How often will I need to change the water?

[MiyuMikaelson]

I have a 5 gallon with quite a bit of Wisteria, a small Bacopa and a Marimo Moss ball. It has a heater, low wattage light and a filter. It's my first tank and I want to make sure I give my Betta the most relaxing and happy life he can have.

[Myates]

Since it has live plants you can get away with a bit less... weekly 25-35% water changes (dose conditioner for full volume of tank), siphoning out the substrate 1-2 times a month. The plants will keep the water cleaner so don't need to do as big of a % water change.. and the plants will use the fish waste/food as fertilizer, so don't need to siphon weekly.

[shellieca]

In my all of my tanks, including my 5.5, I do weekly 50% water changes & since I use buckets I dose conditioner for the volume of water in the bucket.

[Otterfun]

Originally Posted by Myates

Since it has live plants you can get away with a bit less... weekly 25-35% water changes (dose conditioner for full volume of tank), siphoning out the substrate 1-2 times a month. The plants will keep the water cleaner so don't need to do as big of a % water change.. and the plants will use the fish waste/food as fertilizer, so don't need to siphon weekly.

Hi,
Did you mean that if I have to do a 40% (=2g) WC for a 5g tank, I will still need to dose the 2g with Prime or Stress Coat+ as if I was doing it for 5g?

[waterdog]

If you have a filter and your tank is cycled, 50% water change a week will do great. Can't tell you about the dosing as I use RO water and do not need chemicals.

[Perseusmom]

Prime only lasts for 48 hours so after that you need to add more for the whole tank. Like with my 5 gallon after 48 hours I will add 10 drops of Prime in some water and add to the tank to treat the entire tank. I have live plants too with a cycled tank and do a once a week 50 percent water change.

[shellieca]

Originally Posted by Perseusmom

Prime only lasts for 48 hours so after that you need to add more for the whole tank. Like with my 5 gallon after 48 hours I will add 10 drops of Prime in some water and add to the tank to treat the entire tank. I have live plants too with a cycled tank and do a once a week 50 percent water change.

If your tank is properly cycled there is no need to add Prime other than to new water for a water change or when adding water to top off the tank. In a properly cycled tank there won't be any ammonia or nitrItes & the Prime will be used to make the new water safe by dechorinating it, removing heavy metals, or possibly detoxing the taps ammonia, nitrites or nitrates.