How often to totally change the tank water with a betta fish?

Question

I have a 2G tank. I've heard to gravel pump it once a week and change 25% of the water, and totally 100% clean the tank once a month.

BUT a gravel pump once a week as some have suggested won't work because the pump cannot be totally submerged in water and won't get suction. So what do I need to do to keep the tank clean?

Answer 1

I have had Bettas for many many years. I change 100% of my Betta's water once a week. Be sure to use dechlorinator with the new water. It would be pointless to try to gravel vac a 2 gal tank as the water would come out too fast. I have been able te get a syphon out of a 1 gal betta tank before but I blinked and the tank was empty. : )

Answer 2

Even though you have a filter, ammonia still builds up easily in small tanks, especially since this tank is over its stocking limit by two times (1 betta stocks a 5 gallon fully) I would do a 25%, maybe a 30% water change every week. At the end of every month, do a 50% water change just as a more thorough cleaning. For such a small tank, just use a piece of airline tubing, so it takes out less water and it has better accuracy for getting into small places. If you have sand, you will have to hold the bottom end of the tubing while you stir the sand up with the end that's in the tank, then when the sand settles, you can clean the debris that should be resting on the surface of the sand or floating around the tank. If you have gravel, do the same thing, except you will have to be a little quicker in getting debris before it settles back into the gravel. I hope this was helpful! :)

Answer 3

You could just take the hose off the gravel vack and use it to siphon the water. Try to stick it in the gravel and get all the nasty old food and crap from inside the gravel. for a two gallon tank you could get an air pump probably under $10 and air-ate the water, your Betta would thank you for it, if you do get a pump then get an old plastic lid and poke holes in it, place the air tube through the middle and attach an air stone underneath. Place all this under the gravel and you will have a home made under gravel filter. If you had the under gravel filter then you could do a 30% weekly water change and the fish would be happy. I wouldn't recommend doing a 100% water change simply because it is very stressful on the fish to be moved around. So if you don't get the air pump, use just the hose to vacuum the gravel and do like an 80% change or something. Betta's can live in very murky water with no oxygen and breath oxygen from the air. In their native habitat they live in small pools of disgusting water. They will do better if the water is oxygenated and ammonia and nitrate are kept in check. The ammonia and nitrate are the reason you do water changes. The underground filter is a biological filter that breaks down ammonia and nitrate using bacteria. Therefore you wouldn't have to change as much water if you had an under gravel filter

Answer 4

Despite amaranth's contentions that you shouldn't completely clean out your bowl. The bacteria which convert ammonia need a lot of oxygen to do it. That would only happen in your gravel if you had an undergravel filter (UG). There is not much oxygen in the bowl water, and no water circulation even if there was. (Bettas breathe air from the surface.) This is how UG, sponge, coerner, and biowheel filters remove ammonia. Clean your gravel completely as the the decaying food, and crap out weigh an good bacteria.

What you need to do is the following:
0)Leave a jar of water out for 2 day,or treat with something to remove the cholorine.
1)Make ure your new water is the same temp as your old water. (A figer test will do fine.)
2)Remove betta into a cup of bowl water and cover.
3)Dump water (it's great for plants), and throughly rinse the bowl and gravel until you can't see gunk in it, or smell it.
4)Add in the new water and your betta

You should clean a 1-2 gallon bowl twice a week 3-5 gallons once a week. Try not to over feed your betta. (see betta talk food, and water)

Answer 5

You should never remove all of the water from a tank. The fish need bacteria in the water and gravel to destroy the ammonia they produce. If you change all the water then remove all of the bacteria. Therefore the fish are swimming around in a sterile environment- the ammonia burns their gills and eyes. "No fun for little Harpo."

25% water changes should be more than enough to keep a two gallon healthy. Just use a cup if you have problems with the siphon. It is really not that much water. You can stir up the gravel and fish out large debris with a net.

Answer 6

for a 2gal. tank, the normal things to do like "gravel pumping, and changing some of the water" doesn't apply.
get some sort of container that will hold your fish and maybe a 1/2gal. of water. dump the 1/2gal from your tank, along with your fish, into the container. you'll have to dump the water out, replace with new water, and hand clean the gravel yourself. those gravel pumps aren't going to work in a tank that small. use a strainer like you use for noodles,etc., and rinse the rocks with soap and water. and make SURE to get all the soap off! use a damp cloth to wip the insides of the tank out too.
put the rocks back in and fill the tank to the 1 1/2 gal. mark. and try to get the temp of the new water as close to the water with the beta as possible. fish don't do well with drastic water temp. changes. add the solution to the water you should have that gets rid of chlorine, and maybe it has a stress-coat in it, which would be the best...then dump the beta, and the water he's in, into the tank. don't worry that some old dirty water went in. it's filled with some good bacteria that the fish is used to, and will help "establish" the new water.
hope this helps!

Answer 7

The gravel pump will work if you carefully cut the end off of it. You will need it short enough to completely submerge the lager end of it after removing about a quarter of the water. Don't ever clean the whole tank or you will kill the beneficial bacteria growing in the tank.

Answer 8

I'm not quiet sure what a gravel pump is. I would do at least 50% water change once a week, and full change once a month. If you can put an alge eater in there that would greatly help too. Yes, you can put other fish in with a Betta. It'll be fine.

Answer 9

Oh, get a siphon.
A skinny one, any clean clear plastic tube will do.
You dunk the whole thing in the water, cover one end with your thumb, (have the bucket lower to the ground, than the tank.)
The end with your thumb goes over into the bucket, the water from the tank will flow up the tube and down into the bucket. Vacuum the rocks. <*)))<

I wouldn't advise, changing more than 50 % of the water in the same week. If you clean the tank once a week 10% water change should be perfect.
Also your never supposed to replace the rocks, fish get used to their own grem system, replacing the rocks really screws them up!

Answer 10

NEVER 100% clean the tank. you'll get rid of good germs and your fish could go through shock. =( the first will harm the water, and the second can kill your fish.

you can also get a tank "vacumme" to clean the rocks. basically, you can use this to suck up the bad water / gunk that sits on top of the rocks, without scaring your betta!

once you put new water in, you may want to think about treating it! you can buy aquarium salt and Stress Coat that can help the water and your little fishie!

good luck with it all!