Filter choice for bubblenest builder

[musicman]

I recently picked up a ten gallon tank and would like to turn it into an ideal enviorment to keep my betta.

Most filters that I have seen have a tendency to disturb the surface of the water. That is a problem because the water movement destroys or even prohibits the building of a bubblenest. I would like a filter that dosn't mess with the water much, if at all.

What filter type should I choose?

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Forget about specialty filters and just set up an area for the betta to build bubble nests. As an example, take a syrofoam cup, cut it length wise, then place it in the tank with the OPEN side facing he glass. That way, the cup prevents surface water movement "inside" the cup, and the cup acts like the natural "cover" under which bettas like to build bubble nests. The other thing would be plants that reach the surfact of the water and can block flow to a particular corner of the tank for nest building.

 

[cwt]

I have a 5 gallon mini-bowfront which came with the Tetra Whisper Micro filter (see link below); I am keeping my plakat betta in this tank with the filter adjusted to about half of max flow, and the bubblenest is not bothered at all.

Tetra Whisper Internal Micro Filters - Product Reviews at The Age of Aquariums - Tropical Fish

 

[musicman]

So I went "fishing" for answers two LFS and got two more answers. Figured I could list them here and see what people think.

1) Take an external power filter (hang on the tank type) and attach a water bottle to divert the filter flow down into the tank.

2) Use a sponge filter driven by a powerhead below the surface of the water.

What do you guys think?

***

thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm looking into them. Whatever will provide the best filteration and least surface aggitation relative to the price.

hookoodooku, I tried the cup trick when I had the same betta in my 5 gal hex, but he would not build a nest. Possibly the current discouraged him.

cwt, the micro filter looks good but I am afraid that its not big enough to do a proper job, and at half flow it would only provide half the filteration.

 

[fisch]

What I've done in the past just not used a filter. I had plenty of live plants to do the filtering for me. A single betta isn't likely to foul the water in a 10 gallon too quickly. So as long as you keep up your PWC's and monitor the conditions it should be fine.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Plants, per-se, do not filter the water. What they do is absorb some of the nitrates. But before they can absorb the nitrates, the ammonia produced by the fish has to be converted to nitrates. That's the job of the filter.

Of course, since a filter is just a place for the bacteria that run the nitrogen cycle, when you have a low bio-load, the entire tank will eventually act like a filter. You just need to have lots of surface area in the tank (rocks, fine substrait, etc) for the bacteria to grow on.

 

[fisch]

Plants are capable of using Ammonia, Nitrite, or Nitrate as their Nitrogen source. Most show a preference for ammonia.
So plants will are more than capable of acting as a biological filter. What they won't do is provide mechanical filtration which is what the water changes are for.

 

[Sicklid]

What I've done in the past just not used a filter. I had plenty of live plants to do the filtering for me. A single betta isn't likely to foul the water in a 10 gallon too quickly. So as long as you keep up your PWC's and monitor the conditions it should be fine.

I second this... with that being said:

A sponge filter would be more than adequate bio-filtration in this tank, simply driven with an airstone... You do not need a powerhead-driven sponge in a 10 gallon Betta tank where you are trying to get him to build a bubble nest...

 

[musicman]

No filter chosen yet. Been doing 50% weekly PWCs and monitoring the water quality every couple of days. Plan to add substrate soon. The additional surface area should aid in the propagation of beneficial bacteria.