Not Again!!!!!!

[bellasia]

Well did water change today have been sucessfully catching him in the cup after trouble getting him in the net, today he decides hes going to play hide and seek and so i was unable too catch him and decided to change water with him in the tank he seemed ok and when i was done i gave him a couple of pellets which he ate happily. Question is how many people do changes with fish in the tank? im thinking of doing that in future although it does make it slightly more difficult to do a more thorough clean up and im always worried in case i suck him up.

[Tamyu]

I never remove any of my fish from their tanks for water changes unless there is something drastic that requires immediate attention... And even then, chances are I am not going to take them out.

I never do 100% water changes though. The most I do is 75%, so there is always enough water left in the tank for them to be alright. I also have a tiny suction tube with mesh on the tip so even my tiniest fish don't get sucked up.

If you are concerned about not cleaning up enough, try doing two back to back partial water changes. Any debris that is stirred up when you add the new water can be sucked up in a second smaller change.

[MaisyDawgThirteen]

I don't take my fish out. My rasboras hide (as always) and the guppies just swim around like nothing is happening. xD

[Pitluvs]

I do 100% changes, and I cup my boys. It's to the point now where they pretty much jump in the cup. What I did was give them a pellet at the start, and scoop them when they came to the top. For sick Bettas, I siphon the water out with airline tube, and add it back the same way. Leaving about an inch of water at the bottom of the tank.

[Sheldon31]

I don't take mine out. It's a 2ft long tank with 60 ltrs of water so it seems pointless to take all the tetras out and Kyon for just a 25% change. Bettas ain't sold in cups here either so I haven't got one suitable. Occasionally I take the goldyout of his if it needs a deep clean but I put him in a large spare bowl or bucket.

[bellasia]

Thanx everyone, nice to know there are other people who do leave them in i suppose its just what works best and what set up you have, i think Blaze gets more stressed when im trying to catch him hes so quick i keep missing him as soon as he sees the cup hes off lol have tried to tempt him with food but hes wise to me now think hes to clever for his own good

[styggian]

I never remove fish for water changes either. It'd be more stressful for mine, I think.

[lvandert]

I dont take my fish out unless I'm doing a 80-100% water change, or moving them to a different tank. I just siphon some out and siphon some in. The only thing my fish seem to notice is a slow current.

[Leeniex]

My tanks are only a couple gallons, so I take them out. Once I couldn't get Rex in his cup to save my life, so I left him in and sucked the water out around him. I felt guilty all week, lol.

[Bombalurina]

If your tank is unfiltered and under 5 gallons, you kind of have to remove the fish to do the necessary 100% change. All my tanks are over 5 gallons, so I don't have that issue, but when I do do a 100% change because I want to change my aquascape, I do remove my fish.

Afte trying to catch 5 tiny tetras, 12 little Endlers, heaven knows how many shrimp and 3 extremely wriggly cories, catching some bettas is a breeze. :p