Another question for the Betta Lovers Alike?

Question

I have always wondered why Betta tanks/bowls need to be changed more frequently than other fish (typical week ...week and a half..some lonnger).

Betta fish seem to need cleaning every few days. Are they known for secreting some sort of liquid that clouds the water? I have always been curious about this.

Answer 1

Any fish living in a bowl will need it's water changed every 2-3 days, not just bettas. It doesn't have anything to do with the type of fish, it's because there is limited water and no filter. The bacteria needed to convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate can't grow in enough quantity in a bowl to keep the water safe for the fish, therefore you have to eliminate the ammonia by changing water. The water gets cloudy for the same reason, the bacteria trying to grow to enough to handle the ammonia, but it has no place (like a filter) to grow that much so it's grows in the water making it cloudy.

MM

Answer 2

when bettas are in a bowl without a filter the water becomes stagnant. It secrets no more than any other fish but without a filter the water can look nasty a lot quicker. Also you need to make sure u r not overfeeding the fish. that is the most common mistake with fish owners. the more u feed the fish the dirtier the bowl becomes. he wont eat any more than needed and the rest will rot in between the rocks and such.

Answer 3

If you don't overfeed the betta then usually you would need to clean their bowl/tank once a week. Betta's aren't known to be messy. Goldfish are known to be messy. Also if you keep your betta in a fish tank with a filter then not only would the water stay cleaner up the betta would be happier.

Answer 4

The cloudy water is usually the result of overfeeding. If you betta cannot eat all of the food you put in, remove the food after 15 minutes. Do not leave it in there thinking he will eat it later. (it's like corn flakes. Would you eat soggy corn flakes?)

Bettas are fish. They can live in bowls because in the wild, they live in puddles in rice paddys. They eat the same amount and poop the same amount as most fish their size.

Since the bowl is smaller, you need to change the water more often.

You can visulize this. Take a gallon of water and a teaspoon of water. Add a drop of food coloring to each. There is more food coloring for every part of the water in the teaspoon while there is less food coloring for every part of the gallon of water.

Answer 5

Probably because they tend to live in such small areas and they don't have filters. Plus when they are in their fish heat, whatever the technical term is, they create little bubbles along the top of the water.