BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish Tank cleaning question...photos!

I wanted to know, since I don't have an acutal aquarium about doing full tear downs on these types of tanks. I have a link at the end here to the photos. I don't want to use one of those siphon cleaners since the tanks are bigger than your typical glass betta bowl, but smaller than a 5 gallon tank. Do I still just follow the typical 15-25% water change out for the rest of their lives or do a once a month tear down??? I've seen a couple sites about the tank cleanings and they are all different. Any help would be appreciated.
P.S. While you check the link to my tank setup, don't forget to check our Mars and Neptune's photos.
Bettas & Tank

I waited too long to ask this question and I haven't received any answers so I'm going to do a full clean up. My tank is less than 1 gallon, but bigger than a .5 gallon. I have gravel and all the sites are saying to use the siphon but isn't that a little weird for such a small tank. I know it's also recommended that I leave the water sit a day or so. I don't have any extra containers so would that mean I have to take the bettas out and put them in the containers they came in for a day until the new water is ready? I just used the dechlorinator and stuck them right in after 10 minutes and they are fine, fiesty, and making larger bubble nests. It's just that when I was younger, I didn't properly care for my first betta as far as I'm concerned and I want to make sure I do it right this time. Well, here I go. I hope doing a complete clean up will be okay.

I just found out from my best friend, who had a very healthy, large betta and he lived for 2.5 years, that she would replace the water ONLY if it evaporated in the summer. She never did the 15-20% water change weekly and she also only completely cleaned his bowl ONCE a month. So, you can see why I'm so confused on what to do about cleaning them? I really need answers please. Thanks so much!

P.S. I said in my previous post that I was just going to clean them but now I'm going to wait and see if I get more responses or see how they fair.

I have a betta in a one gallon bowl, and do a full water change once a week and a 50% water change every three days using a clean turkey baster to siphon the water out when I do partial changes. Bettas definately need clean water MUCH more than once a month, they'd be swimming in ammonia... their fins would be all clumped and they'd be sulky and unhappy. Especially as your betta is in such a small bowl. I doubt your friend's betta had his fins fully flared and was making lots of nice bubble nests. Bettas are much prettier with clean water when they're happy!

I use tap water and put dechorinator/dechoramine/stress coat, aquarium salt, and one drop of aquarisol (to prevent parasites) in my bowl after every change, do not let it sit over night (as the dechorinator works instantly I believe) and then just let my fish acclimate to the water by putting him in a bag in the bowl before adding him. He's fine and very happy. However, as soon as I can afford it, I'll buy an actual fish tank with a heater and a filter, bettas are much happier with those.

Thank you for responding Keavy! I know I sounded desparate but like I said, I want to make sure I do things right this time around since I'm 23 and not 10. lol. They were kind of a spontaneous buy so I didn't prepare myself properly I guess. Most of my pets were a spontaneous buy. lol. I do much better with furry animals but I wanted to give fish another try. I used to have a 10 gallon tank in my early teens but I talked my mom into letting me have a 20 gallon tank and my betta did nicely in a community tank. I never knew about certain fish being tail biters but I must have gotten lucky. (I actually had two bettas in my younger years with the first dying a year later becuz sadly I was 10 and a complete idiot, my 2nd one in the community tank did wonderfully). Anywho, I gave my fish back to Petland and sold that aquarium after 4 years of owning it. It was way to hard to take care of and I didn't have the time or the patience to do such a large tank. I did, however, take care of it properly and all of my fish were healthy and if any had passed away, it was because it was their "time" to go. So, in short, no more big aquariums for me. Well, now that I'm done rambling, thanks again for your help!!

Yep, I agree with keavy, if your betta is in 1 gallon or less, he needs a 100% water change every 3 to 4 days, sometimes up to 1 week. If you want to get a good schedule going, instead of just guessing, you can get an ammonia test kit and test the water every day after you do a water change. As soon as any presence of ammonia shows up, you'll know you need to change the water the day before the ammonia showed up, whether that was 3, 7 or 9 days.

A lot of people are adamant that in a 1 gallon bowl the water needs to be changed at least twice a week, but if you're very diligent about siphoning any poop you see every day (I use a turkey baster), you can probably do just once a week. Every situation can be different, so find what works best for you.

Oh, and you need to give your best friend a talking to! Only changing the water once a month is completely unacceptable in that small of a container!

Yes, the smaller tank certainly should be completely water changed often - I'd say every 2 days. The dechlorinator really depends on which one you choose - they have some fizzy tabs that work instantly and then you could just leave the water to sit for 3 days as long as your local water department tells you that it has no chloramines - because you have to read the label on the bottle of water conditioner you buy at the pet store to see if it also takes care of chloramines. Siphoning the poops certainly helps - sometimes, though, if you don't do enough complete water changes consistently, over a period of time (It depends on the Betta Fish) they can gradually develop diseases and it becomes a sad situation and more difficult to treat the disease than to prevent it with clean, pure water at the correct temperature in an appropriate sized aquarium with everything your little one needs!