. However, it still hasn't eaten yet.

Has anyone had any success keeping bettas with relatively strong currents?

Oh, and please not too much advice on the wisdom of keeping bettas in community setups; that's a topic for another post. It's just the current I'm asking about.


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## wamblee2003 (Apr 1, 2007)

You must match you fish to the natural habitat. Betta's are from slow or still waters. Stress will harm the fish, current could possibility damage the fins. both problems leading to chance of disease.


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## kcrossley (Feb 22, 2010)

snafuspyramid said:


> I recently bought a siamese fighting fish for my 90 gallon community. The current is very strong, and the betta is struggling to get around. I don't want to dampen the current, since it is necessary for the plants. The new fish is a crowntail, so its tail isn't anywhere near as long or obstructive as regular betta's. It still isn't much use for swimming though.
> 
> The tank is densely planted, so some areas of the tank are quite still. The betta relaxes in there when it tires out. However, it still hasn't eaten yet. Has anyone had any success keeping bettas with relatively strong currents?


This is a good question. I had my betta in a community tank with a relatively strong current and the only time he would swim around is when the filter was off. He spent most of his time suspended in plants too. This also begs this question: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/equipment/123190-perfect-aquarium-current.html#post1232181


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## janftica (Jan 11, 2010)

Bettas can do OK in a tank with a strong current, but as they need to breathe air at the surface constantly, it will make it harder and harder, and tiring for him to try to get up there against the current. You are not doing this fish any favors by having him in this tank....better to give him his own bowl (they can successfully live in a 2.5 gallon or less) as long as you change the water every 2 or 3 days, so that he's not getting an ammonia buildup. I bred Bettas successfully for over 2 years, and had at one time 180 of them.
He won't live as long if you keep him like this....he will tire very quickly and end of on the bottom more often than at the top where they like to be.


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## Franco (Jun 13, 2010)

If there are dead spots with out much current he will just hang out there otherwise they tire and get susceptible to disease because of the stress.
I prefer to keep bettas in bowls, vases, nanos, pickle jars because I've always had better luck with them in small unheated, unfiltered containers. After breeding bettas for 10 years I gave it up because my fiance did not appreciate 100 to 300 bettas in a room at any given time. I did water changes once a month and had fish live 6 years.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

The short fin bettas , yes.. But the Long fins shouldn't be in a strong current tank.


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## NJAquaBarren (Sep 16, 2009)

Mine did ok for 9 months, but it's a big tank for a beta (84g) and he could always find slow spots, especially on the intake side.

Every once in a while he'd get near an outflow and woosh....like an umbrella in a hurricane!


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## Eden Marel (Jan 28, 2010)

I tried, but my betta became very unhappy and it seemed like he was struggling to get up to breath air and find his food. So I ended up returning the filter and got an Aquaclear instead, wouldn't recommend currents for long tail types, maybe Plakats and Wild types only can tolerate it better since they have short tails.


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## kcrossley (Feb 22, 2010)

NJAquaBarren said:


> Every once in a while he'd get near an outflow and woosh....like an umbrella in a hurricane!


I hate to laugh, but mine did that a few times too. Must have felt like a rollercoaster ride. He didn't seem to like it though.


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## wendyjo (Feb 20, 2009)

I agree with everyone else. Females can handle the current pretty well, but the males you get at a lps won't like it and it could affect their overall health.


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## snafuspyramid (May 27, 2010)

Well this morning I found him plastered onto the filter intake, looking exhausted. I put him in a plastic seperator inside the tank, and he's since cheered up. I guess I'll just have to keep him in that.

I have had a short-fin betta in this tank before with no issues. But the long fin varieties - even crown tails - just aren't gonna hack it.

Cheers guys.


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## KShoes (Sep 29, 2009)

I have a betta in my 55 gallon community. When the tank is trimmed, he hangs out behind the filter outputs. When the plants are fully grown out, he likes to hang out at the bottom where the flow is dead.


