The Quick Question Thread

[OMGemily]

Originally Posted by johnny151

how do you add new water to a 10 gallon tank once performing a 20%-50% water change? do you put the new water in the tank and put in water conditioner? or do you have to sit it out with water conditioner added for a day then add the new water?

long story short, i recommend conditioning the water and then adding.
long story long, youll need less conditioner if you condition it first. but you dont need to let it sit for a day. water conditioner works right away. however ive heard that you can set your water out for a day and not use any conditioner at all because the chlorine combines with the oxygen and "evaporates"
if you condition the water after adding it, first off take the fish out, because youre pouring chlorine into their mouths, and remember to treat for the whole amount of water not just wat you added. so if you do 50% water changes and add the conditioner before, youre only using 5 gallons worth, whereas if you add then condition, you would have to remove all your fish and use 10 gallons worth of conditioner.

[brettwashere]

How long can a betta be out of water before damage occurs?

[Bombalurina]

It depends on a variety of things - how far it has fallen, whether there are other animals in the house, what is lands on...some people have found their bettas alive after ten minutes out of water; other bettas die from the impact of their fall. Sometimes the betta will die of shock or suffer diseases due to a shock-depressed immune system. There really isn't a "this many minutes and no more" answer to that.

[brettwashere]

Ok, well he is alive and I'm not exactly sure how long he was out. He is hanging out in the back of the tank, on the bottom. He did come up for blood worms though, and I can get his attention. Probably over concerned. He didn't fall far, the height of the cup he came in. Happened during a tank cleaning, I should have had a lid.

[Bombalurina]

If you don't have a lid for your tank you can easily improvide by stretching some clingfilm across the tank. :) I'm using it for mine at the moment. Floating plants also seem to discourage jumping.

[brettwashere]

Never had a problem while he's in the tank, I had him I n a cup next to the tank while the water reached temp. I went to wash the dogs and water the yard and when I came back to puut him in he was out. I think he'll be ok, but he still wants to hang around the bottom of the tank and I know its not a temp issue. Probably after effects of shock.

[Wolfie305]

So I got Paarth some frozen blood worms a few days ago and I'm wondering - I don't have to do anything to them before giving them to him, do I?

[Rosso1011]

The only thing you really should need to do (I think) is just thaw them in some hot water. Other than that, I think you should be good. I would also wear gloves and wash your hands really well after handling. I have heard of people having allergic reactions.

[brettwashere]

I would thaw them in cool to warm water, hot water and actually cook them as they thaw. Just a thought.

[Shadyr]

I got a tank for my office and brought it in Monday. I know Bettas can easily skip a day of feeding, but would they be OK from when I leave the office Friday evening till I come back in on Monday morning?