Here are the pictures of my towel setup.
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Betta fish maintenance and care beginner questions
Okay, so, I'm new here. I had a Betta fish for like a week, but unfortunately he died because of some bad advice from a store keeper (he tested our water and told us our cycle was complete--it wasn't and my fish died from what we think was nitrite or ammonia poisoning). Anyway, it has been roughly a month of my tank running and I think my cycle is actually complete now, as nitrites have gone back down. There aren't any nitrates in the tank for me to confirm this, but I have plants in there that will get rid of nitrates so that is probably why. I got a new Betta fish two days ago, and I have some concerns popping up regarding care and maintenance. I am completely new at fishkeeping, so bare with me, there are a lot of questions (Feel free to respond to only one of them or a couple if there is too much to respond to. Number 5 is kind of the most time sensitive question):
1. Replacing filter parts. I have a Fluval Chi 5 gallon tank, which has a unique filter system that makes a waterfall. It has a black "foam" pad in it (it looks more like steel wool to me but it is called foam) that I think is the biological filter that has the bacteria on it, along with a white foam pad that I think is the mechanical and carbon filtration. I have contemplated cutting the black pad in half so that I can change out half of my biological media at a time. Would this be a good idea? Also, about how often should I change out each of the filter parts?
2. How to clean my gravel. I do not have a vacuum or anything special to clean my gravel with, so how should I clean it? And how often?
3. Size and frequency of water changes. I have seen a lot of very different numbers regarding water changes. I was hoping someone could provide insight for what is best for my tank specifically. I have only 1 fish, 5 gallons of water, and 2 plants in it (I'm getting more plants soon). I have been doing 20% water changes weekly, but I'm contemplating bumping it down to every other week. Would every other week be alright?
4. Adding more gravel with a fish already in the tank. The amount of gravel/sand in my tank isn't enough for my plants, so I'm going to add more. Problem is, I have no idea how to do this with a fish and water already in the tank. I know I have to clean the gravel, but do I need to rinse it in dechlorinated water before adding it to the tank? How should I actually pour it in without harming the fish?
5. Covering the tank with a towel to decrease light. I live in a dorm, and my roommate leaves the light on really late, which is the only reason this is a problem. I turn the tank light on at 7-7:30 in the morning before class. However, the room light does not go off until 11-ish. That is only 8 hours of darkness for my Betta, which from what I've read is not enough. I have covered the tank with towels (it is awkward because of the waterfall filter, I'll post a picture later) to make the tank darker earlier in the day. Is this safe? The filter/a small part of the top is not covered. Is the oxygen going to be alright in the tank? I am monitoring the temp and it hasn't gone up from the towels (It's actually gone down from the darkness. My heater is broken, I have a new one coming in soon but for now I just bumped my room temp up really high.).
6. Weekends away from the tank. This won't happen often, only roughly every 1-2 months, but there will be 3 days where I am completely away from the tank. On the day I leave I could feed him in the morning and an early dinner, I would be gone for three straight days, and then I would be back the afternoon of the 4th day. So that is 3.5-4 days of my fish being alone and unfed. I've seen those vacation Betta feeder things that you just drop in the water and the fish supposedly eat, but they seem suspicious to me. I'm not sure I'd want to leave one unmonitored in my tank or if my fish would even eat it. Do these things work? I also don't have an automatic feeder, and I'm not confident my fish could find the food if it sank to the bottom before he noticed the feeder released it (he eats food from my finger when I feed him). Would my fish be alright to go that long without being fed? If not, what should I do?
I think that is all for now! I know it is a lot, but I don't want to lose another fish by making a mistake I didn't know was a mistake.
1. Replacing filter parts. I have a Fluval Chi 5 gallon tank, which has a unique filter system that makes a waterfall. It has a black "foam" pad in it (it looks more like steel wool to me but it is called foam) that I think is the biological filter that has the bacteria on it, along with a white foam pad that I think is the mechanical and carbon filtration. I have contemplated cutting the black pad in half so that I can change out half of my biological media at a time. Would this be a good idea? Also, about how often should I change out each of the filter parts?
2. How to clean my gravel. I do not have a vacuum or anything special to clean my gravel with, so how should I clean it? And how often?
3. Size and frequency of water changes. I have seen a lot of very different numbers regarding water changes. I was hoping someone could provide insight for what is best for my tank specifically. I have only 1 fish, 5 gallons of water, and 2 plants in it (I'm getting more plants soon). I have been doing 20% water changes weekly, but I'm contemplating bumping it down to every other week. Would every other week be alright?
