I'll be honest with you, your betta is going to have a very difficult time swimming in a tank full of even moderate current. Even the lower output filter pumps tend to be too much for the betta to handle. Get the smallest (Aquaclear 20) and if you get a new tank later get one that's just enough to handle that amount of water. You may have to baffle that 20 because it may even put too much current in the water. A trick I've used on some tanks (if possible) is place the heater close to the filter output so a lot of that current hits the heater and breaks up (which is actually going ot make the heater perform better as well).

I have a few 2 - 5 gallon tanks and the pumps that come with all these have always been way too much for my betta. I have a new 2 gallon tank right now that just made the tank a whirl pool for my betta at the lowest setting. Fortunately I was able to stick the heater right in front of the nozzle.

NOTE: Strong current will not cause any fin damage at all. It will cause your betta to constantly struggle against the current - they'l either spend all their time at one corner of the tank where the current is low or they will get stressed out and just stay stuck up against the filter intake (on nano like tanks). It's plastic plants and sharp edges of ornaments that cause fin damage. I would always recommend using real plants and/or supplemented with silk fake plants. If there's a sufficient amount of large leaf plants and grass your betta will be comfy and safe without a cave usually.

 

Yeah, I heard about the heater needing to be near the filter. I do wonder if it's better for it to be near the intake or the little waterfall.

In any case, I'm probably gonna get some extra sponges, use one to buffer the water, and cut the other one so that the intake doesn't suck up or damage my fish.

Not entirely sure how to cut it right but meh.

I think I will go with the 30 though, I'm sure the sponge will make it perfectly safe. (But then I wonder, will it work as well distributing the heat from the heater?)

 

I'm also thinking of putting my (rather large) piece of driftwood right in front of the waterfall from the filter, maybe it will help dispersing the current.

I do worry a bit about the driftwood wearing down but meh..

 

Baffling cause a few issues. You may have to periodically change or rinse that sponge material as it will get nasty. Also depending on the pump there will be some back pressure and could strain the motor and possibly reducing the life of it quite a bit. For those reasons I prefer to get the smallest available air filter/ pump for my tanks when it comes to bettas. The less I have to baffle it the better and easier it will be to deal with. Honestly when you buy aquarium parts - you should buy to cater to that specific tank, if you need a bigger tank go ahead and get one.

 

Well yeah, but it's at it's lowest setting, so it's not even pushing that much water, and it does have a chance to trickle down onto the sponge, having it on or off doesn't make that much difference to it. If it were pushing the water back it would be more noticeable right? I think today I'll make a water bottle one, figure out a way to have it slightly above water level so the little guy doesn't scrape his fins. I'll use the sponge I have as a second layer in the filter itself (instead of the carbon).

Yeah, I should get a bigger tank in any case. I probably will soon. 15 or 20 gallon seems good enough no? I do have some extra space on the furniture I'm using.

But in the meantime, this will have to do.

 

I kept a betta in a 10 with an AC20 with absolutely no problems whatsoever - no baffle, no sponge on the intake, full flow.

 

Same as jaysee. I have an AC20 on my ten gallon and I have zero problems with flow or current. You can adjust it, which is always nice. I keep it on the lower setting and it works just fine for Romeo.

 

^how do you guys have your decorations set up? I imagine you give him more places to hide AWAY from the filter's flow right? And he almost never hangs out near it? (Or does he?)

BTW Torla, I love your fish & pet names! Are the colors of the font representative of their colors??

 

No special setup for the decor. There are some silk plants right underneath the output, but Romeo can swim right in the flow and not have any problems. There are hiding spaces spread throughout the tank, but it's more for the frogs. Here's a picture.

You can kind of see the filter on the upper left. Squidward's house is currently in the Kritter Keeper with Akio, but this is the general idea.

And thank you! You're correct about the colors. They're as close as I can make them, anyway. I have yet to name my larger frog who I think may be female.

 

I have to be honest, I have never spent 2 seconds worrying about a bettas ability to handle the current in the tanks I've kept them in. I recognize that some variants are particularly vulnerable to "too much" current, but for the regular old bettas I've kept it's never been a problem. I don't do anything particular with the decor - like you said there are parts of the tank that will have more current than others.

 

That is one beautifully arranged tank Torla! I love the caste, I'm a bit envious.. Looks like a piece of hogwarts.

Yeah I don't think I have too much to worry. I already installed a water bottle buffer just in case, the two currents that come out of it I feel barely 2 inches into the water. It's better than the sponge because I do see tiny bubbles form, a few. That's good right?

Anyway I don't know if something's wrong with my Betta, but he loves swimming around beneath the currents. Though I'm not sure if that's him thinking there's a larger body of water behind the current, beyond the glass. It does look a bit like glass surfing, a bit.

He probably needs some time to get used to right? Maybe seeing the surface of the water in constant motion stresses him? Then again, that's just him needing to get used to it right? If that's the case, well, the side opposite to the filter in the tank has water that barely moves.

Can a betta really "enjoy" swimming around near the current?

 

Can a betta really "enjoy" swimming around near the current?

Of course. If it didn't, it wouldn't...

 

I've heard some members say that their betta enjoyed playing in the current.

 

Some will enjoy playing with it, but not living in it. It's tiring for them. They just weren't designed for it. One of my males (RIP) used to love playing near the filter, he would rush into it and tumble over and over. More regularly though he avoided that area of the tank. This was the lowest setting on a small whisper filter, which caused a lot more current when I had the tank divided with some mesh - the current was on one side and he didn't have anywhere to go but hang out against the front glass where it pushes him. Eventually I put some plants under where the water was falling and he swam around the entire space more frequently.

These are bettas that live in ponds - not salmon who swim up river. They've adapted to live in such water. Regardless of how far back our domesticated bettas are related to the wild types - their design has just been made worse by the fact they're bred to have mostly large fins.