[ArcticBeauty14]

So, it appears I made a mistake. All those times I thought I was asking how many times I should clean a 5 gal.-
Turns out it's a ten gallon.
How many times should it be cleaned? Still wanting to move Scout in there.

 

[tankman12]

Weekly is best. If filtered, planted, and you only got one betta. Than you could get away with up to two months.

 

[bluenail]

I would say go weekly, but if you miss one week don't make a big deal over it. It would probably be okay to go every two weeks, truth be told, but a missed change in those circumstances could be disastrous.

This is assuming you have a fully cycled tank, before it is fully cycled you want to go for twice a week.

 

[VivianKJean]

unfiltered - one 50% water change every week with one 100% water change every month.

filtered - one 50% water change every week

filtered and planted - you are going to having to figure this out since it depends on how many plants and how many fish. Make sure your tank is cycled and then test for nitrates every couple of days and change the water when needed. Once you do this for a few weeks you'll get the idea of when you will need to change the water.

 

[Gingerheart]

I would think maybe 25% change a week. To get rid of the ammonia and to add nutrients to the water and to make your fish happy and healthy

 

[ArcticBeauty14]

Are you sure? because when I was saying it was a five gallon people said one 50% change a week.

 

[VivianKJean]

Yes, what I stated above is taken from OldFishLady's water change recommendations.

You still need a change the water every week to add nutrients and minerals back into the water.

 

[bluenail]

Think of this like a question of how much salt a human should eat a day. If you do it "right" and limit your salt intake to USDA guidelines you reduce risk of stroke, heart disease, hypertension, and a fair number of other diseases.

The people who are saying to do a 50% water change every week are doing the equivalant of making sure your betta doesn't get too much salt (except that salt in low quantities in needed, and a betta would be fine with no ammonia, nitrates or nitrites). Yes, this is probably the absolute best you could do. However, being less than perfect in this is not going to kill your fish out of hand. Having twice the daily recommendation on salt isn't going to kill you out of hand either, but it might make you less healthy.

I would feel comfrotable missing an occasional water change if I were doing the 50% weekly, because I know that I'm otherwise keeping the betta in optimal health. If I were doing them every other week, I wouldn't expect the betta to suffer any immediate effects, and think that the betta would *probably* live a perfectly healthy life.

The advice you get here is how to keep your betta in tip-top best possible shape. Falling just short of tip-top is still really good.

 

[ArcticBeauty14]

Thanks everyone.
I