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Posted By: kirrie How to clean fish bowl? - 01/03/03 03:20 AM
I dont have a filter (im' new user) so i clean (my big sis actually) cleans the tank by while cleaning tank, has the fishy in a cup with old water (or new), as she places the fishy to the cup she uses it with a big spoon bowl, but how do u place it back in tank by not puttin old water in? help please and god bless!
Posted By: Miss Mariposa Re: How to clean fish bowl? - 01/03/03 06:09 AM
Hi macbella, I answered your post in the other thread. In short, what I said there was that there is no need at all to change 100% of the water; this is actually harmful rather than helpful. All you really need to do is take out 30% of the water, while the fish is still swimming in his home, and then change that with the same amount of fresh water. Do this on a regular basis, and he will be a lot less stressed than if you do 100% of the water on a less regular basis, because changing all the water at once can shock him into getting very sick, and destroy good bacteria in the gravel. Cleaning the tank is not really about getting all the dirt you can see out of the tank; it's about exchanging some of the impurities in the water that you *can't* see. These are called ammonia nitrite and nitrates (you can test for these, or bring in a water sample to your pet store, who will usually test it for you for free), and are explained in the link I posted on the other thread. Even crystal clear water can have these! So it's more just about diluting them down on a regular basis. Read the other post for more links; I hope that my article, Bringing Home Your First Betta, helps you out. Good luck and happy new year.
Posted By: kirrie Re: How to clean fish bowl? - 01/05/03 12:24 AM
Hey thanks for writing back Bella!!
What you wrote about is really helpful and informant, I never knew that, the first time I cleaned the tank many things went wrong but the fishie turned out ok Thank God! So we decided never to clean it the same way because that was a scare (we cleaned the water 100%)But now that i know that it should be only about 30% that makes it much easier, I didn't know that it should be fed only about 1-2 pellets a day, I feed it four! but it seems to eat it well because if it wouldn't consume it I'd scoop it our becuase i wouldn't want to overfeed it. I feed it with Betta Bio Gold pellets. but thanks for the info again and God Bless!! and Happy New Year to u too!!
Posted By: Miss Mariposa Re: How to clean fish bowl? - 01/05/03 04:47 PM
Hi macbella--yes, they are greedy little guys and will learn to happily take what you give them. The idea in a small bowl is that it can get polluted very fast, the major problem is ammonia that comes from their poop. If you limit feedings, he should grow up strong and healthy all the same, but he won't have to suffer from bad water quality. Do this and the weekly (or eventually, you can get away with every other week after the bowl gets established a little more) partial water changes and he will be fine. If you do it all at once, it's like too sudden a change, since they breath and live underwater and there are conditions of water that may have changed, but that you can't see. Good luck with your betta... try to keep him warm (stable temperature) in these coming winter months, since he is a SE Asian fish that usually likes tropical temps.
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