Hey everyone. I think that the reason my parents are hesitant to agree to the fish because of the workload on top of my 4 other pets. So i am wondering how much work is a fish? What do you have to do daily (apart from feeding). Weekly? Other? A few of my friends say that they are suuuuuper easy to take care of but they have the fish in a puny tank without a heater/filter despite my not so subtle suggestiosn to get them a bigger home.
Well fish are super easy to take care of! :) Especially bettas. So the bigger the tank the less often you have to clean :) A "perfect" setup for a betta would be a filtered and heated 5 gallon tank, a 10 gallon would make you betta super happy too :) So a 5 gallon would need weekly water changes of 20%? Other members correct me if I'm wrong :) Haha Which that water change would take about 6 minutes, so bettas really aren't high matience at all. I have 5 fish tank, 3 are betta tanks. But also have 3 dogs, 2 cats, 3 horses, guinea pig, and 2 parakeets to take care of! The fish are the easiest in my opinion ;) Hope i helped! Good luck!
I've been doing a lot of research (getting my betta today or tomorrow!). Depending on the size of tank you get whether you get a filter and/or plant, partial water changes will need to occur at least once a week. My set up is going to be a 3 gallon Eclipse tank with filter and a plant, so I'm guessing that partial weekly water changes will be required. If you have a smaller tank without a plant or filter water changes might need to be more frequent. Larger tanks water changes will be less frequent.
For the first couple of weeks you will need to monitor your tank water quality levels frequently (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, Ph, and hardness). I think that's about it though!
I usually do a vacuum of my 16 gallon once a week. Three gallons out, three gallons back in. Between testing the water parameters and the vacuuming it probably takes me 20 minutes? So, 20 minutes to a half a hour once a week. In the beginning you may have to do more frequent water changes as your tank cycles and grows it's beneficial bacteria but even then, it's still probably only 20 minutes a day or so betweem testing parameters and water changing. Good luck with your parents! :D
Cycling is very important in a fish tank with a filter. New tanks need to grow Beneficial Bacteria in the tank for the fish.I started my 5 gallon less than a month ago and I just add some stuff that Adds Beneficial Bacteria to the tank and it is safe for the fish and your tank. It seems to work and my Molly Fish love the tank.
I have 16 tanks for a total of 400 gallons.
The biggest one which is a 125 gal requires the least maintenance.
My ten gal tanks need the water changed more often than the 125.
When I do water changes, I change the water on different ones on different days
and I usually change about 50 gallons at a time on several tank combined.
It only take about ten min to do water changes on several 10 gals
and it take me about 30 - 40 min to change the water on my 125
cuz the five gal buckets are so heavy and I rest after a few buckets.
Yeah I have to agree with everyone here in saying that as long as you go with a decent-sized tank, you are looking at very low maintenance provided you stock it conservatively and cycle it. Once you get a little practice wrangling the siphon you are looking at about 15 minutes per week. And then maybe 5 minutes here and there to defrost and feed frozen food. It takes me about 1 hour to clean all the tanks in my signature every weekend... If I don't insist on fussing around with the plants!!!
i have 25 tanks, for a total of 275 gallons of water and i change on average 75 gallons a week..some tanks are 20% some are complete water changes......and that only takes me about 2 hours twice a week for all of that
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
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