purple_drazi
Fishaholic
Help! I know that clean water is critical to keeping my boys healthy but now that I'm working with a 12g tank with a filter instead of just a goldfish bowl I'm a little confused.
Do I do a 50% water change once a month regardless or does it depend on the ammonia & nitrate levels? Both ammonia & nitrate are clear. I've been looking after the tank by doing water changes every two weeks but reading about establishing bacteria, cycling tanks and everything makes me think that maybe I shouldn't be doing it so frequently. otoh, bettas need super clean water. otoh...
Also! Before I clean the tank I take the boys out so that they don't get stressed. I clean the gravel with that hose thing, wipe the sides of the tank, take the dirty plants out to clean them and do the water change, since I've only got the two bettas now it's no trouble. I'm considering getting a couple of betta compatible fish later on once I've got this organized, probably cories or platies. What do I do with everyone when I do the tank maintenance? Take them all out? Leave them in?
Do I do a 50% water change once a month regardless or does it depend on the ammonia & nitrate levels? Both ammonia & nitrate are clear. I've been looking after the tank by doing water changes every two weeks but reading about establishing bacteria, cycling tanks and everything makes me think that maybe I shouldn't be doing it so frequently. otoh, bettas need super clean water. otoh...
Also! Before I clean the tank I take the boys out so that they don't get stressed. I clean the gravel with that hose thing, wipe the sides of the tank, take the dirty plants out to clean them and do the water change, since I've only got the two bettas now it's no trouble. I'm considering getting a couple of betta compatible fish later on once I've got this organized, probably cories or platies. What do I do with everyone when I do the tank maintenance? Take them all out? Leave them in?
It will take longer to cycle doing big water changes, but the tank is large and it's only 2 fish so it won't be a tremendous load of ammonia that you're dealing with.
