You may think I'm strange but....

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Sorry just one quick question...
I am about to do a 100% water change on my 3 gallon betta tank. When I take the betta out and put him in a bag, should I just scoop him up in the net or float the bag in his tank for a bit so it can adjust to the temperature? It's just that I've heard that if you transfer a fish from one water to another, they can die immediatley.
Please help!

 

[wrs]

why not just scoop him out using the same tank water in a little I cant believe its not butter container or something.

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

oh ye! )
One more thing... the water keeps getting this weird sort of white 'skin' on top of it - like custard when you leave it for a bit !! His bubble nests get stuck in it and it smells disgusting. I do water changes every other day because the tank is not filtered and does not have a pump. I'm just worried that he's not going to be able to get air. It looks sticky and this moring I had to break it all apart with a straw. I did not have a chance to do a water change then.
Any ideas what this gross thing might be?

 

[isu_guy]

protein from food,
take a paper towel and glide it over the top, this should get a good amount of it. I there is a little left, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Also, with no filtration or airstone, I would think about stirring the water every so often to get some surface agitation to promote gas exchange

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Ok! I'll start doing that each morning then. Is it definatley the protein from food - because I'm ashamed to say it but my betta hasn't been fed for about 4 days! ) He won't touch the flakes, I run out of bloodworm and shrimp and I don't know what else to give him!! I will be going to my LFS some time tomorrow, so he won't starve! Are there any such things as betta pellets?

 

[mandi]

Are there any such things as betta pellets?

Absolutely!! Get Hikari Betta Bio Gold -- excellent stuff.

3 of my bettas refused to eat anything but brine shrimp & bloodworm when I first got them. They had just come from the breeder, and she had never "weaned them" off all live/frozen food. I wound up having to not feed them for 3 days, and then when I added the hikari pellets, they gobbled them up (they had totally ignored them previously). They still get bloodworms 3x a week anyway, but it's nice to know they'll eat the pellets if I run out!

 

[isu_guy]

don't even worry about not feeding for 4 days. Fish can last a week or two fine without food. Obviously feed more than just once a week, but if you skip a few days here and there it doesn't hurt. (In fact many claim its good for the fish, and helps insure that us fishkeepers don't overfeed, which is a common problem)

 

[rdd1952]

We feed ours the Betta Bio Gold too. They last about 2 seconds before he gobbles them up. I think he would eat the whole pack at once if we dumped it in. He's a pig. I also have noticed the film on top of the water but our tank (2.5 gal) is filtered. We only feed him 4 or 6 pellets a day (2 or 3 each morning and afternoon). Those pellets are so small, it is hard to control how many come out of the pack in our hand.