# My little girl got stuck in the filter.



## Alisha (Aug 5, 2005)

Tonight when I went up to feed the fish, I noticed that one of my female bettas' was missing. I looked all over, thinking she had somehow jumped out, then I finally looked in the filter and there she was. I thought she was dead at first, but she was still breathing. So when I got her all the way out I noticed she was pretty frail-looking. She just sat at the bottom, so I put her in a large bowl with shallow water so she could reach the surface easier. I looked for some water conditioner, to reduce stress but we just ran out. Do you think she'll make it, or is there something else I can do? By the way, I don't plan on putting the filter back in, the only reason I had it there, was because there was always this slime-film at the surface. :help:


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

how is your betta now?
I nearly lost a healthy girl the other day she got stuck in something that prevented her from getting to the surface. fortunately i was able to get her before she drowned, but she was very paniced.
mouse


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## Fish Friend (Sep 10, 2005)

Ouch..>..>..>..>..>..>..>


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## heatherhoge (Nov 13, 2005)

I would still use a filter. What I do for my small fish is get a sponge cut a hole in it for the in take and put it on so there is no way for anyone to get sucked up. If you got a sick or weak fish the worst to happen is they get sucked up to the sponge but that is only with very powerful filters which wont fit in a small tank.


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## Fishnoob78 (Oct 30, 2005)

The same thing pretty much happened to my new betta that I bought last night. I have the smallest sponge filter for my 5 1/2 gallon ( I couldn't imagine a filter coming any smaller than this one) and when I introduced my betta to the tank it took him about 15 seconds before it looked as if he was wrapped around the filter inlet. A few seconds later he was pushed in the current around the tank. After watching him for a few minutes I knew there was no way I could leave that filter on. I unplugged it and so far he loves his new home.

What heatherhoge said seems like great advice. I'm going to try it myself.


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## kelicom (Sep 27, 2005)

Another thing to do (I've done this in two twenty gallon fry tanks that have pretty powerful filters) is to cover the intake valve with the mesh that surrounds a carbon bag. Just slice it open, throw out the carbon and then put the intake valve inside. I've found that my sons tiny rubber bands he uses for his braces are the perfect size and flexibility to keep the mesh in place. This decreases the pressure of the filter, prevents even the smallest fry from entering the filter or a bigger fish from getting torn fins.

The sponge idea sounds great too.


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## Alisha (Aug 5, 2005)

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I was really worried about her the first few days, her fins were pretty bad, and she just stayed at the bottom of the bowl, but she is doing great now. I have taken out the filter but I will try either the sponge or the mesh idea. Thanks!


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