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Filter for Betta

With a spray bar you are getting more flow throughout the whole tank but it's of a much lower overall current than a point source flow gives out in a small area. When you add in your plants and decor then this flow is reduced/slowed further with a spraybar. So for healthy plant growth I think the spray bar is the better option but that might be further improved by making your own spray bar with holes where you want the water distributed. For instance you could have holes that directly face against the back glass to divert some of the forward flow, or have one end of the spray bar without surface current holes, so the betta has a quiet area.
For me the downside with a sponge filter is you need a lot of air to give a decent current and this really disturbs the surface, which bettas don't like.

At the end of the day though you have a choice between the corner filter (which I think you said you had?), which will probably do the job fine but maybe with the need to modify your plant plans depending on what does well, or a modified filter that fits into your planned plant selection.
 
Hah! That’ll teach me to read for actual comprehension :oops: :oops: :oops: :sorry:
All the brands and models are now merging into one in my head too :p Just a shame this mythical low flow external version doesn't seem to exist :D

With a spray bar you are getting more flow throughout the whole tank but it's of a much lower overall current than a point source flow gives out in a small area. When you add in your plants and decor then this flow is reduced/slowed further with a spraybar. So for healthy plant growth I think the spray bar is the better option but that might be further improved by making your own spray bar with holes where you want the water distributed. For instance you could have holes that directly face against the back glass to divert some of the forward flow, or have one end of the spray bar without surface current holes, so the betta has a quiet area.
For me the downside with a sponge filter is you need a lot of air to give a decent current and this really disturbs the surface, which bettas don't like.

At the end of the day though you have a choice between the corner filter (which I think you said you had?), which will probably do the job fine but maybe with the need to modify your plant plans depending on what does well, or a modified filter that fits into your planned plant selection.

I think (to start with) I have narrowed this down the sponge or JBL. It appears hard enough to source a Spin pipe anyway and those few from Chine I have seen on eBay are all at least 12/16 and the tiny canisters are all 8/12. Then I have just measured and I don't think I could keep the lid on with any glassware so another downside.

I am hoping the plants should do OK regardless. I have a mix of crypts, buce and anubuias which I think should survive if not thrive but I also have some Murdannia keisak which is a bit of a gamble and the one I am most concerned about but if it grows in rice fields I would assume the natural form will quite happily cope with little flow so I just need to see how the cultivated form does...

Once I have this all planted and setup I think I will possibly have look into one of the canister options. I have MTS and perhaps I can sneak in another 30cm cube...
 
Viv offers 9/12 on all their glass pipes (& if ordering direct from HK, price should be reasonable) - obviously not ADA quality but then a long ways off ADA pricing

Murdanna kiesak is sensitive to flow - not high flow around the plant (none of my aquariums would qualify ;)) but “good” flow, this is especially important while transitioning from emerse to submerse leaf
(just separate out the shoots and leave room for individual stem growth, happy Mk branches readily)
 
I had mk in the back of my 60x45x45cm tank and the plants around it blocked nearly all the flow and it did amazingly well, so we'll in fact that I got tired of continuously chopping it back and moved it on.
 
Viv offers 9/12 on all their glass pipes (& if ordering direct from HK, price should be reasonable) - obviously not ADA quality but then a long ways off ADA pricing

I naively was looking for 8mm pipes and 9mm (as most of the ones for 12/16mm pipework seem to be listed as 13mm) but have only found a few. Found some are listed as 10mm (which I guess would fit 8/12 pipework?

http://www.viv.com.hk/gfilter.html seems to be the official site (?) and a few options are listed as 10mm but I cannot find any sellers at all.
I did also notice that a flow rate of 10 l/minute. Does that mean that spin part (or peony) are sized to work with that flow? If so would using 300 lph potentially not get the desired flow patterns?

The only ones I have seen are super cheap (eg eBay) but are these likely to just disintegrate when trying to attach pipework?

It is so hard to judge flow in videos (especially when you have no idea as to what filter they are attaching the glasswork to).... Some make it look like there is basically no flow

but others make it look like there is actually still a reasonable amount


Someone has bodged one themselves but I don't think it quite has the same aesthetics:p
 
I've owned two - Neither leaked, failed or were hard to clean but one of them did have a slight rattle to the pump and needed silicone to quieten it down.
I have a rattle in my Eden 522, can you elaborate on how you did this?
 
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