Topic: Water Changes, aquariams, etc....

[Indy17]

O.K.  I had my four boys in seperate bowls.  I have well water.  They were treated for various ailiments, and are now all healthy!  I bought Beauty a mini-Bow 5.  I have a filter in it, no pump.  He is doing great!  I put Blue Boy and Uno ( my first Betta!) in a ten gallon, all decorated, with a filter, and a divider.  They look great too.  Flame is still in a bowl.  He looks wonderful!  SO - questions:
Do I need a pump or air stone in each one?  I thought they didn't like moving water?  If I do a partial water change, do I siphon it out of the bottom or top?  How often should I totally remove them, and clean everything?  They have been doing great in the well water.  I added a little aquariam salt, and conditioner.
Alos - there is one small space in the divider they can see one another - every now and then, they have a little stand off.  Is this harmful as long as they are still eating? I had a divider that was a screen, and they could see each other so well, they fought all day and wouldn't eat.  I took the screen out, and replaced it with a solid 'placemat' from walmart with fern leaves on it! Looks great!  I move the filter from one side to the other, but I don't run it all the time.  I don't run the filter all the time in the 5 gallon bow either.  Should I run it all the time?  I know - lots of questions!  thank you all!

[Mellyn]

Ok, I'll do this by tanks since each one needs it's own routine:

10 gal: Filter is good, no air pump needed. Siphon water from the bottom, picking up debris and poop. You do not need to clean this completely(unless it looks like it really needs it). Seeing each other and standing off once in a while is good, it keeps them active and happy. Just make sure they can't get to each other. They'll eventually settle down and not be so involved with each other.

5gal: Filter is good, no air pump needed. Same cleaning for the 10 gal. You might want to take it apart and clean it completely once a month. I have a 5 gal with two betta in it and a filter and they do fine. As long as the betta doesn't look like he's fighting the current he'll be ok with the filter on all the time.

Bowl: I'm guessing this is about a gallon? No filter or air pump. This one will have to be cleaned at least twice a week, if not more. Take it apart when you clean it.

It's great that you have well water. Adding a little salt and conditioner is good.

Hope this helped.

[ZenMeBaby]

Do I need a pump or air stone in each one?  I thought they didn't like moving water?

You don't need an airstone in any of them.  Airstones help to circulate the water which is really helpful if you have a dead spot in the tank thats not getting any water flow to it (your tanks are small enough that you should have enough circulation) and they help to oxygenate the water by bring the water from the bottom where is is low in desolved oxygen to the surface (not a concern in Betta tanks).

If I do a partial water change, do I siphon it out of the bottom or top?

Except in the one tank that I have an undergravel filter, I siphon the water out through a gravel vacuum every time I do a water change.  

How often should I totally remove them, and clean everything?

The guy in the bowl need to be taken out and everything totally cleaned every time you change his water.  How often depends on the size of the bowl.  The ones in cycled tanks never need to be taken out and you should never clean out their tanks completely as it can cause the tank to cycle again.

Alos - there is one small space in the divider they can see one another - every now and then, they have a little stand off.  Is this harmful as long as they are still eating?

It should be fine.  

I took the screen out, and replaced it with a solid 'placemat' from walmart with fern leaves on it! Looks great!  

You might want to punch some small holes in it.  Water circulation is good.

I move the filter from one side to the other, but I don't run it all the time.  I don't run the filter all the time in the 5 gallon bow either.  Should I run it all the time?

Always run your filters.  You can turn them off for short periods of time to do some cleaning but if you keep them off for too long the bacteria bed in your filter starves (it needs oxygen and ammonia/NitrIte to live) and dies and your tank will cycle again.  If you've been leaving them off for long periods of time you probably don't have any biological filtration, the filters are just circulating the water and mechanically filtering out some debris.  You might need to cycle your tanks or.  You can always leave the filters off completely and just do 100% water changes instead but I think a cycled tank is a healthier enviroment.

I know - lots of questions!  thank you all!

Its alright, most of us started out worse off them you.  I know I did!

[Indy17]

First of all - thanks to you both  for the posts!  They really are helpful!!  I am a totaly moron about this biological vs. mechanical filtration. so, what happens to the bacteria in the filter bed when I have to replace the filter itself?  
I guess I rally don't understand the 'cycling' process....
As I said - I am just trying to do the right thing!!  
I hope to get Flame his own 5 gallon tomorrow.  
I have been rinsing out a new 5 with the well water, and adding clean well water with a little aquariam salt and conditioner, and letting it run through the filter a day before adding the fish.  Is this the way to go?  Should I add gravel from an aquariam that is already up and running?
I am an aquariam idiot!  Forgivness requested!!
THANK YOU BOTH!

[ZenMeBaby]

I'm sure someone can post a link to a really good cycling article, I actually don't know of one offhand.

Rinsing everything out before you put the fish in s good.  Theres often a lot of dust and residue on things when you get them.  You can add gravel from an existing aquarium but I haven't found it to help much, if at all.

[Indy17]

I forgot to say - I guess I am confused because I took them out of the gallon bowls every 2-3 days.... it didn't hurt them, but I owrried about it being stressful, moving them so much.
Still - this water was not 'cycled' right?  So why does it matter if I do a total water change in a small bowl, but it is not a good idea in a 5-10 gallon?  Guess this is where the confusion lies!!!
THANKS AGAIN!
Wow- some of you on here have Betta's to die for!  
Another question:

[Indy17]

Do the Bettas you all have shipped, especially from overseas actually arrive alive and healthy???  Are they not REALLY stressed?  Do you lose many of them en route, or after arrival?
Yikes!  And I freak out hauling one 20 minutes!!!

[ruthcatrin]

I don't personally have any fish from over seas, but I do have fish that were shipped accross the country.  They were a little faded when i got them, and they definetly spent some time getting destressed, but everyone survived the trip just fine.