[CecilandMe]

Hey guys, I'm new to the betta forums and really excited to be here. I acquired a beautiful betta fish by winning a bar raffle a few months ago. I bought a 50 gallon fish bowl and set up a very small, low current filter in the bowl, but my fish (name is Cecil) seemed to hate the filter and just lay sort of limply on a plant whenever it was on. I read that bettas prefer a mild current to swim against, but my fish just really seemed troubled by the filter. Has anyone experienced a similar problem? Does anyone know of a very gentle filter that I could buy? I hate to just leave the water stagnant, it just doesn't feel right.

:-D
-Lydia

 

[kfryman]

You should be changing the water 2 times a week to maintain water quality, I doubt the make bowls in 50 gallons lol so is it 1 gallon? The water changes should be a 50% and a 100% where you clean the whole tank and decorations.

A filter will just provide water circulation which bettas don't actually need and actually prefer unfiltered small tanks, big tanks they can get away from the current if setup properly. If you have a bowl I would advise not to use a filter as it will take up space that he could use to swim.

His is bowl heated? Just wanna check so your betta can live longer.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[CecilandMe]

Hey, thanks for your reply. You are right, lol, the bowl is only 10 gallons. It is a really big bowl, though. Its not heated. Should I be heating the tank?

 

[Thunderloon]

It may be that he doesn't like the NOISE it makes.

Most my boys have been total jerks about any kind of vibration.