Cleaning Your Betta Tank
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Hi everyone! I just cleaned my fish Flo’s tank about 2 or three days ago. His tank looks so fresh and clean! He looks very happy. Here are the steps in which I cleaned his tank:
1.) I took him out and put him into the container that I bought him in. I just carfully lowered the container (that already had a little bit of water in it) into the tank and slowly scooped him up. Make sure the container has air holes in the lid so he can breath.
2.) The next step I did was I took everything out of the fish tank. I cleaned the rocks/gravel first. Never wash anyting with soap, for it is hard to get ALL of the soap off and can harm your fish. If you have a small enough strainer for the rocks, I would reccomened it. You just put your rocks or gravel into the strainer, and pour water over the rocks while shifting the rocks around.
3.) Now, if you have any plants in your tank, rinse them off under a faucet so they are clean. Remember, don’t use soap! It can harm your fish.
4.) Next take a wet washcloth or paper towel and scrub the inside of the tank. Just use soft towels to clean it, nothing hard. It could scratch your tank.
5.) Now put everything back into your nice clean tank and add water to it. Remember, use the same water temperature that the water was when you took the water out. Not to warm, but not too cold. Just a cool temperature. Make sure that the water is about 2 inches below the top of the tank so your fish has enough oxygen.
6.) Now take the lid off of you container that you had your fish in and lower the container into the water. Your fish should swim out and into the tank. Do this slowly though, you don’t want to scare your fish.
Now you have a nice clean fish tank! Remember to change about 1/4 of the water every three or four days if you have a small tank and add water conditioner. If you have a bigger tank, maybe once a week. I do the big cleaning about once a month.
fortalina
ronald on 
Cody on 
Betta Fish are what I blog about.
May 26th, 2008 at 4:34 am
Make sure you save some of the water from the tank before completely emptying it. Completely emptying the tank isn’t recommended, it can shorten the life span of your fish. They need the bacteria that is in the water.
October 20th, 2008 at 5:12 am
Hi
I just brought home my first Betta and so have been surfing the websites re: them.
I found info about how often to change the water in a less than 1 gallon bowl rangeing from once a week to everyday total change of water. I was told when I bought the Betta that it was a low maintance fish to have but I am beginning to wonder about that. How do I know for certain ?
I have one male , I think,Betta in a glass fish bowl less than 1/2 a gal. I used NovAqua+water conditioner and AMQuel+ to the water and put in some small smooth round stones like you put in a glass vase for decoration, all washed with out soap. I let the water come to same temp as the water in the container from the pet shop. I then added gently the Betta along with some of the water he was in. How often should I change the water and how much of the water should be changed, all or part?
Also I read that the fish bowl should have a cover, with air vent of course , as the Betta could jump out of it, is this true?
Thanks for your help and your nice website.
Arlie
October 28th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Hi Arlie, thanks for replying! Betta fish are low maintance fish, unless your fish is sick or something. It sounds like everything is okay, except for a few things.
First you should never clean ANYTHING with soap that is going to go near your betta. Soap is very hard to get off, and if not all of it is off it could harm your fish. I just gently rinse and scrub the tank with lukewarm water and that gets it clean. The temperature of your water should be not to cold, but not to warm. It should be at a cool temperature. As Leah Brown said above, when you are cleaning you should not take all of the water out, just most of it and then rinse that water around while you clean. With your size of a tank, I would reccomend that you take about 1/4 of the water out and put fresh water in with betta water conditioner once a week. That gets the water fresh and clean and it will keep the water safe with the conditioner. Remember, even if you add just a little tap water to any betta water, always use conditioner. About once a month you should actually take the rocks and plants out and really clean it.
Yes, your bowl should have a cover, and yes with an air vent. Remember to keep your water about 2 inches from the top of the tank so your fish can have air. Yes, the betta can jump out, that happened to my sister before. So always make sure the cover is on and it has air holes.
If you have any other questions or concerns, please contact me. I’ll be happy to help!
Carley
June 5th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
RESPONCE TO HOW TO CLEAN TANK. MORE IMPORTANT I AM ALWAYS AFRAID PEOPLE DON’T KNOW THAT THEY HAVE TO PUT NITRATE,AMMONIA ,CLORINE DROPS IN THE WATER,FISH CAN DIE WITHOUT THE DROPS.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO CLEAN THE TANK WITH SOUP,ALL GREEN STUFF CAN BE CLEAN WITH PAPER TOWEL THAN RINSE WITH WATER AGAIN ,SO THERE IS NO RESIDUE.
BETTA FISH CAN JUMP OUT OF TANK,SO DON’T PUT WATER UP TO THE EDGES LEAVE 4 INCHES
TEMPERATURE OF WATER SHOULD BE THE SAME AS BEFORE YOU CHANGE IT.
WHEN I AM CHANGING THE WATER I USUALLY SCOOP OUT AS MUCH OF THEIR WATER AND MIX IT IN WITH THE NEW WATER THAT I AM PUTTING INTO THE TANK. THEY ALWAYS NEED SOME OF THEIR OLD WATER LEFT IN THE TANK.
ALSO I BOUGHT A LOT OF BETTA’S I HAVE THEM @ HOME AND WORK. SOMETIMES WHEN YOU BUY THEM FROM THE STORE THEY ARE SICK
I USE DROPS CALLED ”API AQUARIUM PHARMACEYTUCACALS ‘ ‘BETTAFIX IT BETTA MEDICATION HEALS DAMAGED FINS,SKIN . IT A LITTLE BLU BUTTLE. THAT HALPED A LOT .
IF FISH THE FISH DOES NOT EAT AND SHE IS LESS ACTIVE THIS IS THE FIRST SIGN THAT SHE IS SICK AND NEEDS THE DROPS.
May 9th, 2010 at 11:18 pm
Opps.
January 10th, 2011 at 2:49 am
Hi, I’ve just bought my first Betta fish here. Above stated that I need to change 1/4 of the water in the tank and add new fresh water once a while. Then do I still need to scoop my Betta out when I’m changing the 1/4 water? I have some small rocks in the tank.
I read about the water conditioner before I bought my Betta but the seller say all I need is just purified/filtered water for my Betta. So, I worried will my Betta be happy with the condition.