100% Water Changes

[Phaedra]

Yep, your plain old-fashioned turkey baster bought specially for the occasion. They're great for doing those partial water changes.
And I certainly don't mind people asking questions in this thread, I was hoping it would be an discussion everyone could participate in.

When I do Darby's 100%'s, I have a 1g quarantine tank that I also bought to have on hand, drain some of his old water into it, catch him, then proceed to scrub down the tank, the gravel and his decorations. To acclimate him, I take a baster full of the old water from the 1g, get rid of it, and replace it with the new water every 15 minutes or so. This last time took me forever to acclimate, because the PH differences were so vast I wanted to acclimate him really slowly- which I did over the course of about three hours. When he was moved back into his tank, he gave me a look like "Gosh Mom, I'm not a porcelain doll." But I was glad I took the time to really acclimate him.
I ended up using the net, since the cup I had was smaller than I remember (or Darby's bigger), but the 2nd time it was much easier, he sort of floated right into it while he was watching me and I scooped him right up.

Lilfishie- Your method sounds really easy! But what in the world is a "beanie box"?

 

[-germ-]

My betta is in a 7gal so i've got room for a gravel vac, i use this, then put the bucket of replacement water on top of the tank and use the gravel vac to siphon it in.
When it comes to 100%ers i tend to do it in multiple (about 3) 75%ers which means i don't have to move him out of his tank.
Glad all went well with the acclimatisation Phaedra.

 

[mr. beta]

i dont know if it hurts the fish or not. mine is healthy, ive done 8 full water changes. the last one made him very upset or i possibly hurt him when i had to grab him out of the bowl, dont grab. i use luke warm water each time to fill tank

 

[kittytehpirate]

So..you use the baster to suckup the rocks to take them out to clean them...or what? "cause that's a great idea for my 5 gal...

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

I just take a clear plastic container, put it half in the water, and throw a bloodworm in there. My betta swims right in after the treat and then I gently tip the container up. Easy catch, no risk of damage.

 

[branjie]

I did Ernie's first 100% water change yesterday, and found the whole thing quite stressful. I wish I had read the post about acclimiting with the turkey baster before I did his water change. I decided to catch him in a plastic cup, but accidently got part of him caught between the side of the tank and the cup, and that's before I even got him out of his tank. Agh. I then put him in a glass measuring jug, with part new water, and mostly his water. I then refurbished his whole tank with new gravel, decorations, and pruned plants, to give his tank an oriental theme. Even though I washed the gravel plenty, his water was still a bit cloudy. Then I had this dilemma about temperature changes. The water he was in, was bound to be cooler than the water than the tank now, but I was keen to get him into his own tank, as I'd given him too many blood worms to munch on during the wait, and I wanted to get him out of the measuring jug before he ate them all. I tried to catch him with the net this time, but quickly realised you can't catch a fish in a round jug, with a square net. Doh. So it was back to using the plastic cup again. It was such a chaotic manuvre, with him in a full cup of water, flapping about, that he basically got flung into the tank, as I was scared he would end up on the floor or something. Then came the wait to see if he would survive the change in pH and temp. Next time I'll definitely do the turkey baster thing to try and acclimate him first. He seems to have survived the whole thing o.k. but I was alarmed to see he had this round thing under his chin this morning, the same colour of his fins. While I watched him though, that thing just fell off! I think it was a curled up bit of fin that was worse for wear. He's a CT so he has long strands, and this must have been one of them. I'm still a bit nervous about the whole thing, but fingers crossed, he seems o.k. I'll do better next time. Sorry for the long post.

 

[Phaedra]

Germ- You use your siphon to suck your betta up?
Seriously though, that's what I thought you were saying at first.
While I do occasional large water changes (as much as 75% at times) with Darby, I still find that it just doesn't do the job as well even when I do a few of them, and after realizing the PH differences in my aged verses my old tank water, I feel more comfortable acclimating him slowly (despite the great links you gave in my previous post, I'm a paranoid fish keeper at heart, lol).
This last water change, I had to rinse the gravel four times before it rinsed clear- YUCK!

Mr. Beta- You're using aged water right? Or at least dechlorinating, aren't you? I go so far as to boil aged water over the stove instead of using hot water from the tap because you just never know what's in your hot water heater.

Kittytehpirate- Yes, I use the baster instead of your usual siphon, because the tank is so small. It does a pretty good job of getting the gunk out from underneath that you don't notice. Darby loves to attack the bits of gravel that get sucked up inside the baster and spin around. The only problem I've found with it is that it will occasionally catch a larger bit and sometimes get stuck, but a sound whack against the side of the garbage can tends to dislodge them.

