what is the right process of changing your bettas tank water

[amcree]

i have only had my male betta since saturday and i need to add more water and i have had people tell me to save some of the old water and clean the tank and add the new water with conditioner and then put the old water with fish in the tank. help me please[/b]

[Meatpuppet]

what size of tank do you have?
depending on your tank size, you would take a certain amount of water out (cup, siphon, hose, turkey baster) and put new conditioned water in.

unless you have an sevre algae problem or somthing you dont need to empty out the entire thing and scrub it. yet you can buy aquarium scrubs and wipe the walls of the tank with water still in it.

[iamntbatman]

Use a small gravel vacuum to remove some water and suck up waste out of the gravel at the same time. Adjust the temperature of your tap water until it's the same as the water in your fish tank, fill up some kind of container and add the dechlorinator. Give it a quick stir with your hand and slowly pour it into your fish tank. You can keep your fish in the tank during this whole process.

[amcree]

i have a 1 gallon tank

[amcree]

so all i have to do is take the fish out in the old water and add new water and conditioner

[amcree]

the tank isnt cloudy or anything i have only had my betta since saturday. i just need to add water due to evaporation

[amcree]

im going to go see what a pet store says to do

[Kim]

PLEASE, don't ask the pet store. They rarely know anything about fish care and will give you all of the wrong information. All you really need is a gravel siphon and some tap water conditioner to remove chlorine and chloramine. I would clean a tank that size about 3 times a week, assuming that you did not cycle it. Just use the siphon to remove about half of the water by digging around in the gravel to siphon out any poop. Then fill a clean container with tap water, that is the same temperature as the tank, and add the correct amount of tap water conditioner. Unless your pH is really off, don't mess with that. Then just pour it back into the tank. You don't need to remove the fish, which just stresses them out making them more prone to disease, just leave him in the water that remains in the tank. Honestly, my suggestion to you is to get a 2.5 gallon or bigger tank with a filter and heater. Betta fish are just like any other fish and will live longer, happier lives if kept at a stable temperature in a tank with clean water that is the correct size so as to allow them to swim and get exercise. If you decide to do this I would recommed that you read up about fishless cycling. In the long run, a larger tank means less work (water changes) for you and a healthier, happier, and longer lived fish.

[Meatpuppet]

yes pet store workers dont know what they're talkin' about and they're just try to sell you useless stuff.

if you just need to add water you can just put it in (with the proper amount of conditioner in the new water of course).
but you need to still keep up with changing 1/3 of the water every couple days.

[SST]

for that size tank, a turkey baster works great to suck the poo out of the gravel.

to add water, make sure it is the same temp as the tank water (use your finger and get it close), put water conditioner in the new water, and slowly pour it in the bowl. Don't pour it directly on your betta or you could hurt his fins. He might like to swim into the stream.

Good luck!

Feel free to ask more questions.