Oldfishlady water change recommendations

[5150wicd4fish]

Originally Posted by Oldfishlady

Otterfun-so the plant are doing good..correct....Honestly, I don't know much about LED lights-never had any and can't afford the ones rated for plants...lol....But if the plants are doing okay, growing, sending out runners and you need to trim and replant at least every 7-14 days-then the lights most likely are the color temp needed for photosynthesis. Your spikes might be due to the additives and not really ammonia per se-but the nitrogen ferts that are causing skewed results-especially if the plants are thriving-You might be over cleaning....with live plants the mulm/debris needs to be allowed to break down-otherwise the plants can't use the nutrients. If not already, I would stay on at least 10h photoperiod and if you can turn the other light on later for at least 4 hours

5150-what time of day are you testing the pH...it is not uncommon to have low pH in the AM and a higher pH in the PM. Personally, I don't worry about pH-especially in planted tanks-A lot of pH issues are related to plants and decomp and these are gradual-normal changes and don't generally cause problems for livestock, however, the more sensitive fish it can be. And since you have hard water-it should be buffered enough anyway and the pH changes shouldn't be problematic.

OFL :D... I usually do test in afternoon..so sounds like I'm in right track..
with this tank.. :D..my other
I'm pissed, today I planted a beautiful Aponogeton boivinianus, very tall for my 60g and all my tiger and grn barbs are "enjoying" this plant, Ughh I have holes in it!! money down the drain!! :(

[Lunchbox148]

Hello everyone! My mom's betta is in a 1 Gallon MiniBow 1 filtered aquarium... I was always told never to do full water changes period... I want to try to cycle her tank as it is new (and we just bought her betta It's my old tank)
Is it possible to cycle this small tank? I really don't want to stress my mom's fish out netting the poor thing weekly... Thanks much!

[aokashi]

Originally Posted by Lunchbox148

Hello everyone! My mom's betta is in a 1 Gallon MiniBow 1 filtered aquarium... I was always told never to do full water changes period... I want to try to cycle her tank as it is new (and we just bought her betta It's my old tank)
Is it possible to cycle this small tank? I really don't want to stress my mom's fish out netting the poor thing weekly... Thanks much!

it is completely possible to cycle a small tank... however i would recommend you to keep up the water changes. 100% water changes dont affect bettas as they do to other fish as bettas are labyrinth breathers..
a cycled 1gallon may not hold a steady cycle hence it is highly recommended to keep up with a good water change practice. happy fish keeping!

[SunnyBettaGirl]

This is an adorable picture of your reptile pet :) And I don't like lizards!

[Oldfishlady]

Originally Posted by Lunchbox148

Hello everyone! My mom's betta is in a 1 Gallon MiniBow 1 filtered aquarium... I was always told never to do full water changes period... I want to try to cycle her tank as it is new (and we just bought her betta It's my old tank)
Is it possible to cycle this small tank? I really don't want to stress my mom's fish out netting the poor thing weekly... Thanks much!

I agree, small filtered tank will establish the nitrogen cycle, however, it may not be stable due to limited surface area-with that said, by adding more surface area by using extra foam in the filter, bio-balls and/or live plants...etc...you could maintain a stable cycle.

I recommend twice weekly water change on 1gal filtered tanks-1-50% water only and 1-50% that includes the substrate by vacuum or stir and dip method. IMO-the less times you have to remove the Betta from the tank the better-Less chance for an accident from improper acclimation, being dropped....etc....By adding live plants you can usually safely reduce water changes to 50% weekly, however, it depends on the number, species and growth state of the plants-a few may not help that much or if they are not thriving-the plants could become part of the water quality problem.

IMO/E-filters are optional for this species-especially in the smaller tanks with the Long fin males-Sometimes the water movement can be the cause of tattered fins and stress. Without a filter it would only change one of the twice weekly water changes- unless you had active growing live plants.

[Lunchbox148]

Thanks a lot everyone! I had another question would a moss ball be an appropriate choice for my 1 gallon tank and my 5 gallon? Would it serve the same purpose as some live plants? do you guys recommend moss balls? and if not what other live plants should I look into?

[Otterfun]

Originally Posted by Lunchbox148

Thanks a lot everyone! I had another question would a moss ball be an appropriate choice for my 1 gallon tank and my 5 gallon? Would it serve the same purpose as some live plants? do you guys recommend moss balls? and if not what other live plants should I look into?

I have a marimo moss ball and a marimo moss covered driftwood. It looks nice in a tank but tend to attract fine substrate on it. It is low light plant, so it stays pretty green. My Amano and my snail eats the algae off them.

It think they are supposed to absorb ammonia.

[cnbufford]

What about AQ changes for baby bettas? I have two that are divided in a 2.5 gallon non-cycling tank.

[aokashi]

Originally Posted by cnbufford

What about AQ changes for baby bettas? I have two that are divided in a 2.5 gallon non-cycling tank.

congrats :) i just got a new one too since mine's all grown up. I would recommend every other day 100% water changes to help then grow faster :)

[camille0119]

How do you do a 50% water change in a 1 gallon tank? :)
I'd just like to know since I got my betta about 2 days ago.