New owner who could use a bit of advice!

[shymarienez]

Hi all! I have recently bought a male betta, and I'm trying to make the best decisions for him to have a long, healthy life. He's in a 2.5 G tank with a filter. I'm going to buy him a heater tomorrow. He seems happy so far. Today he started making a bubble nest. Eee!

My question is about cleaning his tank. I keep hearing that you shouldn't change all the water at once and it has me a bit worried. I've owned bettas in the past, and I always saved the cups they came in and housed them in there with their current water to fully clean their aquariums. Washed all plants/"toys" and did 100% water changes. I never had any issues with my bettas doing this, but from what I'm reading it's not best.

I was wondering if someone could assist me on how to do this properly. Is there any "safe" way to do 100% water changes? If so, how do I handle the filter in this case? Thanks in advance.

[koincidenskis]

Hi shy. If you look at OldFishLady's "Water change recommendations" thread at the top of the beta forum it has a lot of useful information! I was initially confused to on the water changes

She says 50% water changes twice a week and vacuuming the gravel. If you're not sure what 50% is just get a ruler and put it next to the tank. Say you fill your water up to the 10inch mark, then get rid of the water to the 5inch mark.

I just leave the filter in. Get a disposable clean cup and start scooping the water into a bucket so you can dump it. That is how I do it anyway

[shymarienez]

Thanks koincidenskis! Does the water stay relatively clean doing it this way? Also, how would I go about conditioning the water? Do I recondition it every time I introduce new water? Do I only treat the new water, or the whole tank? Sorry for all the questions. Just want to make sure I do it correctly. :)

[Bombalurina]

Just condition the water you are putting into the tank. :)

Actually, this forum is a bit unusual in that we recommend 100% changes for smaller tanks (not necessary if they are filtered, except maybe for a really good clean once a month or so). This is for several reasons:
1) Bettas can be trained to swim into cups without being stressed, and can therefore happily tolerate 100% changes
2) Smaller tanks are uncycled. In larger tanks, 100% changes can destroy or damage the cycle, but in smaller tanks there isn't usually a cycle to damage. Therefore, 100% is fine. :)

Make sure you turn off your heater and filter whilst doing a change. Once a week/fortnight, rinse your filter pad gently in dirty water from the tank. :)

[Freyja]

+1 Bombalurina, although a filtered 2.5g can hold a cycle. It's a little tougher but it can be done. I cycled my mini bow and it's been better for my fish because between the plants and the cycle, the water parameters remain safe. Do 2 weekly 50% wc with substrate cleaning and keep your eye on your water parameters.

[Nothingness]

Originally Posted by Bombalurina

Make sure you turn off your heater and filter whilst doing a change. Once a week/fortnight, rinse your filter pad gently in dirty water from the tank. :)

I second the turning off of the heater...I forgot once and the heater cracked and shattered. It sucked as the heater was only a month old. such a waste but I learned my lesson

[cnbufford]

The instructions for both of my heaters say to always unplug it 15 minutes ahead of taking it out of the water.