# Current too strong?



## Phalp

Hey ya'll,

I have a feeling my filter is creating a current too strong for my betta, Tommy. I brought him home last week and just moved him from a temporary bowl to a nice 10 gal. tank with an apple snail two days ago. I know he's suffering a bout of constipation so I've been fasting him since the shift to the new tank and he's been much more livelier ever since, pooping a LOT. 

I'm a little worried, however, that the current is too much for him. He tends to stay near the top of the water all the way at the end opposite of the filter and swims nonstop, occasionally darting to the bottom, then back up to the top. I'm almost positive it's because of the current; he darts repeatedly rather than gracefully swims when he tries to get to the other side. I'm worried that it's stressing him out.

Do you think his behavior is because of the current? The temperature is a consistent 78-80 F, the ammonia level is under control, and he gets along perfectly fine with the snail. His stomach has reduced in size and its color is almost back to to the dark blue that matches the rest of his body, so I don't think its the constipation. Any ideas? Hopefully there's a DIY way to slow down the current without having to get a new filter, but I'm willing to do that if I have to. I tried using the cut-to-size water bottle method to slow it down, but it was pretty ineffective.

Thanks for your help guys.


----------



## jasonmk1j

Hi, I had a similar problem with my Betta/filter and used a few bits of pvc pipe with holes punched in and inserted them into the filter head, should be able to see them in my gallery pics, these slowed the current right down while still keeping the water moving.

Mine used to swim real hard into the filter too, the strong current is fine for them as long as they can get away from it to rest. when I'm giving my tank a real good monthly clean I take the pipes out to clean them and my Betta spends the whole time either swimming into the flow or hovering in the corner waiting for the current to bring him some tasty snacks... he actually seems to enjoy it 

for the constipation, pop a frozen pea in a cup with a drop of aquarium water and microwave it for 30 secs, let it cool down, ditch the peel and chop half a pea up into bite size chunks, feed him a few of these before bed and he'll be pooping a good'n and should be acting like you never feed him by morning


----------



## jasonmk1j

Oh just an afterthought (after reading zero's thread) you might want to check your filter inlet too, hes likely to allow the current to hold him there which can cause their fins to tear


----------



## Phalp

Thanks jasonmk1j!

He stays as far from the filter as possible right now so the inlet doesn't seem to pose a problem as of yet. Thanks for the tip, I'll grab some pipe from the garage and set it up for the tank tonight and see if it helps. 

He was actually using the snail as a resting rock today. What a goob.


----------



## JonJonHobbyist

What kind of filter are you using? Different filters operate in different ways. If it's a HOB filter you can use media foam over/on the outlet to disperse the current stream. That's what I use on my penguin 350 to disperse the flow.


----------



## holly12

It could be that. Try asking Majerah1. She breeds bettas and knows tons of stuff about them. She advised me on currents for my gouramis (who also don't like strong currents.)

Also noticed you moved him from a bowl to a tank. Did you allow the tank/filter to go through the nitrogen cycle first? If not, keep an eye on the nitrates, nitrites and ammonia.


----------



## Phalp

Thanks guys, I'm going to try putting the foam over top of the outlet and see if that works. I'll shoot a message to Majerah1, too, and see what she thinks. Thanks a lot, guys! I don't want my little guy to get stressed.


----------



## Phalp

The foam was EXACTLY what I needed. The current is so gentle, Tommy can swim around the entire tank and investigate. He's so much calmer, no more darting up and down, back and forth. I also gave him the mashed up pea innards, so I'm going to wait on feeding him his usual food just a little bit longer. The next step for me is to work on getting a 29 gallon tank cycled and ready with live plants for these guys. Wish me luck, can't wait to share what I come up with :]


----------



## lkfishy

Yay, glad the foam worked out for you. Bettas are so awesome. Tommy will love it when he has live plants to lurk in. My betta, Harold spends his days wedged into a fern, or a clump of moss, he rests in the funniest positions sometimes and rotates from plant to plant throughout the day. He's my favorite


----------

