Leaving Fish in or out bowl while cleaning/changing water??? confused!

594 Views 9 Replies 6 Participants Last post by a123andpoof, Apr 12, 2012

ojmccaf1963

Discussion Starter · Apr 12, 2012

Hi, this is my first time here so I hope I can get some real answers to this question. Today, I bought my FIRST BETTA FISH and I had bought maybe a gallon fish bowl for starters. The guy at PETCO told me when cleaning the bowl I don't even have to take the fish out of the bowl but take out maybe a 1/10 of the the dirty water and add a 1/10 of tap water with some Tap Water Solution that should be good for the fish ... meantime I'm hearing that I would have to take the fish out in a seperate bowl??? very confused ... don't wanna kill my first fish when I do this!! lol :-?

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vilmarisv

· #2 · Apr 12, 2012

Because of the small size of your bowl you need to do 100% water changes so you will need to take the fish out and rinse everything really well.
When you're ready to put your fish back in the bowl, slowly aclimate him to the new water.

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Laki

· #3 · Apr 12, 2012

For a 1g you should clean it every 2 days or so. You'll have to take him out and put him in the cup he was sold in (or a baggie) and then float him to acclimate him to the new water. This is where the petco employee came in with confusing talk! After about 5 minutes of the fish floating, add some of the new water to the cup. After 15 minutes he should be acclimated and you can let him go then.
Remeber this should be done every 2 or 3 days so you might look into getting a larger tank. I keep 2.5g and a 3g.

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kfryman

· #4 · Apr 12, 2012

Honestly two 100%s should be fine, cleaning it too often can be deadly as well as not cleaning it enough.

Is your bowel heated? If so what is the temperature? And how many pellets and what brand are you feeding?

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a123andpoof

· #5 · Apr 12, 2012

If your fish came in a cup scoop him out. for my 1 gallons I do 1 50% and 1 100% each week. It works well. If you don't have a heater get one. You can get one for $15 at walmart. So far they are the only heaters I have found that safely heat a 1g.
This system has worked well for me for over a year. And enjoy your new buddy!

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Leeniex

· #6 · Apr 12, 2012

I did one 50% and 100% in my one gallon. That's what oldfishlady recommends, lol. And yes, a heater is essential. I used the Elite 25w in my one gallon and never had a problem.

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ojmccaf1963

Discussion Starter · #7 · Apr 12, 2012

So running comments is YES to take him out of the bowl while changing the water. I am using a tap water solution, about how much should I put in with the clean water about a droplet??

I *accidently* threw away the cup that the fish came in with --- can I put him in like a plastic cup while waiting??

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Laki

· #8 · Apr 12, 2012

You must remove the chlorine from regular tap water with a store bought de-chlorinator. There's tonnes out there and forgive me if I just mis-read your question. For a 1g you should add about half a capful?? Whatever it says on the back of the bottle.

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Leeniex

· #9 · Apr 12, 2012

ojmccaf1963 said:
I *accidently* threw away the cup that the fish came in with --- can I put him in like a plastic cup while waiting??

You can, as long as it is able to be floated for acclimating. I always cover whatever they are in so they don't jump.

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a123andpoof

· #10 · Apr 12, 2012

I don't know what you have for decholrinater but it should say on the back the dosage. I would get prime water conditioner its 2 drops per gallon. I love the stuff. Also as long as you get the water fairly close the same temp as in the bowl when you do the 50% you can keep him in there. When changing the water, then yes you can just put him in a cup.

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