Hi, I'm new here and new to fish ownership, too. I got a Fluval View for my Betta and found that the filter was way too strong -- it cycles 150l/hr and it's only a 15 l. tank. I read here and elsewhere about different ways people had worked around similar problems, and I have adapted those ideas to this particular tank.
I thought I'd share some photos in case anyone else has or is considering the View. I used about 1.5 of the sponges in the Fluval 3plus filter pack. I cut one in half lengthways and trimmed it to fit inside the bottom area behind the intake holes:
(bottom of housing that contains the motor)
I used the other half of that sponge, trimmed to fit, and some of the trimmed bits to moderate the outflow at the top of the filter housing, and I put half of another sponge below the outflow spouts on the inside of the tank:
It's made a huge difference in the water motion. I had initially tried just putting rocks and plants in front of the intake holes but that made hardly any change at all. Now, the plants are standing upright instead of being waved around. I've taken my fish out of the tank because the ammonia levels were a bit high today, but I'm pretty sure he's going to like it a lot more this way! :-D
I thought I'd share some photos in case anyone else has or is considering the View. I used about 1.5 of the sponges in the Fluval 3plus filter pack. I cut one in half lengthways and trimmed it to fit inside the bottom area behind the intake holes:
(bottom of housing that contains the motor)
I used the other half of that sponge, trimmed to fit, and some of the trimmed bits to moderate the outflow at the top of the filter housing, and I put half of another sponge below the outflow spouts on the inside of the tank:
It's made a huge difference in the water motion. I had initially tried just putting rocks and plants in front of the intake holes but that made hardly any change at all. Now, the plants are standing upright instead of being waved around. I've taken my fish out of the tank because the ammonia levels were a bit high today, but I'm pretty sure he's going to like it a lot more this way! :-D