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Step-By-Step Filter Baffle

234K views 307 replies 203 participants last post by  NucleoWolf 
#1 · (Edited)
Since most filters require a filter baffle to work for bettas, I figured I'd show a step-by-step tutorial on how to build one from an ordinary water bottle. Make sure that the bottle is clean and contained only water prior to using. Rinse in HOT water, but never bleach or use soap that could be absorbed by the plastic.

Step 1: You will need a water bottle, as shown below, scissors, and a piece of tape. Pretty simple right ;-).

Sky Wood


Step2: Measure the approximate area of your filter outflow so you know how long the baffle will need to be cut.

Glass Plastic Transparent material Transparency


Step 3: Measure the amount of water bottle that you will need to cut. Note, do NOT use marker to mark your bottle unless you are certain to cut any marked areas off. I used sharpie just for the purpose of making it easy to see in pictures. A small slit in the plastic is the easiest way to mark the bottle.

Plastic bottle Bottle Water bottle


Step 4: Cut both ends off of the bottle so that you are left with the middle piece that you marked off.

Water Plastic bottle Product Water bottle Bottle

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Step 5: Now you will need to cut the remaining ring lengthwise

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Step 6: Stretch one end of the curved plastic over the bottom lip of the outflow area, and tape the other end to the cover to keep it in place. Now when the water flows out it will hit the plastic and be redirected to the sides with much less force. Now plug your filter in and watch as you now have no surface current, but still have a filtered tank :).


Transparency Glass Transparent material Plastic

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#56 ·
I just did the ol' sponge in the outflow trick... Works like a charm yet the water still gets fully rotated through the filter. Because I watch the teeny tiny particles floatin around haha
 
#61 ·
I have the same tank as Lion Mom for one of my Betta's and I used her method of baffling too with the sponge and the rubber band.

My other two tanks are, well one's sans filter for the moment and the other I didn't really find a way to baffle it yet cause the whole thing is open: like this:
http://www.aqueonproducts.com/products/minibow-25-the-little-lagoon.htm# The filter picture!

But tomorrow I'll try the little sponge piece in the intake's just so my Betta's fin's stay intact.

Great thread guy's!
 
#64 ·
FYI I went with the whisper i10 and the Zoomed small floating log it stays in place on its own with the filter current. the fish go in and out, there was a couple of femfish squrmishes inside, but they settled into having a hideout handy. the glass shrimp do not use it. It has not moved in six hours, so it may not even need a mooring. Good thing around $15.00 @ pet supply plus
 
#67 ·
I used this method on Biscotti's tank and I've never seen a happier fish, he is exploring the areas he couldn't go before, and this should help him catch his food... the current was washing it away and he'd lose it in the tank chasing it, I was scared he'd starve! Very nice tutorial, and a huge help!
 
#68 · (Edited)
baffling bio-wheel filters

Please keep in mind that Penguin/Penguin B filters use water flow to operate the bio-wheel and keep it turning so you shouldn't reduce intake flow because it will reduce biological function.

The best of the single wheels imho is the 150b but its intake power is enormous, I had a girl who ended up crushed around it and lost her swim bladder then spent the next five months powering to the surface and gliding down. My fixes for the 150b include the intake from a 200b, always using the mid-level intake with a ring of sponge around it AND running a pair of pins up through holes in the output plate to put a line of poly needlepoint grid into the flow.

With betta I'd ALWAYS get an intake sponge of one size or another, if you need one you can cut-to-fit the Cascade internal filters have replacement sponges up to one nearly four inches square by seven tall with a small hole down through it.

The penguin 200b tho is an odd case problem, thanks for bringing it up!

My 200b is now a backup filter because when it is dirty it only moves about 160 to 170gph. The bio-wheel stalls constantly and can't even cope with snails. As a mechanical and chemical filter it is awesome, the double slot and the addition of being able to use baskets made for it really help a lot but it simply lacks the ability to intake enough water for any margin of maintenance. One modification that can help is an E shaped baffle just before the bio-wheel that forces the water into two higher streams but I figure that's just a stop-gap not a reliable fix.

I'll be honest with you, if you like the 200b and need that level of filtration, splurge on an Emperor 280. They come with a large carbon basket that you can put cut-to-fit filter material in front of and never have to buy another disposable filter. They do stick deeper into the tank lid space than the 200 but not by much. The benefit to the 280 is in the way it was made.

It uses the intake strainer from the emperor 400, a spray bar to operate the bio-wheel and has a large vertical output to play with.

On my 280's I put them at the end of my 10 gal tanks with just one modification. Using nylon bolts put through holes from the back of that large vertical plane I make layers of the poly grid slid onto the bolts with nylon nuts separating the layers. This not only slows water speed but spreads it out into a large wall of slow moving water while still keeping flow. It also gives a small boost in surface area for biology AND the water drops in behind it pulling bubbles down through the grids. My tens are both swept clean by this full smooth flow of water across the top and back across the bottom but even my oldest girls have no trouble swimming.

