how do i safely change the tank of a betta fish?

Question

when i change half the tank do take the fish out or leave it in? and if i take the fish out of the tank, what kind of water should i put in the cup (the cup that the fish came in to when first bought) and for how long should i leave it in before i put it back in to its original tank?

oh yeah can i use spring or bottled water. i have bottled water from a hotel that i stayed in and i don't know if hotel brand water has the same stuff as water such as ozarka has

Answer 1

actually,,, the EASIEST way to change betta water, is to buy betta water. it's not that expensive, when you think about how much work it saves ya.....

petco has it on sale right now, it's like 4 bucks for 33.5 oz... put the betta in a small cup of the room temp betta water, then dump out his tank, rinse with tap water, then use a small amount of the betta water to do a final rinse to get the chlorine out, then refill the tank with more room temp betta water. dump the fishie back in, and you're set...

good luck!

Answer 2

1 Make sure the temperature is the same or very close to it. #2 Put it in a small bucket with the original tank water and add some of the new water to the small bucket with the Betta fish. #3 After about 10 to 15 minutes put the Betta fish with the water in the bucket into the new tank!! Adding the new tank water helps acclimate the fish to the new PH.

Answer 3

I have a beta for a few years. when I changed the tank I would always put it in a small glass with some of the water from the tank it came from. I would then do the finger temperature test by placing one finger in the tank and one finger filling the water to put in the tank to make sure the temp was close. I would wait a short time then just place it back. I also would add an additive to the clean water that would take all the chlorine and other additive out of the water...I don't remember the name of it but any pet store could tell you what it's called.

Answer 4

This is what I do when I do a 50 percent change on my friends 5 gallon tank. I first put a few cups of the old water in a small plastic tubaware container, after rinsing it out thoroughly for soap residue. I use a container thats about 6" deep, and 4 by 4 inches long and wide. Depending on the size of your betta, put enough water in so your betta would have an inch or two more water than he/her needs. If your going to use the cup, just fill it up with some tank water. Then net your betta and put it in the cup. He/her can stay in there for about a half hour with out causing to much stress. What I would do to clean the tank is buy a small gravel vacuum(they sell for around $4.00 at Walmart) That way you clean the gravel while getting the water out. Great multi tasker. Then I would just fill it up with regular tap water, but make sure its the same temp as the water your betta is in. Put some of the dechlor and tap conditioner in the water. Then, bravo the tank is clean! After plugging everything back in, net your betta out of the cup and back into his/hers old home. Just make sure to check the temp of water to make sure that the cup water and tank water is about the same, or you could shock the fish. Good Luck!!!!

Answer 5

Betas don't need a lot of space so pour some of their water into a smaller bowl (or just de-chlorine some tap water in a small bowl) and clean and change as usual.

Read the directions on the stuff you use to add to the water. Sometimes it will give you a time table so by the time the water is the right temperature, usually it will be fine to put the fish back. If you're only changing half the water in the tank it may be okay to leave the fish in the tank but the problem with that is if you're using one of those sucky-hoses you might accidently suck up your fish. :D

Answer 6

Use dechlorinated water. There are solutions for this. Letting the chlorine evaporate may not work because some water plants use chloramines that do not evaporate.You can change 1/2 the water if you like or take them out and place them in a cup with the tank's water in it.If it is too difficult to remove them from the tank, then leave them in the tank and change 1/2 the water every 2 weeks or as needed. Have a great day.

Answer 7

When doing a partial water change you should leave the fish in the tank. Just make sure the water you are adding is the same temp as the water already in there. You should only have to do 65% water change every 2 months or so if you don't have a filter and every 6 months if you do have a filter. You should never do a complete water change because you remove the beneficial bacteria and that is hard for the fish to handle. It usually stresses them or can significantly shorten their life. You should be doing about a 25-30% water change every 2 weeks or so and use dechlorinator.

Answer 8

when you put the fish in the cup while you clean the tank use the water from the tank your changing this way the fish is only essentially transfered once and has to adjust once, with beta fish its pretty easy like a goldfish I think I dont know this for fact I just always had fish tanks and I never did that half half stuff and I never had a high dealth rate i'm not telling you what to do that way but I do know you use the water from the dirty tank I dont know why it would occur to you to use anything difference but thats just me.

Answer 9

what i do with my bettas is I get a small tupperware bowl and scoop them up while i dump the water and replace it. I bought some fish water purifier that takes 3 seconds to work. So when I put tap water in the tank I put a drop of the purifier in there and put the fish back in. Try to make sure that the water in his tank is the same temperature as the water he is in. That way you dont shock his system!

Answer 10

when you put the fish in the cup while you clean the tank use the water from the tank your changing this way the fish is only essentially transfered once and has to adjust once, with beta fish its pretty easy like a goldfish I think I dont know this for fact I just always had fish tanks and I never did that half half stuff and I never had a high dealth rate i'm not telling you what to do that way but I do know you use the water from the dirty tank I dont know why it would occur to you to use anything difference but thats just me