I Am Afraid That The Filter Will Kill My Betta

[barb-e]

I had a really bad experience with all of my sick fish becoming too weak and getting stuck to my tanks filter and dying one by one. We'll now my betta Mr. Silver is in this tank and I am afraid that the same thing will happen to him. He is not weak but for some reason he is always hanging out around the filter and I've seen his tail go on the filter and he has to fight to pull away from it. I am too scared to take that risk again and I am thinking about just taking the filter out. It causes a lot of water movement in the tank anyway and i've heard that bettas don't like that. I just want to know if it would be okay to keep a ten gallon tank unfiltered, how often I would need to change that water, and if a java fern can survive in an unfiltered tank? Thanks for your advice in advance.

 

[StarChildren]

what about trying a sponge filter? its used in breeding tanks so it wont suck in the babies so it shouldn't cause problems with sucking in his fins.

 

[Commander Cool]

As said before there are a bunch of different options for filters. There are some green plastic ones that hold a filter thing and also put air in the tank. Or you could get a sponge filter. Just go look at your LFS and see what they have. Whisper filters would work also.

 

[wodesorel]

You can make a cap for the filter intake using foam insert media for filters. Just cut it in a square shape where the sides are a little larger than the intake tube, carefully cut an X shape into the center of the foam by pushing in one side of a pair of sissors, and then push the intake tube gently into the X until the foam covers the top of the slats. You can even use sissors to trim excess foam off so it's not a square shape and looks more like it belongs on the end of the tube. It takes a little bit of work cutting the foam properly, but it's not hard to do.

I did this so my ghost shrimp would stop getting sucked into the aquaclear on the 20 as I lost 5 that way. It will also cut the amount of water going through the filter and therefore slow the water flow. It's a really cheap fix and I love the way it works. Just remember to remove the foam during water changes and squeeze it out well in the used water since it'll plug with debris very quickly (small pores keeping the stuff from moving into the filter) and since it will be harboring good bacteria you don't want to use tap water.

If the filter is an internal filter, I recommend getting an external hang-on-the-back one! I lost by first betta with an internal filter because he got his fins stuck inside, shredded, and he died from shock. I had him just three days! I don't know of any way to fix that problem. I agree with Commander Cool on the Whisper filters - I have one in each betta tank because the water output can be lowered to almost nothing, and the slats are so tiny nothing can get stuck in there.

 

[TribeOfShroom]

what about trying a sponge filter? its used in breeding tanks so it wont suck in the babies so it shouldn't cause problems with sucking in his fins.

If it's just him in the tank (or even if its not) I would go with the suggestion of a air driven sponge filter. These are great filters. Just keep up with the water changes as they are mainly for biological filtration. (unless you've got a monster one )

 

[hollyp0p]

my betta I think likes the feeling of being sucked onto my filter....there's no danger of damage with mine, but he'll go up to it, get sucked on and sit there for a minute or so sometimes, then get off again, I freaked out the first timeI saw it thinking he'd get stuck and not be able to get off, but he's fine with that.
On a not so pleasant thought I figured at least I know where to look when any fish die because the body would just get sucked onto the filter input rather than be hanging around the tank....