Question About My New Tank

[Gloria12]

Hey everyone! I just got a female betta about 2 months ago so I am new to raising a betta, but I am quite excited to learn!

I just have a question about water changes though. I just bought a 3 gallon tank about a week ago and I was wondering how often should I do water changes and how much? I have a sponge filter and air stone that I turned down the air flow so it doesn't have much current. I also have live plants and 2 ghost shrimp.

I have been doing 50% water changes so far but I'm not sure if I am taking care of the tank correctly. Any advice would be very helpful

Thanks so much!

[magnum]

Congratulations on your new betta Gloria12! In response to your question, you water changes are fairly good, although I think that having the Ghost Shrimp may affect the bioload. Good Luck!

[teeneythebetta]

I'm guessing you are not cycling, so I would do a partial water change twice a week- one 50% change and one 100% change.

It would help if you get a liquid test kit (API is a good brand) to ensure that this schedule is fit for your tank.

[Oldfishlady]

Welcome to the forum....

In a 3gal filtered tank with a single Betta and ghost shrimp...50% twice a week...1-50% water only and 1-50% to include light vacuum or stir and dip method- should maintain your water quality, however, depending on the species of plants and growth state you might be able to drop that to 1-50% weekly with light vacuum....

What kind of plant and kelvin rate on the light bulb....

While small filtered tanks can establish the nitrogen cycle-due to limited surface area the cycle may not be stable and twice weekly water changes are still needed unless you have enough of the right species of live plants that will use byproducts to maintain water quality...

Can you post a pic....

[Gloria12]

Thank you for your responses!

[Gloria12]

teeneythebetta- You are right, I haven't cycled my tank. I did not know to do so at first but once I read about it I figure it would be difficult to do so without the liquid test kit. As of right now I am a bit short on funds to buy the kit, but will get it as soon as I can.

oldfishlady- Thanks for your advice. I have been doing the stir and dip method and will try to get a vacuum. I'm not too sure what type of plants I have, I actually just bought the plants that the lady at the pet store recommended. Maybe you can recommend some new plants to add, or for my next tank? As for my light, my tank came as a kit with a LED light. Are LED lights okay for plants?

I will probably continue to do 50% water changes twice a week with the stir and dip method and hopefully that will suffice until I can get the right tools to cycle. I haven't had the best luck with fish in the past, so hopefully this time I do things right :D

[Gloria12]

Here is a picture of my tank... lmk if you have any tips :)

[goldfishyman]

Looks like you have Anacharis for plants. LEDs seem to work great with these plants. Mine seem to be growing better in the 1.5 gallon LED tank vs my full spectrum Fluorescent light tank.

[Tikibirds]

I think anibuas plants would also work well. I had mine in a 20G with NO light for like 2 weeks and they did fine.

Anubias, most notably the varying forms of A. barteri,[3] are commonly used in aquariums, usually attached to rocks or bogwood. In contrast to most plants, Anubias generally prefer subdued lighting and can also produce flowers underwater. In the aquarium they should be placed in shaded areas, otherwise algae will develop on the leaves.
Anubias are considered by many aquarists some of the easiest plants to maintain, since their light and nutrient requirements are very low and also because herbivorous fish will not eat it (with a few exceptions). This is why Anubias are some of the few plants which can be used in aquariums with African cichlids and goldfishes.
Reproduction in artificial environments can be accomplished by stolon division or from side shoots. The stolon must always be above the substrate in order to survive, otherwise it will rot and the plant dies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anubias

Its one of the few aquatic plants that petco sells in those tubes. Most of them are not really aquatic, so if you go there for plants be careful.

Amazon sword might work too but I am not sure if they need one of those pricy T5 whatever lights or not.

here is a link to low light plants
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=98221

[Oldfishlady]

Originally Posted by Gloria12

teeneythebetta- You are right, I haven't cycled my tank. I did not know to do so at first but once I read about it I figure it would be difficult to do so without the liquid test kit. As of right now I am a bit short on funds to buy the kit, but will get it as soon as I can.

You are cycling the tank right now.......as I already posted-post #4

"While small filtered tanks can establish the nitrogen cycle-due to limited surface area the cycle may not be stable and twice weekly water changes are still needed unless you have enough of the right species of live plants that will use byproducts to maintain water quality..."

To add-you can safely establish the nitrogen cycle with a healthy Betta with or without the test products on hand......and since you need to make twice weekly water changes anyway......you are on your way to a cycled tank......
Then with the Anacharis that will use byproducts-provided that is it thriving will also help maintain water quality.....and in about 6 weeks you might be able to cut back on water changes to 50% weekly with light vacuum in the 3gal filtered with live active growing stem plants to maintain water quality....

Nice job on your tank....looks good....