How To Clean By Betta's Bowl

[barb-e]

I keep my two female bettas in 1/2 gallon fishbowls (temporary) and because of the small space, I have to change the water every other day. It was easy when the bowl was bare. Just take her out, dump the water, rinse, put her back in. I've noticed that every time I do this they get stress stripes. How can I make the process less stressful ? Also, I just added some decorations, castle in one and plant in other, but particularly, I added gravel. How do I clean a bowl with gravel in it and get all the gook that gets stuck in there?

 

[MHunt]

Yes it is stressful!

Could you do more regular water changes, perhaps 50% every day or so. I don't think you need to be so rigourous with the water changes anyway with betta's. If it's only a tempory measure you should be ok. To clean an established aquarium of that size, you could easily set up a syphon with airline tubing and simply suck the gunk out. Then replace what you have taken out with fresh. I know regular water changes can be monotonous, i do the same with my cory fry, but it is worth it for the health of the fish.

Either way i would try and change a smaller amount more often than having to remove the fish to change all the water every couple of days. A 1 litre jug every day would be fine.

 

[barb-e]

Anybody else got a fishbowl? How do you do it?

 

[Jaded12]

There's really no way to do it without stressing them a bit and females especially seem to stress out quite easiy. What I do is take the fish out with a small net (bigger nets are nealry impossible to get fish out of a bowl with) and put them in a small cup or something, then take everything out of the bowl and rinse in thoroughly, then put it all back and so on. But every other day isn't really necessary, my one gallon bowls get done once a week, so I'd say 1/2 gallon ones would only need to be cleaner maybe twice a week

 

[Amunet]

Gee... once a week seems like not enough to me since the water isn't being filtered any. Are you doing ammonia tests on the water during the week to make sure it's not getting very high?

 

[loggerbomb]

Once a week should be ok.

The fish are likely stressed from the multiple water changes and if I am reading this right, from the shock of new water. Ease up on your water changing to about once a week and though you might get some murky water near the end of the week, your bettas won't be that hard off and should be less stressed.

Hurry up and get a bigger home for those guys though! What are you planning on setting up for their permanent home?

 

[barb-e]

I'm planning on getting one more female betta and putting them in my 10 gallon with my three cherry barbs. I've heard that I should add more cherry barbs though, to distract the three bettas from arguing.

 

[heatmisr]

I was keeping my betta in a 1/2g vase until about a week ago. I had the same problem you do. It was suggested that I try a turkey baster to remove the gunk from between the marbles. That way I could do partial changes and still remove the waste. I ended up moving him before I could try it, but the person that suggested it to me does it with their fish and said it works great.

 

[Jaded12]

Gee... once a week seems like not enough to me since the water isn't being filtered any. Are you doing ammonia tests on the water during the week to make sure it's not getting very high?

Yupp the water is always spot on, my bettas don't get overfed, and are fasted once a week, 6 days doesn't really give one fish, who's not being over fed, enough time to jack the ammonia in a 1 gallon bowl.

 

[Nossie]

I've seen betta bowl conditioning tablets here in the UK and these http/www.petco.com/product/9569/Jungle-B...a-Care-Kit.aspx online.

Personally, I opted to use small 12"x8"x8" tanks with small filters rather than the unfiltered bowl. This was because the shop I buy them in has bettas in goldfish bowls and they do nothing but lie about and aren't very active at all. I had a 12"x8"x8" tank spare since I moved the small wcmms into a bigger tank so I opted to use that and see how it went. The betta I bought to put into it flourished and became more active and colourful. They aren't very messy fish so a small water change once a week using a length of air tube to syphon the water from the bottom and vacuum the stones. Works really well and I think you get the best out of your betta by giving it a bit more room and a filter and it won't take up much more space than your bowl.

 

[joycould]

I'm planning on getting one more female betta and putting them in my 10 gallon with my three cherry barbs. I've heard that I should add more cherry barbs though, to distract the three bettas from arguing.

Be very careful with cherry barbs they can be really bad fin nippers. I find an easy way to keep a bowl clean is with a turkey baster, take out about 1/2 of the water and replace it. When I do 100% water changes I catch the betta in a cup and then dump out the water. Swish the gravel with the last of the water to give it a quick clean, fill it up with room temperature water. I let my water set over night and use drops to make sure there is no chlorine left.

 

[Shuifish]

I have a pretty small bowl myself right now. About 1 gallon glass fish bowl. This is what I do:
First, I pour some water from the tap into a big jug. I let that get to room temp. Usually takes about an hour, depending on how warm or cool it is in the first place. Once it is around the same temp as my bettas old water, I go and take the plant out of my bettas bowl first so I can scoop him out easier. After I finally scoop him out (it takes some practice), I put him in a small cup, large enough for him to swim around a bit in with his old tank water. I empty the water out of the bowl and pour the remaining gravel into a strainer. I run steeming hot water over the gravel, making sure to get all the gunk out of it. I also smell it to make sure it dosnt have a musky smell either, just to be safe. I then scrub the bowl with hot water then dry it off with paper towels. I put the cleaned gravel back in, position the water plant, then pour the room temp water in. I drop some dechlorinzer in, along with a bit of aquarium salt. I wait for that to become one with the water. After some waiting, betta is ready to go back in his bowl. (I usually do another temp check just to be safe). Once back in his bowl, he is very happy and flits around, exploring his slightly changed bowl. I do this about every 4 to 5 days. I plan on getting a bigger tank, another smaller plant, and an African Dwarf frog soon. Just a hint: colored gravel is not that easy to clean. Get some glass beads (sold at a hobby store if not at a petstore). They are very pretty and easier to clean.

 

[Amunet]

Gee... once a week seems like not enough to me since the water isn't being filtered any. Are you doing ammonia tests on the water during the week to make sure it's not getting very high?

Yupp the water is always spot on, my bettas don't get overfed, and are fasted once a week, 6 days doesn't really give one fish, who's not being over fed, enough time to jack the ammonia in a 1 gallon bowl.

Ya know... I do not even remember commenting on this topic lol.