More beginer questions.

[Easystreet]

Hello all,

Ok I know it can become a pain to answer newbie questions. I have honestly looked for answers to these questions and couldn’t find answers.

1) I have a 5 gallon tank. How often do I change the water? I have the Eclipse 5 gallon with the filter and the bio wheel. The local fish shop says change 10% every couple weeks. Most the information I found was about 1-2.5 gallon tanks.

2) Hachi is eating peas now but of course he misses some and it falls to the bottom of the tank. He eventually combs the bottom and starts slurping up the pea parts. This is also true for blood worms. I try to give him 1 at a time but sometimes a rogue piece of worm gets away and falls to the bottom. He eventually finds it and gulp down it goes. Is it ok for him to eat these off the bottom? I have stress coat in the tank so I am sure the bottom is covered in stress coat.

3) I have read on some sites you should feed 6 days a week and 1 day of fasting. Your opinion on this?

4) I have gravel in the tank. (Tan and black mixed) it tends to his poop well. I can’t see any in the tank but I am sure its there. Also I see Hachi spit out food then ignore it so I am sure there are food bits down there too. How do I clean the gravel? The Fish shop guys said there wasn’t a gravel vac for that small of a tank.

5) Every couple days I put a mirror to the tank so Hachi can flare up and eventually chase the other fish away (I remove the mirror) I only leave the mirror up for about 2-4 minutes. I make sure he is looking in the mirror when I take it away so he can think he won and scared the other guy away. He continues to Flare for a good while even though the other fish isn’t there. Is this just a victory dance? Is he just all juiced up from the previous battle?

6) After feeding worms last night Hachi flared at everything. Me. Rocks, the thermometer, the filter, the plants, Everything. He would comb the bottom turn quick to a rock and flare up. As if the rock was looking at him funny. Is this flaring up natural? I worry if he is flaring up all the time if it will stress him out.

7) I feed him 2 of the betta gold pellets in the morning. Then 2-3 worms at night. A pea every other day or so. He acts like he is starving. Am I feeding him too little?

I think that’s all for now.

Thanks everybody in advance,
Jason

Edited (added a question)

 

[BettaMomma]

1) I have a 5 gallon tank. How often do I change the water? I have the Eclipse 5 gallon with the filter and the bio wheel. The local fish shop says change 10% every couple weeks. Most the information I found was about 1-2.5 gallon tanks.

I can't remember if the tank is cycled or not - if it's not, you'll want to do changes a bit more frequently in the beginning. I'd say 20% every week would be great after it cycles.

2) Hachi is eating peas now but of course he misses some and it falls to the bottom of the tank. He eventually combs the bottom and starts slurping up the pea parts. This is also true for blood worms. I try to give him 1 at a time but sometimes a rogue piece of worm gets away and falls to the bottom. He eventually finds it and gulp down it goes. Is it ok for him to eat these off the bottom? I have stress coat in the tank so I am sure the bottom is covered in stress coat.

Perfectly fine, as long as it doesn't sit there for days before he eats it

3) I have read on some sites you should feed 6 days a week and 1 day of fasting. Your opinion on this?

Some people do, some ppl don't. I have bettas at the office who don't get fed on saturdays or sundays. My fish at home get fed every day, just a little less on Sundays. Seems to work out fine in both cases.

4) I have gravel in the tank. (Tan and black mixed) it tends to his poop well. I can’t see any in the tank but I am sure its there. Also I see Hachi spit out food then ignore it so I am sure there are food bits down there too. How do I clean the gravel? The Fish shop guys said there wasn’t a gravel vac for that small of a tank.

They do make junior gravel vacs - I got mine at PetSmart. You can get them online too.

5) Every couple days I put a mirror to the tank so Hachi can flare up and eventually chase the other fish away (I remove the mirror) I only leave the mirror up for about 2-4 minutes. I make sure he is looking in the mirror when I take it away so he can think he won and scared the other guy away. He continues to Flare for a good while even though the other fish isn’t there. Is this just a victory dance? Is he just all juiced up from the previous battle?

LOL mine do this too. I'm guessing it's a little bit of both.

6) After feeding worms last night Hachi flared at everything. Me. Rocks, the thermometer, the filter, the plants, Everything. He would comb the bottom turn quick to a rock and flare up. As if the rock was looking at him funny. Is this flaring up natural? I worry if he is flaring up all the time if it will stress him out.

Was the lighting in or around his tank at that time a bit different than normal? Sometimes mine will flare all over the place like they're afraid something is sneaking up behind them but it's because the lights in the tank are on and it's more dark in the rest of the room, making the tank sides mirrors...

7) I feed him 2 of the betta gold pellets in the morning. Then 2-3 worms at night. A pea every other day or so. He acts like he is starving. Am I feeding him too little?

They ALWAYS act like they're starving. And they know how to work you to get *just one more* of whatever it is you're giving them. Mine get 3 pellets in the a.m., about 3 in the evenings, and bloodworms every few days. I think you could add a couple more pellets in the mix here and there, and hold off on the worms every couple of days and you'd be just fine.

Sounds like he's doing well in his new home

 

[eudielynn]

1. I do a 10 to 15% change once a week on my filtered tanks. Works pretty well for me.

2. It won't hurt him to eat off the bottom of the tank.

3. That is correct about fasting one day a week. Keeps them healthy and lets all the food pass through their systems.

4. As I recently found out there is a mini gravel vac out there that will take care of as small as a 1 gallon tank, but I found mine at a LFS so I can't really tell you where to find one. In the meantime a clean never used turkey baster will suck up small amounts of food and poo in between water changes.

5. Yes, it's normal for them to stay hyped up a little while after seeing another betta, even if it is just in a mirror.

6. If he is continuing to flare a lot I would see if there is something outside of the tank that could be keeping him going, or if you have the lights out in the room and the light on in his tank it could be making a reflection on the glass and he is seeing himself in the reflection.

7. Personally, I would up the pellets to 3-4 and then just keep doing everything else just like you are.

Don't mind answering questions for new betta owners, especially ones that are trying so hard to do everything right.

 

[Styx]

3) I have read on some sites you should feed 6 days a week and 1 day of fasting. Your opinion on this?

I actually do this because I leave every other weekend, so it's a perfect excuse to fast them. One the weeks that I don't leave, they get a pea instead of fasting.

5) Every couple days I put a mirror to the tank so Hachi can flare up and eventually chase the other fish away (I remove the mirror) I only leave the mirror up for about 2-4 minutes. I make sure he is looking in the mirror when I take it away so he can think he won and scared the other guy away. He continues to Flare for a good while even though the other fish isn’t there. Is this just a victory dance? Is he just all juiced up from the previous battle?

XD Ditto to what Bettamomma says.

7) I feed him 2 of the betta gold pellets in the morning. Then 2-3 worms at night. A pea every other day or so. He acts like he is starving. Am I feeding him too little?

Not at all. You're feeding him just right. Mine get two pellets in the morning and three in the evening and they seem to think they're going to die if I don't give them more. However, they're always alive and doing the "feed me dance" the next day. ^^

There's my 2 cents.