To clean or not to clean and the health of a betta.

I have two questions. :)

1.) When my husband and I used to live in Oregon, we frequented the fish store owned and ran by a husband and wife team (Is it a specialty store?). There we were chatting about the proper cleaning of tanks. We were told that you should NEVER fully change the water out of a tank. I'm assuming he gave us the following instruction according to our tank size (10-15 gal). The guy told us to only to vacuum and take out an inch or so of water out of the top and then replace the water. I don't really think that was the best of advice because there's still more that can be cleaned out. We have about a 3 gal now. So, what exactly would be the best cleaning procedure? In the past, it's just been (diluted) bleach and water with many MANY rinses and dried, rinsed the rocks, and everything was replaced along with treated water. Also, I put in a couple of pellets for the betta (Soon to be replaced with live and frozen foods) each day. Sometimes, he'll miss a couple and they'll sink to the bottom. How do I retrieve the food that floats to the bottom so it does not rot and cause further dirtiness? Also, there is a filter.

2.) Feesh has really long fins. They change from blue to red in different areas. Recently, within the last couple of days, his fins have started to curl at the ends as a flower petal would, and darkening. This is at the very ends. They are also become slightly stringy, also at the ends.

The only solution that Briana and I could think of is possible fin rot.

As far as not changing all the water: not true. Many people into the larger cichlids have to do 100% changes daiy in the 150+ gallon tanks. So long as the new water is not chlorinated and has the same ph and temperature it is fine. Beneficial bacteria does not reside in the water and nothing good comes of keeping the old water.
For a 3 gallon betta tank I recommend cleaning the gravel and taking out half the water. If you want to rinse the whole thing do so only with regular or dechlorinated water. No bleach. By rinsing the gravel and decoratons you will be killing some of the good bacteria. Only rinse the filter sponge when absolutely needed. Do so in old aquarium water and try not to expose any filter media to the air for more than a few seconds. You don't want to kill this bacteria. I rinse my sponges once every month or two.
Do you test your water at all? What your betta has sounds like ammonia burns or a ph problem to me, not fin rot. But I could be wrong.

Once a week I siphon out 40% of the tank water and add fresh declorinated water.


Never use bleach or other cleaning supplies!

With my 10 gallon community tank, I take out 25% every week and replace it with fresh (dechlorinated) water. I do it because the filter needs the beneficial bacteria. With anything smaller than a 10 gallon, it's hard to get a steady cycle so I don't bother.

Since there's no use cycling your 3 gallon, I'd do a 100% change every week/week and a half. I wouldn't use bleach though.. it wouldn't take much residue to kill a betta. I'd probably take out the filter too. No use cycling and most bettas don't like the current.

As for the food, you can either syphon out the left over pellets, or fast him for a day or two. I do it (unintentionally LOL. I get busy with work) and they've never, ever refused food after a day or two. It's no biggie if you leave it though.. since weekly WCs on a 3 gallon will leave your betta with clean water constantly.

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2.) Feesh has really long fins. They change from blue to red in different areas. Recently, within the last couple of days, his fins have started to curl at the ends as a flower petal would, and darkening. This is at the very ends. They are also become slightly stringy, also at the ends.

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Sounds like fin rot. Not hard to treat fortunately. Just keep up with water changes and add a bit of aquarium salt when you do WCs. You can also add a bit of melafix/bettafix if you'd like. I've never noticed a difference when I've used it though.

Good bacteria eats up ammonia left by fish. 100% water changes will not let you grow good bacteria. In my larger tanks I do 20-40% water changes. In my 5 gallon betta tank I do a 100% water change, but I do not leave the water for more than a week. Ammonia can build up and it will kill your fish. Even if the water is crystal clear it can be deadly.

Ah, okay. Thank you all for the wonderful and informative advice! I really appreciate that! :D It did help me to make some definitive decisions about what I will be doing soon.

By the way, I looked at the "filter" again. It's a hawkeye 201 air pump. whew. a mistake. :eek:

Anyways. We did a half water change with room temperature water treated with AquaSafe water conditioner. The water looks much better than it did even though it's only been a week since it has last been vacuumed.

For my 5 gallons, even, I do weekly 100% water changes. In a 3 gallon, a filter is pretty much over-kill. Bettas do not need extra aeration if they get weekly changes, and too much bubbles/current will definitely stress most Bettas in a small tank.

I raised *80* Betta juvies in 2 gallons each, with water changes at least once every week, usually twice every 10 days. They had no extra aeration, and although they very rarely didn't eat every bit of their food twice daily, there would sometimes be food left at the tank bottom that I didn't bother to clean out. I changed each tank 100% about every 5 days with aged & dechlorinated water, and all of them grew up big & strong with lots of HM's (a large tailspan that is very closely related to the quality of water as they grow) and not a single case of finrot or disease. Because of that, I'm pretty confident in my water changing style =0) and I see no need in syphoning out the bottom and such in a less than 10 gallon tank, when you can just scoop him out in a cup, dump out the dirty water, scrub the tank a bit and refill with clean water, and you're set for the next week! It is not as messy or difficult and IMO the water looks much better with regular 100% WC's. A pinch of aquarium salt & a square inch of Indian Almond Leaf healed up any minor tears within one week.

Just for the record, it takes an excessive amount of time, effort, and supplies to get beneficial bacteria going in a small tank. The crap that sits in the gravel is not beneficial unless the tank has fully cycled, meaning the ammonia is 0, the nitrates are 0, and the nitrites are thriving which almost always requires a filter. Otherwise, you pretty much just have a bunch of crap in the gravel - not beneficial bacteria.

I keep my three bettas in those bow front tanks by penn plax. its only a temporary thing until my entire apartment is all set up .... I recently moved into a new apartment so things are still bit out of place. I do have an empty ten gallon tank since it was easier to move completely empty and it is in need of cleaning.... How do I go about cleaning my ten gallon tank so that I can get it ready for new fish???

Idont have any bettas but i do have a 75gal tank with 2 turtles and 8 large goldfish and 1 very large plecostamous. have to do 40% water changes every week, and 100% water changes every month. Unfortunately I have two of the dirtiest critters in my tank!! he he he he!! I guess i just love all the extra work!!!:D

To clean the 10 gallon just use pure vinegar to clean the glass and rinse several times. Do not use soap. That will kill the fish even if you think you rinsed well.