Filter question, is it a must have?

[Littlebittyfish]

Hey you all, I recently switched my betta Cleo to a 5 gallon tank earlier this week, he was originally in a 2 gallon tank with no filter, but I did frequent 50% water changes,. Monday night my nephew accidentally knocked over Cleo’s home, what a mess! I was so upset! But I quickly found Cleo and placed him in a container with clean water. His new tank however has a filter, and unfortunately it creates a super strong current. I have already created the baffle for the part where the water flows back into the tank. The part of the filter I am having trouble with his the part that goes down into the water and sucks the water up (I really hope that makes sense! ). Yesterday morning I woke up to find Cleo up against that part of the filter and it looked like he was stuck there, I ran over and unplugged the filter and he seemed to get himself free and swam away, I wasn’t sure if he was actually stuck there or just resting so I left it off for a little bit and later that day I turned it on and kept an eye on him for a little bit and again he got stuck against that part of the filter so I have shut it off again. He seems to be a lot happier when the filter is not on. This morning Cleo created his first bubble nest in his new tank, He wouldn’t do this with the filter on. My question is, is it necessary to have a filter for my 5 gallon tank? And if so how can I avoid the filter from hurting my fish. I don't want to cause him any more stress as my little fish has already had plenty of that this week.

[brandonwlee]

poor Cleo going thru all this stress! bettas do not appreciate very strong currents, so he will be fine even without filtration, filtration is a good way to help to remove wastes and have more diluted oxygen in the water that is good for fish, however, bettas have a labyrinth organ that enables them to breathe atmospheric air, so they will be absolutely fine even without current or almost stagnant water. to cope with the waste, just perform your routine 50% water change or 100% water change with safe aged water . strong filtration and water movements will also discourage him to blow a bubble nest as in his natural habitat, the strong current will wash away the nest and the eggs .

[gbose]

I'd suggest you cover the filter intake with some fine cloth -- maybe an old nylon sock -- to reduce the suction and keep it on. It'll make it easier to keep your tank clean...

GB