4. Adding more gravel with a fish already in the tank. The amount of gravel/sand in my tank isn't enough for my plants, so I'm going to add more. Problem is, I have no idea how to do this with a fish and water already in the tank. I know I have to clean the gravel, but do I need to rinse it in dechlorinated water before adding it to the tank? How should I actually pour it in without harming the fish?
5. Covering the tank with a towel to decrease light. I live in a dorm, and my roommate leaves the light on really late, which is the only reason this is a problem. I turn the tank light on at 7-7:30 in the morning before class. However, the room light does not go off until 11-ish. That is only 8 hours of darkness for my Betta, which from what I've read is not enough. I have covered the tank with towels (it is awkward because of the waterfall filter, I'll post a picture later) to make the tank darker earlier in the day. Is this safe? The filter/a small part of the top is not covered. Is the oxygen going to be alright in the tank? I am monitoring the temp and it hasn't gone up from the towels (It's actually gone down from the darkness. My heater is broken, I have a new one coming in soon but for now I just bumped my room temp up really high.).
6. Weekends away from the tank. This won't happen often, only roughly every 1-2 months, but there will be 3 days where I am completely away from the tank. On the day I leave I could feed him in the morning and an early dinner, I would be gone for three straight days, and then I would be back the afternoon of the 4th day. So that is 3.5-4 days of my fish being alone and unfed. I've seen those vacation Betta feeder things that you just drop in the water and the fish supposedly eat, but they seem suspicious to me. I'm not sure I'd want to leave one unmonitored in my tank or if my fish would even eat it. Do these things work? I also don't have an automatic feeder, and I'm not confident my fish could find the food if it sank to the bottom before he noticed the feeder released it (he eats food from my finger when I feed him). Would my fish be alright to go that long without being fed? If not, what should I do?
I think that is all for now! I know it is a lot, but I don't want to lose another fish by making a mistake I didn't know was a mistake.
1 - 4 of 4 Posts
Welcome to the Forum!
1. Change out the media only when it is unusable. Six weeks before, add new media to run along with it so new can seed.
2. Get a gravel vac or use a piece of airline tubing.
3. Five gallons should have one 25% weekly water change and vacuum.
4. Are you using gravel or sand? If gravel just rinse and add. If sand there are several YouTube videos on how to do so with a soda bottle.
5. No need to cover the tank.
6. Betta can go two or so weeks without food. Do a water change the day you leave. Feed him a tad more in the days leading up to your departure. No food in = No food out = Cleaner tank.
1. Change out the media only when it is unusable. Six weeks before, add new media to run along with it so new can seed.
2. Get a gravel vac or use a piece of airline tubing.
3. Five gallons should have one 25% weekly water change and vacuum.
4. Are you using gravel or sand? If gravel just rinse and add. If sand there are several YouTube videos on how to do so with a soda bottle.
5. No need to cover the tank.
6. Betta can go two or so weeks without food. Do a water change the day you leave. Feed him a tad more in the days leading up to your departure. No food in = No food out = Cleaner tank.
1) From what I understand, you have deduced the functioning correctly; the white cotton gets rid of small particles that float in the water, the carbon gets rid of smell, the black foam is the bio-filter.
This means: change out the white cotton when it gets too dirty to pass through the water, change the carbon at the manufacturer's recommended interval, and only change the black foam when it breaks down or there is another particular reason to change it (e.g. chemical contamination, etc). You can clean the black foam once every few months in aquarium water that you took out for a water change.
There's several sources that claim that it is fine to even leave out the carbon and use it only if you need to remove medications from the water. My own experience agrees with this. You will not be able to smell a healthy tank that runs purely on bio filtration unless you stick your nose near the water.
3) I'd still recommend doing a weekly change, if only because that is a regular habit that is more easy to keep.
4) You can add gravel more safely by using a cup, container or a hand to lower it to the bottom of the tank bit-by-bit.
This means: change out the white cotton when it gets too dirty to pass through the water, change the carbon at the manufacturer's recommended interval, and only change the black foam when it breaks down or there is another particular reason to change it (e.g. chemical contamination, etc). You can clean the black foam once every few months in aquarium water that you took out for a water change.
There's several sources that claim that it is fine to even leave out the carbon and use it only if you need to remove medications from the water. My own experience agrees with this. You will not be able to smell a healthy tank that runs purely on bio filtration unless you stick your nose near the water.
3) I'd still recommend doing a weekly change, if only because that is a regular habit that is more easy to keep.
4) You can add gravel more safely by using a cup, container or a hand to lower it to the bottom of the tank bit-by-bit.
1 - 4 of 4 Posts
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