Aphotic Phoenix- That's a great idea! I wonder if I could squeeze that 1g tank I have in there and try that myself. Next time, I think.

Branjie- Oi! Reading about you catching your betta against the tank and the cup just made me cringe! That's exactly what I stress about when trying to net Darby. From my small experience with it, I find that the least stressful way to do it is just take it slow and stop to take a breather if Darby or I get too stressed out. (I probably stress more than he does, I would feel HORRIBLE if I hurt him!)
My first attempt at netting Darby for his first 100%, I got so freaked out that my husband finally had to catch him LOL!
The first time is always the hardest.
I've since moved Darby's tank near my kitchen, so water changes are a lot easier. But when I finally netted him and moved him back to his tank, I got this horrible flash of him flipping himself out and down the disposal. *knocks on wood*
I think we'll both get better at it over time.
I hope your little guy is okay after his ordeal, you'll have to let us know.

Oh, and long posts are my personal specialty ( ), so no apologies necessary.

 

[kittytehpirate]

Awesome!! I'll have to try that...once i find a baster...

Branjie and Phaedra,

I had that problem the day i brought Rascal home! I moved her from the plastic cup that petsmart keeps thier bettas in into a sandwich bag to float in my 5 gal for a few hours. I did the partial changes to get rid of the blue crap they keep in thier water, but when it came time to place her in the tank, i really didn't want to dump her in with the water and my net was notoriosly missing...so i attempted to empty as much of the water from the bag with out her falling out...but lo and behold! She jumped!!! I snatced her up from a doom down the drain and hand placed her in the water...it was so scary!!!

LOL! That's why i named her Rascal...instead of notte or chiesa as i was thinking. (Italian for night or church, i visited Rome this summer...but I also saw Rascal Flatts in concert! xD) And i'll shut up now.

I think its just bettas. I had no trouble netting Othello to place in my hospital tank. They're too fiesty!

<3
Kitty

 

[-germ-]

Germ- You use your siphon to suck your betta up?
Seriously though, that's what I thought you were saying at first.

Erm funny you should mention that
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...p;#entry1672989

 

[kingmed]

I don't have gravel in my little 5 gallon tank so for me all I do is capture / catch Angel in a small cup, then I use a 2 quart pitcher and empty the tank into a 5 gallon bucket until I can carry it to the sink, then I rinse out the tank 7-8 times to make sure nothings in it and refill it. I usually keep about 4-5 gallons of water around that have been declorinated and sitting for 3-4 days so that I use aged water, then I add my heater and let the water warm up to where it's supposed to be 78-82 degrees which takes some time and then add Angel to the tank. It's not really that much of a process and Angel is usually in a 2 quart container so he's not really stressed + it's only for a few hours, if I had more tanks I might not take these type of elaborate measures but we only have one betta so we can do it alot easier.

 

[Phaedra]

Germ- You use your siphon to suck your betta up?
Seriously though, that's what I thought you were saying at first.

Erm funny you should mention that
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...p;#entry1672989

ERK!!! Poor Dorian! First you name her after a boy, and now this?
Is she recovering okay? I'll bet she's giving you the cold betta-shoulder.

Kitteytehpirate- I found my baster at my local grocery store, which has only a small kitchen appliances section, so I'll bet you can find one pretty easily.
Gah, you guys are going to give me nightmares with all the siphoning up/catching against the rim/down the drain horror stories!

Kingmed- Sounds like you've got it down pretty well. I forgot to add that I also use the heater to bring the temp up as well while I'm doing water changes.

 

[branjie]

Phaedra and Kitty, you'll have to keep the plug in the kitchen sink just in case . It looks like I'm not the only one who found moving their Betta stressful to start with. I hope to get the hang of it eventually. Ernie seems to be fine and is building bubble nests again. He is missing the urn that he had in his tank before, but it won't fit into his oriental theme tank. I might have to find a hollow log or something. He likes his new bridge, but only swims over it, not under it. Must be superstitious or something, like not wanting to walk under a ladder LOL.

 

[Phaedra]

I guess that would be a logical first step huh?
I had a hollow log in with Darby, but being the silly betta he is, he always chose to squeeze himself through the smallest hole in the base of the faux tree and I've noticed some pinholes, so I just took it out yesterday. Can't be too careful. I'm hoping that is the cause and not something else. I treated for a week with betta fix and didn't notice an improvement, so I just realized that the tree might be the cause. *fingers crossed*