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Hi

I have a 10 gallon tank which is in it's 2nd week of cycling (..with a fish..). My girlfriend bought me a Betta so I had to hook him up with something better then a bowl.

ammonia- 1ppm
nitrite- 0ppm
nitrate- 0ppm
ph level- 7.6

So I had a whisper 10 HOB filter on my tank but it seemed to me that it wasn't pushing out water like it was supposed to. (barely trickling out really) so I took it apart and attempted to clean it (but there wasn't anything to really clean) replaced the bag and got it running again.. no help.

Then i decided to go out and get a new filter, the penguin 100 HOB filter (which is made for 20 gal tank), I bought this knowing that I'm going to stock my tank with 10-12 fish and I wanted a filter that could handle the load.

4 cory's
1 Betta
6-7 tetra's or other small school fish

My betta seems to be doing fine but every now and then I'll see that he'll get "pushed" by the current the filter is generating. Is this a bad thing??

and how much longer before my water starts showing nitrites, I'm using stress zyme to speed up the process and have probably changed the water twice (I want to know because I want my betta to have some friends and fast)

looking forward to starting a solid tank.. and maybe upgrading my tank size in future.

first of all when you stock a tank with a betta wou are supposed to add all of the other fish first or most of the others then the betta as he will establish a territory of the whole tank and not let any other fish into it(for most cases)...

but separatley if you want your betta to be a bit happier put some large decorations (rocks drift wood plants etc) in there to divert the flow and for him to find a area where he can live comfortably with proctection with the decorations.

good luck... you also might want to seed with sera nerite or something like that... (ask keigth for the product he uses.. it works rather well!)

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

Welcome to FishProfiles!

When you cleaned the filter, did you clean the impeller? That's the magnetic part that rotates. If you don't know what that is, er, the best I can say it's that part in Finding Nemo that was stuck with a piece of gravel. Obviously an important part of the filter, haha. Whenever I clean a filter that has low flow, this is the part that I go for. Usually it helps.

Right now just be patient. Your nitrites will come eventually.

--------------------------------------------
The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Too much current can cause male bettas stress, so keep an eye on him. Some actually seem to enjoy playing in a bit of a current though. Is your new filter adjustable? As Shinigami suggested, if it's just your impeller that's a bit clogged up, then I would suggest going back to the Whisper, if the new one isn't adjustable.

Also, if your male has an issue with adding other fish after him, move him to a temporary abode for even a day or two, and then try moving him back. That can sometimes do the trick.

I vote! Do you?

If you are using Stress Zyme as directed it should be OK very quickly another excellent product is Seachem Stability it is a stronger product and the cycling process is extremely quick BUT you must follow the instructions.

I have never owned a HOB but over the years on FP the members having trouble is usually lack of maintenance especially the impella. If you can not find it take the old one to a good LFS and they should be able to help you.

Water movement all the Betta's I have had love water movement and will often play in the air bubbles in saying that they also must have an area the has little or no water movement at all.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
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For the time being, if it isn't a whirlpool and he's just occasionally getting buffeted around, I'd install a 'baffle' of some sort to slow the current a bit and give your boy a place to rest. Maybe a piece of driftwood, a clean coffee mug or even one of the pirate ship things at an angle through the current so that he can rest behind it if he gets tired

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Whisper HOB's... if I'm not mistaken, there is a knob on the intake tube that can be rotated to regulate water flow into the pump impeller. Also, if your is hung in the center of the tank, maybe off-set it to one side, the water currents farthest from the HOB discharge will be calmer should your betta decide to hang out in the upper strata and survey his domain.
Welcome to Fish Profiles !!

J.

Another thing you can do to off set his tertorelness (Is that even a word?) is when you add in the new fish rearrange the decor inside the tank. That way he will have to reestablish his territory with the new fish already in the tank.

mts.gif" border="0"> I vote do you?
My Tanks at Photobucket

Thanks all for replying

whisper HOB, I have tinkered with proppeller and "energizer", but to no avail.

so I've eneded up sticking with the penguin 100 HOB and have added a few rocks to break up the current, so far so good as I'll see my betta hangin around in a treasure chest that's been in there or around a bottom corner covered by plants. and he always comes to the front when I'm around looking for his brine shrimp.

I do have another question as I know I want to get at least 4 cory's, which species would you guys suggest for a 10 gal? and what would be the best small school fish to mix in there as well? (I want about 5-7 of these with the cory's and betta)

stick to sturdier species... the albinos and spotted are good ones! i bought a few of each last week and they are doing great!!!

look in the pofiles section for ones you find attractive and ones taht are hardier... pigmys and pandas are a bit harder to care for!

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

Well, IME the whisper filters are weak and massively underpowered so that is not surprising. The penguin should be fine. my betta actually likes the current and plays in it all the time, although there are plenty of places she can rest if she wants.

Hi,
Welcome to Fish Profiles!
If the fish is doing fine, and can get out of the current
when it wants to, then I'd stick with what you have.

Meanwhile, a couple of things you might want to keep in
mind. First know the fish...
Betta's come from the ditches and stagnant ponds of
their home countries. There is very little current
or circulation in their bodies of water and not a lot
of dissolved oxygen, that is why they developed
the ability and need to rise to the surface regularly
and get a breath of air.
In addition to that, we (humans) have bred them to show
off abnormally huge amounts of finnage. Wild caught Betta's
have nowhere near the size fins that the domestic one do.
The males, in particular, have to expend more energy to
drag their bodies up to the surface each time they need
to breath. Fighting currents, or having to swim to great
heights (18 inches to 24 inches of water) can be a "chore"
for one not healthy or in its prime. Shallow tanks with
little currents are best.

Second, as far as filters are concerned, most are rated
by a range of tank capacities that they can properly
handle. For instance, you might see a filter rated from
10 to 35 gallons. The amount of filter media and the
amount of water turn over is what makes the difference.
The larger the tank, or the heavier the fish load, the
larger the filter and the more flow through it.
Placing a filter capable of running a 30 or 40 gallon tank
on a 10 gallon tank would be creating a "Tempest in a Tea
Pot." The currents would be too much for most fish. They
would become stressed from fighting those currents and
eventually could die. Personally, in a small 10 gallon
tank, I would stick with either what came with it, or I'd
find one that was good from say, 5 to 15 gallons, or one
good from 5-10 gallons.
For future reference, try and put "your" tank capacity in
the middle of a filter's range.

Just some things to think about...

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

As for the Corys, I have 3 Panda Corys in my 10g with my male Betta and some Harlequin Raspboras. They all do very well together.

As for the filter, I have an Aqua Clear HOB,set very low so as not to create a current. I also have a lot of rocks and live plants in the tank so Jack (the Betta) has places to hang out unmolested by current or other fish. He generally covers the entire tank, top to bottom, corner to corner and I have very little trouble with him guarding a specific "territory." The Harlies were in there prior to adding Jack to avoid any squabbles. However, he does love to chase them from time to time...

I've had great success with that exact combination of species, plus otos, but in a larger tank, of course. 4 of my favourite fish species.

I vote! Do you?

just make sure whatever you get that you acclimate it well!

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

i would say spotted/ fairy corys,they show some cool color and are a small size for a 10 gal

i like feesh

never messed much with corys, but do see the attraction. handsome little guys. But as for the others, betta, harlies and ottos, mine all got along great together. In fact now my betta lives with a nice school of harlies and 4 yo-yos and a dwarf rubbernosed pleco.

what i have heard is bettas hate anysort of filteration current


33 gallon 7 neon tetras-5 platys-3 bleeding heart tetras-2 corys-1 rainbow shark-2 L83 gibby plecos