Betta Fish - 5 Gallon - Questions :3

[MaisyDawgThirteen]

I've decided to finish treating my guppy for fin-rot as the poor little thing is very stressed and scared to death. He's in a filtered 5 gallon aqueon mini-bow with a 50W heater. Once I've taken him out I'd like to have a betta in there. I have a few questions.

1. There is AQ salt in there from the fin-rot treatment. How should I go about getting it out? :/ Does it dissolve over time?

2. When the betta is in there, how many water changes should I be doing a week?

3. I have Omega One Buffet Bites, Omega One Betta Pellets and Freeze-Dried Bloodworms as well as my tropical flakes and algae wafers for the community. The Buffet Bites are going to be his/her staple food. Could I feed him the flakes and bloodworms every once in a while for some change?

Thanks So Much! ;D

-Maisy!

[MaisyDawgThirteen]

Anyone?

[KadenJames]

Hey Maisy!

1.) Aquarium salt is good to keep in tanks, even if they're not sick. It helps to ward off infections, such as fin rot, and helps to produce the beneficial bacteria "slime-coat" on the fish. I swear by it. Just be sure your pH isn't too high, and you'll be alright.

2.) For a 5 gallon with a filter, I'd do a 15-25% water change every week. Take a gravel siphon and suck out uneaten food and waste from the tank, and replace it with clean, dechlorinated water.

3.) The buffet bites and freezedried bloodworms are a good idea for the betta. You can try to feed him flakes every once and a while, but it isn't much of a treat. Some bettas will stare at the flakes, then stare at you, like "Seriously? You expect me to eat that?"

You can also thaw out a pea, shell it, cut it into small bits and feed it to him. Although bettas are carnivores, they need their greens like we do! It will help keep his system in check and is pretty inexpensive.

Hope I helped.

[Oldfishlady]

I would make a couple of back to back 50% water changes to get the salt out-you don't want to keep the Betta in salt long term....

To maintain water quality in a 5gal filtered tank with a single Betta...50% weekly with vacuum....
Filter media needs a swish/rinse in the bucket of tank water with a water change a couple of times a month.....

Good quality varied diet fed in small frequent meals....

[Arctic Mama]

Water changes remove the salt, and I assume you'll do several before putting a new resident in there, right? Fin rot is primarily a water quality/husbandry problem, so if you're not already changing out at least 50% of that tank's water every 3-5 days, I'd recommend doing so, so the betta doesn't end up with the same issue as the guppy!

It is generally advised that bettas NOT be kept in perpetually salted tanks, especially if there are live plants in there. They are not from brackish conditions and don't benefit much from them, unlike many in the minnow and livebearer families. And salt is murder on many plants, especially vascular ones like elodea and hornwort. Salt is excellent to treat a variety of ills, but I think it is overused as a preventative measure unless the fish is a species where that would be a biotope specific condition.

[MaisyDawgThirteen]

Thanks so Much! I do know that bettas can't be kept in salt permanently. I got behind in my water change schedule in my community, and he got fin-rot.