I sincerely advise people to check out making baffles with the poly grid but be careful not to leave any broken bits that may come off in tanks, betta try to eat anything :-(

I get the nylon bolts and nuts at Home Depot from the bolt and nut drawer, stainless is an option but will slowly add nickle and iron to the tank. Don't use iron, brass or aluminum.

Hopefully I'll have a nice camera to take pictures with today and be able to show all these modifications.

Excess current in the water can kill your betta, remember that they are effectively holding their breath all the time. Their response to current is an instinctual one to not change position, not necessarily frolicking in flow, they live in mostly stagnant water with established biology so a sudden wash of water is a risk of losing their home in the wild.
 
#69 · (Edited)
"baffling" small Tetra brand in-tank filters.

One word, drill.

The whisper, i2-5, i5-10 and even the larger ones can be modified for speed reduction simply by drilling small holes down the center front.

Remember to carefully de-burr the inside and outside of the holes and rinse the filter clean so Mr Angryfish doesn't eat the bits of plastic.

Holes about 3/16 to quarter inch will be more than enough while still providing a small local flow for playing around in.

My hospital tank is a classic fish-bowl with one whisper filter, it has a large intake sponge and fifteen holes across the front and a single bio-ball above the lift-pipe (screw through from back) to block spitting water.

The intake sponge I use on the hospital tank is a Fluval from the Edge series, they cost about $3.00 and make great biological pre-filters and intake covers.
 
#71 ·
"I'll be honest with you, if you like the 200b and need that level of filtration, splurge on an Emperor 280."

Sure, great filter if you can stand the friggin' NOISE!!! OMG, I have one and can't even use it!!!! :(

Yes, I have taken it apart and cleaned, cleaned and cleaned some more - have checked the impeller, etc. all to no avail.

I'm not the only one with this problem with this filter either. I checked reviews on-line and a LOT of people complain about the noise. NEVER AGAIN!
 
#72 ·
Yup yup... they can be noisy. I just put a used carbon filter over top the back, take out the little flow director thing above the pump and make sure I've carefully inserted the intake pipe. They're also known to be blatantly reliable. Evil walmart locked all their cameras up before I got there.
 
#73 ·
So I have this filter....

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753028

And I have aquarium sponge rubber banded around the lip and the water still trickles out the sponge but a lot of it sits on top of the filter and gets this oil looking build up. Is there anything I can do for that?
 
#74 ·
stick a fork in it

So I have this filter....

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753028

And I have aquarium sponge rubber banded around the lip and the water still trickles out the sponge but a lot of it sits on top of the filter and gets this oil looking build up. Is there anything I can do for that?
Plastic fork down in the back to keep the filter-pouch separated from the back wall, make the pointy bits aim to the rear at the bottom and snap off the bit you don't need, should keep the flow churning the surface back there.

(I also use a shortened fork to keep my 9-ways a good fat Betta width from the tank wall when I have to separate girls.)
 
#78 ·
Thunderloon.. you remind me of my Dad and brothers...(yes that was a compliment) they are creative and can build and fix anything. I have two itty bitty filters for my 1.5 gal tanks that came with the tank and those filters are awful! they dont do anything! or dont seem to.. maybe it's the little bitty pumps..
 
#81 ·
This is just what i was looking for. i think i'm going to go for the sponge option on the whisper filter i have, although oddly my fish seems to quite enjoy slight water flow. When i change out say 1/3 of the water he always come up and plays in the water trickle when i add new water. I think i'll still baffle the filter though just in case.
 
#82 ·
I know this was originally posted in 2009, but still want to say thanks! I was able to create one in no time and I also want to share something that happened as a direct result of using this that people might find helpful.

I made mine for a Decco Art Nano filter (on a modified Mini Bow 2.5 gallon tank) and it worked great. I had just switched from keeping my betta in a bowl to a filtered tank and the water flow seemed like it was too strong, even turned all the way down, especially since my guy is kinda little.

A few days after installing the baffle, I was looking in the tank and couldn't find my betta, Coco. Then I saw him, IN THE BAFFLE. He was using it like a hammock!!! It kinda freaked me out, I thought he might be stuck in there, or worse, that he had drowned. I pushed down on the baffle and he just swam out, like nothing happened.

I decided to remove the baffle after that because, obviously, he wasn't bothered by the flow of the waterfall. Maybe it was like a massaging shower head for him or something since he now likes to swim into the waterfall. But I didn't want to take any chances, so I removed it.

So, the baffle is easy to make and works like a charm. Just be aware that your betta might decide to take a nap in it!
 
#83 ·
"So, the baffle is easy to make and works like a charm. Just be aware that your betta might decide to take a nap in it!"

YUP - that is why I always recommend an aquarium sponge/foam baffle. ESPECIALLY reading about one of our posters here losing her curious betta when he swam into the water bottle, but couldn't get out. Poor thing drowned.

Here is a pic of one of my tanks with an aquarium sponge used as a baffle. MUCH safer than the plastic bottle baffle, IMO.

Not only is the sponge/foam baffle safer, but it gives the "good" bacteria another place to grow! AND it's easy to control how much flow you want - pull it up for more flow & down for less.
 

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