Topic: How do I know when to change my bettas water?

[wendyjo]

If your betta is housed in an uncycled bowl or tank then you need to do regular water changes to remove the toxic ammonia that builds up in the water, as it will quickly make your fish sick or even kill him.  But how do you know how often you need to do this?  All fish produce ammonia, but all fish produce it at different rates.  The only way to really know how often you need to change the water is to use an ammonia drop test kit, such as this one:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754002

Here's what you do:  Fill the bowl/tank with fresh, dechlorinated water.  Each day test the water for ammonia.  Eventually, depending on the size of the container, you'll get an ammonia reading.  So you'll need to start doing water changes on the previous day.  For example, if you get an ammonia reading on day 5, then that means you need to change 100% of the water on day 4.  The goal is to never have enough ammonia in the tank that it is readable on a test. 

Repeat this once or twice the first few weeks you have the fish to make sure that you have a good schedule down, and then you really won't have to worry about it too much anymore.

A few tips: 

Don't overfeed!  Less food = less poop = less ammonia = less water changes.  Your betta won't starve on just a pellet or 2 each day or even every other day!

Remove any uneaten food from the tank as it will rot and add to the ammonia.

Buy a turkey baster from the grocery store (do NOT use the one that's used on the thanksgiving turkey!) and use it to remove uneaten food and poop from the bowl/tank each day. 

Be sure when doing water changes that the new water is the same temp as the old water (buy a thermometer from the pet store - they are cheap!) and that you have used a proper dechlorinator in the new water.

It's much easier to do water changes in a bowl/tank without gravel.  If you like the look of having something on the bottom of the tank then a few large, smooth pebbles or marbles work well.

Hope this helps!

[ShieldWolf]

Great advice! Someone should sticky this if there is room.

[wendyjo]

Shield, are your powers not mighty enough that you can do it yourself??

[ShieldWolf]

Not my board, (thank god) One of the inmates moderators on this board or an admin can choose to do so.

[LW]

The advice about everything in the main post is so valuable but the tip about feeding is definitely a "keeper." WAY too many people kill fish from over feeding due to directions on the food bottles.

[erinrobinjade]

I just wanted to add some over tips...

Betta bowls or other small 1 to 3 gallon housing...

If you want to help lessen stress and have a spot that will get great light add in a water plant such as a java fern.
Benifits of plants in a tank are:
-Plants Provide Oxygen
-Plants Remove Carbon Dioxide from the water
-Plants "Fliter" water (take out mineral salts, consume NitrAte, phosphates and carbon dioxide)
-Plants help reduce fish illness and death
-Plants provide a home for beneficial bacteria
-Well-planted plants inhibit algae Growth
-Plants provide Beauty
-Plants Assist in successful fish breeding
-plants provide food for some fish.

Another recomendation is to get some mystery snails, mine don't eat alot of my plants(if any at all) and they help clean out food that isn't eaten and poop from the betta.

Anything that is left in my small tanks I use a gavol sucker and that way when I do my water changes I know i getting all the gunk off the bottom.

Erin

[wendyjo]

I just wanted to add some over tips...

Betta bowls or other small 1 to 3 gallon housing...

If you want to help lessen stress and have a spot that will get great light add in a water plant such as a java fern.
Benifits of plants in a tank are:
-Plants Provide Oxygen
-Plants Remove Carbon Dioxide from the water
-Plants "Fliter" water (take out mineral salts, consume NitrAte, phosphates and carbon dioxide)
-Plants help reduce fish illness and death
-Plants provide a home for beneficial bacteria
-Well-planted plants inhibit algae Growth
-Plants provide Beauty
-Plants Assist in successful fish breeding
-plants provide food for some fish.

Another recomendation is to get some mystery snails, mine don't eat alot of my plants(if any at all) and they help clean out food that isn't eaten and poop from the betta.

Anything that is left in my small tanks I use a gavol sucker and that way when I do my water changes I know i getting all the gunk off the bottom.

Erin

Hmmm, well in this article we are talking about uncycled betta containers in which 100% water changes are done, so many of the things you stated really don't apply, such as the growth of beneficial bacteria or algae.  And you shouldn't be trying to breed bettas in such a small container.  Also, if you are doing 100% water changes then you don't really need to use a gravel vac to ensure you are getting all the waste from the bottom, as the tank should be emptied and rinsed out with hot water at each change.  Lastly, I would advise against putting a Mystery Snail in a 1 gallon container with a betta as it will just contribute to the ammonia in the tank.

I do agree that live plants are great for tanks of any size.  I just don't want people to get confused by reading some of things that you posted that really don't relate to the topic of this thread.

[erinrobinjade]

Hmmm, well in this article we are talking about uncycled betta containers in which 100% water changes are done, so many of the things you stated really don't apply, such as the growth of beneficial bacteria or algae.  And you shouldn't be trying to breed bettas in such a small container.  Also, if you are doing 100% water changes then you don't really need to use a gravel vac to ensure you are getting all the waste from the bottom, as the tank should be emptied and rinsed out with hot water at each change.  Lastly, I would advise against putting a Mystery Snail in a 1 gallon container with a betta as it will just contribute to the ammonia in the tank.

I do agree that live plants are great for tanks of any size.  I just don't want people to get confused by reading some of things that you posted that really don't relate to the topic of this thread.

Ok, I thought I would make some things known....

(I'm not arguing but I don't agree with everything)

With what I stated about the plants... I was listing off some of the good things plants do for your tanks... But it doesn't mean that you have to do say... breeding in a 1 gallon... which would not be good... But it gives people some Idea of what a plant can do for a tank...

Second of all if your doing your changes properly would it really matter if you had a snail? I find it nice and helpful to have one myself.

As for the gravol sucker... What I do with it is:
-suck yup all water seen
-Add 50% water and suck that out... that way I get anything I missed.

I do this because I don't want to hurt my plants. I have been doing it this way since three days after I go fraiser. So take the day joined the forum and go from there. I test my tanks just to see if I should do more and they are just fine.

The only reason I suggested this is because of the fact that plastic plants aren't nice on betta's fins and bodies. I've seen some pretty horrible things that can happen from those plants. That and its so much nicer for everyone.

Again I just thought I'd clear some things up. Everyone has their own Ideas and I thought this might help out. It also gives newbies an idea of what they can do with a 1 to 3 gallon planted tank that needs water changes.

[wendyjo]

Good points!

[erinrobinjade]

Good points!

Thanks