having moved my fancy goldies into a snazzy new 30gal I was pondering introducing a betta to my old 10gal. having decided that the fluval 1 plus filter I had in there created far too much water disturbance (my moor had a little trouble if he got caught in the flow :/) I hunted high and low for a little sponge filter that wouldn't bash my poor betta around too much. this being England, and thus fishy-shopping being twice as hard as it should be, the only sponge filter I could find within a 20-mile radius of me was a penn-plax 'smallworld'. It seemed ideal but since sticking it in the tank I have found it to be incredibly noisy (the bubbles make a loud 'blup' rather than the gentle fizzing I expected from the illustration o_0) and the cartridges cannot be opened, meaning you have to buy their replacement cartridges every few weeks as opposed to simply rinsing/changing the sponge and carbon. aside from that, it doesn't actually filter a darn thing from the tank unless it happens to float directly in front of it o_0 how on earth they can sell it as 'ideal for goldfish' is beyond me

rant aside, can anyone recommend me a brand that I might be able to get hold of here in the U.K that'd be suitable for a single betta in a 10gal?

also, perhaps the biggest problem, where on earth can I source a nice betta?
my local favourite fish store doesn't carry them for fear of them being plopped into bowls and left, which is understandable I suppose, especially as they have the rather awesome-sounding name of siamese fighters over here and all the kiddies want to take one home. the only place I've ever seen them is in Pets At Home, and then only miserable looking specimens with chewed finnage and more often than not bouncing off the sides of the tank

any help appreciated :x

The type of filter you could look at is this one on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ALGARDE-BIOFOAM-200-...1QQcmdZViewItem
It has a good area for the bio load, but you will need an air pump to run it and depending on what size of pump a two way valve to restrict the flow so you get smaller bubbles.
If you look further on ebay you might get the twin version which will need a stronger pump to run.

A good source of bettas is www.kgbettas.co.uk

He should have some in the next few weeks if they arent already shown, but he wont ship if the weather is too cold.

that's exactly the kind I was looking for, just nowhere around here seemed to have them xP I already have a good spare airpump and adjustable valve so it'd be perfect.

K.G Bettas is in Staffordshire, it's only a 40-minute drive for me so I can even go pick one out in person. thanks for the brilliant help