Question about tank cleaning

[Blazer betta]

Hi,

Im relatively new to aquariums in general but have always thought bettas were awesome!! I recently got one and he lives in a 2.5 gallon tank. I have a very small filter it creates a little current but he doesn't seem to mind it. The question I have is what is the best way to go about cleaning his tank and how often??

I am not sure what percentage of water I should be changing and if every time I clean the tank do I need to take everything out including the decor and rocks on the bottom and wash them with hot water?? Im just worried doing this will stress him out because its like putting him in a new tank every single time I change the water.

Thanks

[shellieca]

Welcome. Personally for a tank smaller than 5g I don't bother with a filter. I have a 2.5g filterless tank, I do a 80% water change twice a week & sometimes a 100% once a month.

[finnfinnfriend]

I would get a gravel siphon and change 50% of the water 2x a week. Do you have a heater and thermometer?

[Blazer betta]

Thanks for the replies. To answer your question yes I do its set to 78 degrees and I also have a thermometer to monitor it myself.

[tnvol]

Some great advice here...

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=115758

[Blazer betta]

So 50 % water change twice a week and gravel siphon once a week?

[Roemgie]

Originally Posted by Blazer betta

Hi,

Im relatively new to aquariums in general but have always thought bettas were awesome!! I recently got one and he lives in a 2.5 gallon tank. I have a very small filter it creates a little current but he doesn't seem to mind it. The question I have is what is the best way to go about cleaning his tank and how often??

I am not sure what percentage of water I should be changing and if every time I clean the tank do I need to take everything out including the decor and rocks on the bottom and wash them with hot water?? Im just worried doing this will stress him out because its like putting him in a new tank every single time I change the water.

Thanks

Unless your tank is cycled you have no need for a filter (it will do nothing to help put pick up old food and maybe poop if your fish poops beside it).

I have had a TON of my boys in 2.5 gallon tanks and I always did a water change ever 4-6 days (with Debata he got so stressed if I didn't change it every 4 days that I ended up switching everyone to a every 4 day change).

Bettas build up ammonia fast so you want to make sure you do a lot more than 80%. If you tank is fully cycled that would be the required amount or less depending on what your test say. But since I don't think yours is (takes over a month to get it going) you will need to stick to weekly changes.

Now changing every 4 days may seem like a LOT of water changes but that is what my boy required and so I stuck to his schedule. So with your boy (or girl) you will want to start with a once a week water change. If their fins start clamping up or looks stuff than that means that there is too much ammonia building up in between each change. You really have to work with your fishes schedule and make sure to stick to it.

[Roemgie]

Originally Posted by Blazer betta

So 50 % water change twice a week and gravel siphon once a week?

Ok I know a lot of people were like 'What?? No gravel??' when I would show them my 2.5 gallon tanks. Gravel really is only if you have live plants and/or a cycled tank (of course you will need a cycled tank for plants so they go together). So really your filter and gravel are useless (unless you have some fake plants that need gravel so they won't float). It made it a lot easier for me to do water changes without the gravel AND I could see how often my boys would poop (lovely I know :) )

But all in all that is all my advise/opinion from all the bettas I've had in 2.5 gallon tanks. Take it or leave it :)

[BettaPirate]

I have two tanks a 3 gallon and a 2.5 gallon and I do twice weekly water changes for both, one is a 50% and the other is a 90%. I only do one 100% change a month because my newest little guy gets stressed out when I cup him. This schedule has worked well for both of my fish and their ammonia levels have been fine :)

[Blazer betta]

First off thanks Roemgie for the informative post I think I will try what you said with the water changes I think I will try changing it every four days like you suggested till the tank is cycled.

And sorry to continue asking more questions here in this thread im just new to this and I find the best way to learn anything is to ask :). When I change the water every four or so days till it becomes cycled should I do 80%? or more?