First time using 1gal long-term

[RandomWiktor]

Ok, here's the deal. I just did a rescue on a male plakat with fin rot and parasites who has been languishing at an LFS for 4 weeks because no one wants the "ugly short finned bettas." I think I can push him into recovery, but because this was on short notice, I have no room, and I was broke, I unfortunately had to buy a 1 gallon tank instead of my usual 5-10 gallons. It certainly is making dosing complicated, but that's not really what I wanted to know.
My real question is, how often do you clean a 1 gallon? I do full water changes on my 5 gallons once weekly since they are not cycled. But it seems once weekly wouldn't be enough for a tiny tank like this. I do not want to stress him out with overly frequent water changes, but I want enough of them to keep him healthy. He may have to be in this tank until Christmas or later, so any info would be very helpful; I've only kept hopsice bettas in them previously, and they usually were so ill that they died within a few days, so cleaning never became a concern.

Thanks all!

 

[Andie]

For my first year of University, Fysh lived almost exclusively in a one gallon bowl because it made water changes much faster and less messy (always important when you share a carpeted room with a relative stranger!). I gave him two little plants with suction-cup bottoms, but I never bothered with a substrate. He was delighted with the setup, too, and always had a healthy little nest on the go.

I did a hundred percent water change with pretreated, aged water at a minimum of once a week, though I tried to make it more often than that (Saturdays and Wednesdays happened to be my best days, but you'll have to find what days work best for you).

Best of luck with your little guy

ETA: I didn't just dump him out and splash the fresh water in; I did a half and half change earlier in the day, then another half and half at night. It gave him more time to acclimatise, and I don't think it stressed him much at all.

 

[lljdma06]

For my bowl bettas, I do about maybe 75% three times a week. Right now it's Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, when I'm off from school. What's good, is that I never have to remove them from the bowl.

 

[Ethos]

Me too. I never take my bettas out of the bowl...I only do a 75% - 90% water change never 100%

 

[RandomWiktor]

Oh, I always scoop the fish out into thier individual (lidded) cup before doing the water change, in case there is a discreapancy in temp. It also lets me add water to the cup from the tank and watch for adverse reactions in case something in the water isn't right, without immersing them in it. So I'll probably continue that practice with them.

But thank you guys for giving suggestions of how often to do it! 2-3x's a week sounds good, though I may start out with every other day since he has fin rot.

 

[SRC]

Personally I change my 1 gallons 100% every 4 days. Not changing all of it will just leave ammonia in the tank...and thus mkaing the water change pretty much worthless and a waste of your time, imo.

But if your guy has fin rot..you might wanna do a 100% change every 2 days..would help speed up the healing process..nothing helps fin rot like clean water.

Also, the new large bottle of Stress coat comes with a 1, 5, and 10 gallon measuring cup...just in case you hadn't seen it .

 

[Booboo puppy]

I do 75% weekly water changes, leaving the fish in their tanks. The one time I did a 100% change (and moved George) he freaked out and tore up his tail.

 

[SRC]

Being finicky with your fish will in turn make them finicky fish.

It's kinda like when you have a baby and you tip toe around all the time while it sleeps...you eventually end up with a child who is a very light sleeper.

You have to condition your fish to their surroundings.

I'll put it to you this way....

Let's say I fill a glass with clorox to sterilize it, but I only pour 90% of it out...because you freak out at the sight of an empty glass. Would you want to drink the water from the glass with 10% clorox and 90% water? Or would you rather me pour all the clorox out, freak you out a little bit, and then get a 100% clorox free glass of water to drink?

Somehow, I think you would want 100% pure water. Well I'm sure your fish would to..if they could make the choice.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Yeah, you don't have to worry about that; I always do 100%'s. I tried doing partials 3x's a week on my fives, and found I not only usually ran out of time, but was finding a higher incidence of fin rot in my boys. If I ever cycle thier tanks, partials will be fine, but until then, its going to be 100%'s.

So, every 2 days until the rot clears up? That should work; he is also on an anti-parasitic because he's got some externals, and you're supposed to change the water every two days with it anyways. Poor dude. Ungh, I with I had the space/money/time for the other two; I fear they'll be dead soon