OK, there is a current from the Fluval Spec V tank kit. I I broke down and got the tank for Fred. It is much roomier and he enjoys swimming in it. There is a current from the jet like filter out flow. So I got a filter mesh bag to cover it and the current has slowed tremendously. The floating plants used to do twirls in the tank, now, they just gently and slowly float around. Currently the tank is filled with 5g of water, with one 1.5" Marimo Moss ball, 2 Wisteria that I am training to attach to the rock, and 3 to 4 floating wisteria. I am waiting for my other plants and a Marimo Moss covered driftwood to come in.
So, even though the filter current has dropped significantly, I noticed that Fred actually swims towards it and let himself loose and allow the currents to take him up and down the tank. I have seen him able to hold perfectly still in the same spot, so I know he is stronger than the current. He would do this several times and then stay still and peck at the wall of the filter divider. I find that amusing.
So do I need to baffle the filter some more or should I buy an extension tube, poke lots of holes in it and allow the jet stream to travel longer distance in the tank whole reducing the velocity with the holes? Just a thought...
If he can hold still in it I wouldn't worry about it too much.
While most bettas hate any sort of water movement, some do enjoy a little filter current and tamed airpump bubbles (my guy likes to occasionally shoot himself up to the surface for air by swimming into his bubbles)
I would guess its the fishy equivalent of hair blowing in the wind, or an exercise machine to strengthen his pecs.
This is interesting because after I fed Brad Pitt and walked away, I came back to check on him, and he was surfing his filter current down and back up as well. There is a calm part behind where the water flows and he goes behind a leaf, sits there, then creeps out and lets the current take him. I watched him do this six times so I can assume he enjoys it. Besides this one spot, the rest of the tank is still. Crazy, I wish I could jump in there with him and swim around too after a long day at work, LOL>
I have my betta in a Fluval Spec V also. He is a veil tail and has really long fins. He was being plastered to the wall opposite of the filter from the water flow. I saw a filter sponge at the pet store and brought it home to try to break the water flow. It works great.
Look for Fluval Edge Pre Filter Sponge. I think it was about $3.50. It is cylindrical, with a whole in one end, and the other end is solid. I slipped it over where the water flows out, and secured it with a rubber band.
After he was in the tank a couple weeks, and was more fit from swimming instead of being in the little cup he came in, I took the filter off, and cut about 3/4" off the end with the opening. That gave me a round ring of sponge. Then, I cut cross ways, so if flattened, I would have a strip 3/4" by perhaps 4" (just guessing). I put this on the thing the water comes out of, so that it sort of looks like a "C" with the little thing the water comes out of sticking in the open part of the C, and put the rubber band on it. This breaks the flow, but still allows good circulation. The water can come out a bit more than if the entire pre-filter sponge was on the out flow.
Mine does something really odd with the filter area. You know where the little slots are where the water goes into the filter? Mine goes up there at night and lets the filter flow pull him snug against the slots, and sleeps like that. He easily breaks free, he is not stuck. He's done it every night for a couple months so I don't think it is an accident. My tank is planted, but I worried about him doing that. I bought a tall silk plant that reaches out of the water a bit, thinking he could sit-lay-hang in it and not on the filter, but after a couple weeks, he still plasters himself to those slots. So I took the fake plant out.
Here is a photo I took of when he first started plastering himself to the filter slots. He looks so small in this photo - amazing how much he has grown. He was SO skinny when I got him. This was shortly after I got him. You can see the filter thing I rigged up. I don't have a photo of it after I cut it to allow more flow.
Mine does something really odd with the filter area. You know where the little slots are where the water goes into the filter? Mine goes up there at night and lets the filter flow pull him snug against the slots, and sleeps like that. He easily breaks free, he is not stuck. He's done it every night for a couple months so I don't think it is an accident. My tank is planted, but I worried about him doing that. I bought a tall silk plant that reaches out of the water a bit, thinking he could sit-lay-hang in it and not on the filter, but after a couple weeks, he still plasters himself to those slots. So I took the fake plant out.
Mine is a red VT, too =D
Thanks for the info. Have you thought of having a leaf hammock position there? My Fred loves to rest on the hammock every now and then.
I've had more then one of my boys do something similar when I add water to my tanks. I think some of them do like a small current to play in. Some of them don't. I have a even split on who plays in a current and who doesn't.
My betta stays active if the blue LEDs are on, so I don't use them. I think he needs some rest time.
I do have floating plants he can hang out in. I think he likes the filter slots holding him up. I have looked for the hammock things, but have not seen any locally.
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