Water Changes For Small Tank With Betta

[tibby25731]

HI

My brother is looking at putting a betta into a 3 gallon (UK) tank and I keep reading that you should do a 100% water change. What do people suggest/ Do you put some old tank water into a jar, net the betta and pop him in, and then net him and pop him back in the tank when it is all clean and full of new water? He is getting a mini internal filter for the tank so that will help some too.

Also, food - what do most people feed their betta? My brother lives somewhere with not much access to decent LFS, so live food is pretty much out of the question!

Thanks

 

[devon_charm]

yea just sit him in a jar or a cup while you do it. s the tank is filtered the changes don't need to be as regular. 50% once a week would probably be enough, just keep a check on the amonia levels weekly.

 

[tibby25731]

so for 50% I could keep him in the tank I guess... or would the pouring of the new water in freak him out too much??

 

[Bubblenester]

so for 50% I could keep him in the tank I guess... or would the pouring of the new water in freak him out too much??

Pouring water on him will freak him out, but catching him in a cup will too. Try it both ways and see what seems to cause the least stress.

As for food, I would recommend feeding both betta pellets and frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp. They go absolutely nuts for the bloodworms.

 

[Amunet]

I've tryed taking my bettas out for water changes before, and I think that stresses them out too much so now I just leave them in their tanks.
I just make sure to pour the water as slowly as I can so it's not too bad.
The bettas in the 10gallon could care less... whenever I open the top they automatically think they're getting fed so they totally ignore anything else that is going on lol.

I also have a 3 gallon tank with a filter... I do weekly 50% water changes in the tank. With the filter, there is no need to do 100%. I just use a siphon to get out debris and such on the gravel. Basically I treat it like any other tank heh.
You'll have to keep an eye on the water stats though. Since if you don't do a fishless cycle first, you'll have to make sure to do enough water changes to keep the water stats (ammonia, nitrites) at a very small amount.

 

[tibby25731]

Thanks everyone! I will bear that in mind