Moving betta to new tank

[cjschmelzer909]

I recently bought a baby betta from PetCo about a month ago (before I learned that baby bettas aren't in the best health... but she's doing great anyway :) ) and because of it's small size, I just borrowed a 2 gallon bowl from a friend who wasn't using it anymore.

She's been getting bigger and bigger recently though, so I figured I should get a bigger tank before she's too big for what she's in now, so I picked up a 5.5 gallon tank today.

Other than rinsing out the tank and rinsing gravel and whatnot, is there anything special I should do to prepare the tank? Should I mix some of the water in her current bowl with the water that will be in the tank? Any tips and advice would be great!

[shellieca]

Originally Posted by cjschmelzer909

I recently bought a baby betta from PetCo about a month ago (before I learned that baby bettas aren't in the best health... but she's doing great anyway :) ) and because of it's small size, I just borrowed a 2 gallon bowl from a friend who wasn't using it anymore.

She's been getting bigger and bigger recently though, so I figured I should get a bigger tank before she's too big for what she's in now, so I picked up a 5.5 gallon tank today.

Other than rinsing out the tank and rinsing gravel and whatnot, is there anything special I should do to prepare the tank? Should I mix some of the water in her current bowl with the water that will be in the tank? Any tips and advice would be great!

Good for you for getting her a bigger home! Because the tank is new it will go through a cycling process which means you will need to monitor the ammonia, nitrate & nitrite levels & do lots of water changes to keep it safe for her. The cycling process can take 4-6 weeks, smaller volumes of water are more difficult to maintain safe water. When you decide to put her in, put her in a cup or bag that you can float in the tank. Float it for about 15 minutes, add a tablespoon of the tank water & do this about every 15 minutes for an hour or more. This will acclimate her to the new tanks water. I use a cup, I keep a couple of the ones the Bettas came in from the store. I push the side of the cup under the water level & let the Betta swim out, it's gentler than dumping them IMO.

[shellieca]

Oh & to sex a Betta, the females will have a small white dot on their underside towards their "chest" between the "fins" (beard) that hang down. I don't know at what age it appears but all of my females have it.

[Hallyx]

The tank will only cycle if you're running a filter. Cycling a 5 g tank is recommended as it will keep ammonia lower than you can by manual water changes.

If you don't want to cycle, a 50% and a 100% change each week is a frequently recommended minimum around here.