Water Change

[Draven]

I just did my first water change in my 3 gallon Eclipse. I used a gravel hose to do it. I don't have my betta in the new tank yet but i have some concerns. It emptied about half the water and surely stirred up a lot of junk. A lot of it didn't really seem to come out though. Is that okay? Will the filter catch the rest of it? It seems strange sticking a huge gravel vacuum in the tank with a betta in there. This tank is so small that I'm afraid it will really pissed off Nelson.

Are there any suggestions on how to do this with the betta still in the home? Also, when I added more water it really caused a huge vibration in the water as it was being poured in. Any ideas on how to do this with out disrupting Nelson in the process?

Thanks much.

 

[tekknocolor]

In pouring I suggest using a bowl, making sure it was not washed w/ soap of course. What you can do is, if there's enough room, place a bowl upside down at the bottom and then pour directly on the bowl slowly. It should not stir so much water/gravel when doing it this way and won't splatter water all over the place. Also, if you don't want to risk injuring the betta in the process of cleaning, remove him/her then do the cleaning and then put the betta back once you're done. That's what I do with my bettas that are in the 1 gallon when I need to vacuum the tank and change the water.

I'm open to suggestions too!

-- Leigh Ann