Internal Power Filters and Bettas

[Lost Eventide]

Hey everyone~

Just recently my mom picked up a Regent 5 Gallon Hex Aquarium at a second-hand store for me to take with me when I go back to college. I'm intending on keeping a betta in it (exact variant I'm not sure yet. I saw a beautiful blue double crowntail that I would have bought on the spot if the tank was ready, but unfortunately it is not), and that's likely it.

However, while the tank did come with a full hood and light setup, it did not include a heater or a filter, so I've been shopping around for both to see what's available that would work with the Regent hex. With how the hood is set up, it doesn't seem like it's possible to attach a typical filter (though I may just not be knowledgeable enough to know of a type that would work). I'm including a picture of the top in an attachment.

While doing price comparisons at a couple different stores for the planted setup I'm doing in my 29 gallon (which I'm also intending on going planted in this tank), I came across the Tetra Whisper 10i internal power filter, which looks like it will work well with my hood seeing it actually goes inside the aquarium.

Does anyone have any experience with these? I'm planning on getting it in conjunction with the Tetra HT10 heater I found, but I was unsure about how safe internal power filters are for fish in general, let alone bettas.

I'm also wondering about the current. Does anyone know how strong it is exactly?

Also, a bit off topic I suppose, but the Regent hex is also a plastic/acrylic aquarium. I was hearing rumours about how such materials poison the fish after a while, but is there any truth to them?

[Oldfishlady]

Welcome to the forum....

IMO/E-filters are optional for Bettas, especially the long fin males-Since you are planning live plants-they can function as filtration depending on number, species and growth state of the plants, however, the water movement with live plants can make it look nice-but you don't want too much surface agitation that can drive off the natural CO2.

In smaller tanks-under 10gal with a Betta and live plants-the sponge filter can be a good choice-the Tetra filter you linked is a good choice as well-I have a couple of them and they don't seem too strong-one I can adjust the water flow-but on the older one I can not-but it still doesn't seem to strong even on my 2gal when I first set it up-later I did remove it-but I always remove filters on my 10gal and less NPT's after about a month.

I have not heard the rumors on the plastic/acrylic tanks causing any problems..

Look forward to pics once you get setup.....

[Lost Eventide]

The one I found doesn't seem to have an adjustable water flow, which is what I was looking for initially, but I was thinking I might see about what I can do about buffering the flow if necessary.

I didn't realize they were optional even in unplanted tanks though. I knew the plants would help with the filtration, but I'm not sure just how heavily planted I'm going to go seeing I'm going to try a bit of an Atlantis subtheme (lol, 29 gal. is going to be completely natural hopefully, but I wanted to have a bit of fun with my betta tank). Though if you haven't had issues with a strong current or anything with the Whisper 10i, I think I'll try it out. I was trying to look into sponge filters, but the local stores here don't seem to offer them. The only ones I found were the HOB and internal power filters.

I'll be sure to post pics! Hopefully we'll be able to get my new bookcase moved in tonight and I'll be able to start setting things up. It's a low, completely wooden two-shelf unit, and I thought it would be perfect for a small tank =3

Thanks for your input!