Changing your betta's water?

Question

I have a brand new betta, and he has been in his bowl a week. Do I change the water now, or do I have to wait longer the first time to let the good bacteria grow?

Answer 1

if the water isnt cloudy, you dont have to change it yet...
but when you do, make sure you have the right chemical to put into the water so that the chemicals in the water dont kill it.
and male sure its not too hot or too cold, because then it will die or go into shock. just be very gentle with it.

Answer 2

In 1 gallon or less of water, he needs a water change about once per week at the very least. Don't wait for the water to get cloudy. There are chemicals like ammonia in the water that will hurt the fish if they get too high that do not always make the water appear cloudy when it needs to be changed. There are testing strips you can buy to test for these chemicals that are fairly cheap, and then you can determine the exact amount of time you can leave your fish before a water change.

It is gentler on the fish if you gently pour him over the edge of the bowl into a cup while you change his water rather than netting him. Netting is very stressful on the fish and can cause injuries, particularly in bettas with long or thin/delicate fins.

When you change his water for the first time, even if you use a dechlorinator, you should only change 50% of his water in order to allow him to adjust to the new water. After the first time, you can change 100% of his water each time, but as others have said, make sure the temperature of the new water is the same as the old.

Answer 3

You should read upon betta on bettatalk. With a bowl you won't have enough "good" bacteria to make a difference. (Breaking down ammonia requires oxygen which a bowl doesn't have. Where they make a difference is in a filter of some sort. In the case of a bowl you are better off rinsing out the gravel to remove unused food, and fish waste. You'll need to do weekly water changes for 2+ gallon bowls, and one every 4 days for smaller bowls.

Ideally for a bowl I'd do the following:

1)Get a jar or jars of water equal to the betta's current bowl.
2)Age* the hot*2 water for 24 hours. If you are using a dechlorinator don't use hot water, and just leave it out until the new water feels the same temp as the current.
3)Net your betta and place in a cup of from the bowl.
4)Dump your water and rinse the gravel with hot water.
5)Add in the aged water

* This removes chlorine, and equalizes temp.
*2 Starting with hot water speeds up the proccess. Also it may kill off many microorganisms.

With a filtered tank you only need a 10-20% water change with the betta in the tank. Skip steps 3-4, and use a cheap gravel vaccum to clean the gravel, and remove water.

Answer 4

Bettas are native to Thailand and are found living in mud puddles. Do not stress the fish out by constantly changing his environment. You can do a partial change once every two-three weeks and it will be fine. LARGE CAUTION: Do not overfeed fish. Just a small pinch will feed a fish for a couple of days. It is better that fish be kept a bit hungry than allow waste food to accumulate in the water.

Answer 5

Siamese struggling with fish, or extra desirable generally happening as betta are somewhat person-friendly to guard. in terms of alternative fish it is. faucet water includes dissolved chlorine which could be evaporated, yet in addition chloramine. I recommend employing the faucet water conditioner anyhow, one it is going to do away with the chloramine and chlorine, 2 it is going to guard your betta's fins and scale. in case you sense like being lazy, on the different hand, maximum faucet water replace will purely marvel a powerful betta. you will see his/her fins limped afterwards. there is two outcomes: they by no potential recuperate and pass away (very unhappy) or they regain potential back interior hours or days. The worst form of water replace could be a one hundred% faucet water with somewhat chilly temperate, for this reason, anticipate Mr Betta to die. Tip: Get a bowl or field that can carry around 50% of your bettas water, take your betta out and the appropriate component to his water (the appropriate is many times somewhat sparkling) and placed/pour into the non everlasting field, then sparkling the unique bowl/tank with purely a sponge (cleansing soap isn't sturdy :P). place your betta back in wiped sparkling bowl (unique) and then upload extra faucet water (use conditioner in case you genuinely need). I breed betta on my spare time :)

Answer 6

I change my betta water when its cloudy.
I have well water, so I nevered boiled my water or let it sit out. If you hae city water you need to boil the water and then let it get room temp or buy bottled water. Betta are very hardy fish. I have had mine 3yrs.

Good Luck

Answer 7

For a betta, I'd suggest the water in the toilet bowl.
Then go to a pet store, not Wal-Mart, and buy some less trendy fish that don't attack everything they see.

But that's my own opinion :D
I think any fish that can drown underwater is too stupid to live.

Answer 8

I'm not sure about the first time but later on you should change it once or twice weekly.

Answer 9

i would change it now they should always hav clean water