# Does anyone have this Top Fin tank?



## Elena (Aug 1, 2009)

It may be a bit late in the game since I already bought this tank, but I wanted to know if anybody else has the 3.5 gal Top Fin tank with colored led lights. It was on sale at Petsmart- 19.99 with filter. I chose not to install the filter since it's in my daughter's room and the fish is kind of freaked out by currents.
My 6 yr old is over the moon with having her own pet fish in her room and named him Shimmer. I don't need much convincing to get a new tank lol, so here we are. He will get a heater in the fall but right now my house is at 78 so he should be ok.
My main question is about the lights. I did not realize there are 18 settings for the colored LED lights, including light shows. The light is not strong at all, in fact it would not support any real plants, however I worry that it may stress out the fish. My daughter likes the setting where colors change slowly and watches it before she falls asleep. I turn it off for the night but the color show is probably going to be on about an hour a day. Would the fish be OK? He flares at his reflection all that time.


----------



## Kytkattin (May 15, 2011)

It actually sounds like good exercise! As long as the light goes off at night, you should be fine. If you are really worried about it, maybe a small cave could be provided for him to hide in. 
Btw, you might already know this, but he is flaring because the lights make it brighter on the inside than on the outside. If the room is brightly lit during the day then they could even be left on during the day. 

As for the filter, you could probably baffle it with an aquarium sponge used for larger filters. It would greatly reduce the current. In fact the filter I have on a 5 gallon that is meant for a 30 gallon tank is literally no current because of the baffle! It is really much too slow for my liking...


----------



## Elena (Aug 1, 2009)

Kytkattin, thank you for the reply. He actually does have a cave- well it's not really a cave, but the space underneath the little pagoda can function as such. He likes to go under there and explore/hide from what I've seen so far. Your reply makes me feel better, I thought we were stressing him out- I thought he might not like his light to vary so much- we're talking red to green to blue to yellow and back again. It's pretty though and I am happy that my daughter can enjoy it guilt-free.
As for the filter, I am planning to keep it off for now. It makes an annoying buzzing noise which is somewhat loud for a kid's bedroom. I will have a 2-50% and 1-100% water change schedule per week, and we are really careful not to overfeed or let food drop to the bottom. Hope he'll be ok, he is my only betta without a filter.


----------



## chix0r (Aug 20, 2011)

I actually just got this tank for my first betta, and I'm wondering about the filter. It has a baffle, but it still generates enough current to push the fish around if he goes into it. He seems much happier with the filter turned off. I'm wondering what the best way to reduce the current would be? The filter looks like this.


----------



## chix0r (Aug 20, 2011)

I wound up buying some cheesecloth and attaching it to the outside, where the water comes out, with a rubberband. Seems to be doing the trick, although it does make the top of the filter leak a little.


----------

