I have been following the forum off and on for the past 3 months when I got my first Betta. Squish is a blue and red HMB. I think he might be a rosetail, I can't tell but he has tons and tons of tail.
I just got Ska, a white HMB. Ska is living in a 5 gallon marineland hex tank with the bio-wheel filter and Ska does not like the current at all. So I want to baffle it and have read about building an external baffle out of a water bottle and using aquarium sponge in the intake or outtake. Is there a general consensus on which of these three methods is best? It seems aquarium sponge in the intake valve would be the easiest and least visually distracting but thought I would reach out to the experts and ask.
Hey Bailey! I have an Aquatech filter and I used the water bottle technique because the flow on that was way to strong. I used a Poland springs water bottle, the top piece, and put the narrow end to the open tank. The more open end I faced to the wall of the tank. Before I set that up I blocked the inflow valve with a shell. I think a sponge would work equally as well. The bottle works better imho because it doesn't decrease the circulation of water in the tank. If you are worried about the visual aspect though, a water bottle does look a bit unsightly. Long and short, either blocking inflow or baffling with a water bottle would probably each work, they just have different merits :D
This is a new method I developed. You take the white teflon tape used for plumbing. Remove the bottom strainer of the intake pipe. place half of width of the tape on the pipe and wrap it pulling as you go around a couple of times. The extra over hanging the pipe will form a cover over the intake blocking it as you pull the tape tighter. Flatten the extra so that the teflon merges with itself. Now you can take a sharp razor and cut a small hole. Place the strainer back on and test. You can enlarge the hole till you get the right flow. If your good with the material you can actually wrap the pipe and have a hole without using the razor to cut one.
Do not wrap more than 3 or 4 x around the pipe with the teflon tape or you will have a problem putting the basket back on.
I have a Bio-Wheel filter in my 20G tank, and I baffled it with an AquaClear sponge. I cut it to fit nicely on the outflow "ramp", and secured it in place with a clean rubber band. I didn't dare use the bottle method because my Akira was way too nosy, and I pictured him getting stuck in there!!!
I have 2 10g tanks with HOB's & I use the water bottle technique on both & it works great. Redirects the outflow but allows for surface movement of the water. Berry will get into the portion of the bottle that wraps under the outflow & rest there, all I'll see are the tendrils of his Crown Tail flow in the water. Because the water bottles are clear you can't hardly see them.
I cut up a silicone placemat and cut a little hole to slip over the intake pipe. I guess you could cut up another flat kind of aquarium-safe material. If you choose a color that is close to your tank theme or background, it won't be as ugly. Maybe you can improve on my idea somehow .. since it's kind of sloppy.
Also if you have a divided tank, it actually baffled the flow when I ran the filter right in the middle of the tank and the water flow went right onto the mesh divider.
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