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## kharma (Sep 20, 2010)

I have a naughty beta that picked on my tetras so he went into the high flow tank with different fish. He does alright just doesn't like the other fish picking his fins. He seems ok other than that. Still the same color and everything as he was when i put him in there. I enjoy watching him get blasted across the tank every once in a while though >


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## ShortFin (Dec 27, 2005)

I've kept short fin, long fin, and females in moderate (not even strong) current before and the result wasn't good. They got tired, sick, and eventually died.


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## Swan900 (Apr 27, 2010)

Ive tried keeping one of my male Splendens in a moderate current. He did manage to find dead spots in the tank where flow was low. But even still when he ventured out of those spots he was just swept around. IMO its affected it depressed the fish and he even lost a little bit of his appeitite. I moved him to a v.low current nano and he's 100 times more happier. Colours are more vibrant and appeitite is on top form  

Swan


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## snafuspyramid (May 27, 2010)

I've put him in a 5 gallon on my desk with a colony of cherry shrimp, and a baby bristlenose. To my surprise he leaves the shrimp alone, except when he finds them hiding in what is now HIS cave. There is almost no current here.

It's remarkable how active these fish are; he swims almost constantly. Keeping them in quart jars seems very cruel to me.

In the big tank, I've put an enormous short-fin betta (or possible a 'giant betta': the LFS owner didn't seem to know) which is dealing much better with the current.


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## plaztic.dagger (Dec 22, 2010)

My Plakat does well in my Fluval Edge tank, but I do have the filter set at half the flow rate. 
I would have to agree with the others that the longer fin varieties will have a much tougher time navigating the currents.


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

plaztic.dagger said:


> My Plakat does well in my Fluval Edge tank,


How does that tank look/work with the water lowered so the betta can breathe? I love the look of it, but was warned away by owner of the LFS because he said it needed to be filled to the top to function properly.


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

snafuspyramid said:


> It's remarkable how active these fish are; he swims almost constantly. Keeping them in quart jars seems very cruel to me.


Fish torture. I hate seeing them in the little cups at the pet store. :angryfire And the more room I give mine, the more active (and beautiful) they seem to get. 

I've got a vintage tank from the 1920s with nothing but plants and snails in it right now, and I'm thinking about getting a VT and going old school in that one . . .


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## snafuspyramid (May 27, 2010)

Each week I replace 50% of the water in the small tank with water from the big tank (90 gallon), so I don't have to bother equilising temperature, adding new ferts etc. 

This means the nitrate stays at a constant 10ppm. 

Is this alright for the shrimpies? I know they're more sensitive to nitrate than fish.

I might remove the betta for a month or two, reintroduce him once they've got a decent colony, and hope he hasn't developed an appetite in the meantime.

However, he doesn't eat the large ones because he has given up trying to catch them, not because they won't fit in his mouth. Won't the same apply to babies? There is a system of small caves and lots of java moss.


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## Vancover_WA_98683 (Nov 22, 2010)

In an aquaria of 25 gallons or less usually works. I say this as anything larger tends to have more fishes. Flow current has always been counter active on short or long fin bettas. Larger tanks has a tendacy to have more fishes and stresses them out even if there are lots of live plants, and even floating ones from my experiences.


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## Kianna (Nov 8, 2009)

I have bettas in several of my heavily planted tanks with not alot of current and they do great but I have a 29gal with a strong current that I added a betta to and he seems to struggle. They breathe air at the surface, feed at the surface and make bubble nests at the surface, with a strong current its difficult for them to do those things.

I ended up getting a floating betta log from petsmart I think. Its small, floats at the top and is weighted on one side so it doesn't roll and has a natural look to it. It even has a hole at the top of it where he can breath air, feed, and blow his little bubble nest. It took him several days to find it and go in but now he loves it. He still ventures out for his daily exercise but he has a place to go at the surface now.


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## snafuspyramid (May 27, 2010)

Well, sadly, I moved him into a much smaller tank on my desk, with no filtration at all - just lots of plants. It doesn't have a cover. Turns out bettas can jump a fair distance. Woke up this morning to find a little dried kipper on my keyboard...


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