How to change betta water, my way

[zhiz22]

Just to prevent more betta deaths due to incorrect changing betta water method.

A better way to change water is to pour out the water while the fish is inside. fish may be stressed ubt at least it will not get contaminated with fishwater from other fishes.

just take tank in one hand and pour water out, if swim head same direction as water flow and flowing out, on the tap slightly and the pressure of water will cause betta to head in the other direction. so when little water left, on tap again to dilute the waste water and pour out again. like that water is clean inside. Then pour in yr aged water.

all my betta are trained in this way from one month old so they know how to behave during water change. and i dun think i got any betta with torn fins or broken fins because of water change

with experience and some of the poor fellow falling into the basin you can suceed. i only once pour one down the drain when the lid was not there. heart pain.

sounds cruel and troublesome and cumbersome, but hey my hands remain dry after changin 50 or more tanks. and they dun share any container which can spread disease.

net is not good.

method is optimised thru changing water over a thousand times for few hundred bettas.

I use this method too... but just one query.

How often do you guys change the water? I try to siphon out the wastes once in a while but it seems that my plakats are giving out waste faster than I can get rid of..... Now I'm trying to do water change only once a week. Is that too much or too little??

[zhiz22]

at least twice a week bro irregardless of yr tank size which i doubt is huge anyway.
no one put their betta in big tank....

i use a net to pick out my plakat and put it in another container. then wash the original container clean, pour water and put back the plakat. this way, both container and water is clean.

i use a cup to scoop my betta out.

Hi bro Kevin, thks for sharing yr exepriences with us. Right now I amn using the same method as what bro dinomax has described.

I have a question regarding yr method, won't u be stressing yr betta further if u were cleaning stains in yr tank? Won't u be using more water than the former?

Hi there SLider,

I think using a net is more likely to cause damage/stress to the fish than using hands. Plus there is added risk of infection cos whenever u scoop a fish with the net the fish's slime gets into the net's fabric and is not that easy to clean off. And I'm sure if u are cleaning a few tanks u wont wash the net between each scooping rite?

Someone said that using hands is the gentlest way to get betta and I tend to agree (do it carefully and you will never hurt the betta). It gets easier with practice. Its easier to wash ur hands with soap between fishes (esp if u are handling sick fish) than to clean a net. If u use hand u can minimise the transfer of water from the old tank to the new one also. =)

If your container is big enough, psychotic's method of using a cup is very gentle and stress free. But if you don't want to include water from the old tank u have to drain carefully - easy...just cover the mouth of the cup with your hand...fish unlikely to fall into the sink!

Kelvin's method is good in that the fish doesn't get handled at all! So very very minimal risk of torn fins...the fish just get some free 'waterpour kork' (one of the methods of training fighters from atison's website i think...hehe) every time u change. =) But if you're worried about chlorine u might not be comfortable with this...then again kelvin's fish all alive and kicking rite? =)

Regards

[zhiz22]

using net: all yr betta end up share net share disease
use cup, end up all yr betta share cup share disease

cleaning stains, betta left with enough water to cover it., and use tissue to wipe the sides. usually i dun do that at all. no need. let the good bacteria grow along the walls, until gets too dirty.

its my method jsut to share with you....i believe i have one of the lowest betta death rate around....hehe...opps...touch wood. usually when i say this, some betta will die. but i may save soem more along the way. cheers

a little fresh tap water will not hurt yr betta la. in fact expose a little also good, you dun wanna end up with weakling betta that die upon contact with fresh tap water would you?

i use ocean free anti cholirne cholramine in my aging container.

dun even use salt.

reason, as above, dun pamper yr betta too much, cos when they get sick, its harder to cure them, just like if you eating antibiotics everyday even when healthy...one day you get sick, find that antibiotic no use anymore

Hi bro Kevin and tohchenhan, thanks for your advise.

The net which I using is not exactly a net, it is a kind of PVC plastic sheet sewn onto thin wire like and then attached to one end of a long chopstick to make it look like a scoop. I got it from Betta Kingdom.

Well I do not know whether it is true, Betta Ong told me using it is safer bet than using hand.

IC...that's the traditional type betta scoop...its quite convenient but then it mixes water around a bit. Infection risk. Kelvin's way is the best way to prevent infection and to chlorinate the buggers at the same time...then u have sterilised betta hahaha. =)
can make sashimi

(im running for cover now) =))