Hi, FishySarah,
congrats on your new fish!
Ludwig Venter is, (not surprisingly, considering his expertise,), absolutely right, total water changes being highly stressful for fish, although in some circumstances necessary.
But if I could make a further suggestion, perhaps twice-weekly changes of 40 - 50%, rather than one very large one, might be an idea?
Ammonia can build up within a few days, and very large waterchanges can be stressful.
I have 2 small, stunted bettas in 3 gallon tanks, both Walstads, and both will soon be on the weekly waterchange rotation, rather than twice weekly, but this method employs a different system entirely, where ammonia is removed, as it's produced, by plants, and whole-tank nitrification is secondary to this.
However, whole-tank nitrification can be of at least some degree of use even in very small tanks, alhough this cannot occur where complete water changes/overcleaning take place, and where rough natural surfaces, such as gravel, rocks and (ammonia-sucking) plants are absent.
Apparently, nitrifying bacteria do not flourish on plastic.
But a good layer of natural gravel produces a great deal of surface area for beneficial bacteria to propagate on, and this is often unconsidered in the focus on filters as the 'only' repository of these.
http
/www.aquariumfish.com/aquariumfish/d...788&search=
... Probably the biggest repository of helpful bacteria in your aquarium occurs on the surface of each piece of gravel. Each grain, though appearing smooth to the eye, is rough at a microscopic level, and thus provides a huge surface area for the growth of helpful bacteria. So, it follows that if you sterilize your gravel, you will destroy most of the biofiltration in your tank. Not knowing this, hobbyists sometimes remove the gravel for cleaning and have been known to boil it, scald it or (worst of all) use bleach or soap to sterilize the gravel. This is a huge mistake! It kills off the nitrifying bacteria and will allow ammonia levels to increase rapidly in the water. Gravel should never be cleaned with anything but plain, aquarium-temperature water. ...
http/www.novalek.com/kordon/articles/bio..._filtration.htm
... These nitrifying bacteria in biological filtration and the aquatic nitrogen cycle are in the beneficial gram positive group of bacteria, and their presence is important to aquarium and pond keeping. These bacteria are harmless to the aquarium inhabitants, as well as to man, pets, and other life, and do not cause any disease problems. They like to stick to positively charged surfaces, such as glass, gravel, and other substrates, filter materials such as filter pads, activated carbon, ceramic Raschig rings (see Kordon Bio-Mech) and glass decorations. They do not thrive on plastic, such as used in filter balls, or on the walls of plastic aquariums, or on plastic decorations. In fact, for those aquarists wanting for some reason to keep these bacteria low in number, they only need to be sure that as much as possible everything in their aquarium is plastic. ...
http/www.aquabotanic.com/plants_and_biol..._filtration.htm
PLANTS and BIOLOGICAL FILTRATION
by Diana Walstad
Plants are much more than tank decorations; they help keep the fish healthy. Nitrogenous compounds, particularly ammonia and nitrite, are extremely toxic to fish. Hobbyists have for many years relied heavily on the bacterial process of nitrification (i.e., ‘biological filtration’) to convert these toxic compounds into non-toxic nitrates. Hobbyists and even retailer of aquatic plants too easily ignore nitrogen uptake by aquarium plants or assume (incorrectly) that aquarium plants mainly take up nitrates.
Aquatic Plants Prefer Ammonium Over Nitrates
Many terrestrial plants like peas and tomatoes do grow better with nitrates than ammonium [Ref 5]. Thus, some botanists assumed that aquatic plants would similarly take up and grow better with nitrates. However, actual experimental studies suggest otherwise.
Scientists from all over the world have studied nitrogen uptake in aquatic plants under a variety of experimental conditions. I was able to locate published studies on 33 different aquatic plant species. Only 4 of the 33 species preferred nitrates (Table 1). ...
Honestly, I wouldn't consider a one-gallon container an actual fish-tank, outside of breeders temporarily accomodating mass quantities of fry, or other short-term emergency situations, but there are ways of making whatever you can provide healthier and more comfortable for your fish.
And if the container isn't big enough for plants, is it really big enough for an animal?
