Filters

[roxxiegal05]

I recently bought a 2.5 gallon tank for my betta that included an undergravel filter and a light. It's a pretty nice tank but I'm afraid that the filter is causing too much current for the betta. Does anybody have any suggestions on what kind of filter (a cheap one) and where to get it?

Also, I see people on here talking about how you can get a 10 gallon tank for less than $20, however, everywhere I look, they cost on the upwards of 50. I paid 30 for the dinky 2.5 gallon that I bought but I guess that's what you get for shopping at Petco, right?

[Meatpuppet]

hey
if your concerned about too much flow you could get a whisper or sponge filter for your 2.5 gallon im not too sure how much they cost though. also does your tank have a heater. a betta needs 78degrees constantly and will become slow and lethargic if not given the right temp. you'll probly be good with a mini 7-10 watt heater

and the tank question. in my area i could get a 10 gallon for 15 bucks.... but it comes with absolutly nothing. if i were to get a tank already stocked up with hood, light, filter, etc... it would cost me sowhere around 50 bucks as well. i live in canada. it may have to do with where ever you live.

[iamntbatman]

I believe even Petco sells a bare-bones standard ten gallon aquarium for like $11.99. To be honest, I actually like Wal-Mart's starter kits. They run about $30 for a ten gallon kit, which includes the aquarium, a hood with incandescent lighting, an Aquatech filter that's actually just a Marineland Penguin 100 without the biowheel and a few sample packets of stuff. I bought one of these kits and it has worked great. Depending on what you're stocking, you might want to add another layer of filtration (I use an undergravel filter in addition to the Aquatech, but a sponge filter would also work well). Also, the incandescent lights are crap, but Wal-Mart also sells 10 watt flourescent bulbs for about $5 a pop that will give you some pretty good lighting, as long as you're not trying to grow plants that require tons of quality lighting. I grow java fern and hornwort just fine with those cheap bulbs. So in the end, you'd pay $30 for the tank kit, $10 for the bulbs, and you'd want to get a heater as well. In the end it may be a little more expensive, but your fish will definitely appreciate it and so will you. It'll be much easier to maintain than the small tank, as well.

[roxxiegal05]

Yeah, I have two small heaters. They are those really tiny hydor ones. The biggest problem I've found with them is that they don't tend to keep a constant temperature. Sometimes they barely heat the water at all, so I add the second heater which seems to bring the water up to a decent temperature. Other times, the water is warm enough without it. I've tried other small heaters before. I had a submersible one by Top Fin (I believe that was the brand) and that one was always too hot and actually started to melt in my water..then I took it out and it was off and ended up burning a hole in a washcloth..bad experience.

Thanks for the input though =)

[bettatoon]

hello, i have a 10 gallon tank kit and it came with a (tetra) WHISPER PF10 Filter, but this filter es to noisy and the filter is causing too much current on one side of de tank. (tank has a divider, i have 2 bettas) what can i do. thanks, have a good one.