How often should I change the water in my fish tank?

I have a 5 gallon fish tank with 1 betta in it. I decided to get a bigger tank for my betta upon discovering that they really need a lot more space.



I have a filter, but I only turn it on at night.



I don't overfeed my fish and am extremely cautious about doing so.



If you're recommending that I do partial water changes how much weekly? When should I fully change the water?



What tools do I need to purchase to make this more efficient? (I also read something that said I need to completely clean the gravel when I do partial changes? How do I even do this?)



Thank you for your time!How often should I change the water in my fish tank?There is the question of how much is good to change and how much you can get away with not changing. For the ten minutes it takes I highly recommend every week to keep things fresh and clean.



To do so use a syphon with a gravel vacuum to drain out about 20% of the water and vacuum crud from the gravel, and replace with fresh treated water. At any fish store you can find a simple hose with a gravel vac attachment - just get a thin one for a small tank so it doesn't drain things too quickly. Get your self two containers - one for clean water and one for drained dirty water - big enough to drain about 1/4 of the tank without spilling over when you move it.

Totally replacing the water is stressful for the fish and often leads to disease.



This is all you need to do to keep things healthy for a long time, and those who maintain their tanks properly never have to totally clean it out. Once you get the hang of it, you'll be zipping through the routine within a few minutes and wonder why on earth people would not do this for their fish each week.



Sure you can do it every 2 weeks or even every month with just a Betta in a bigger tank, but weekly maintenance is well worth the small amount of effort to ensure great conditions and stability in the tank.



To make sure your fish is eating is simple: watch while he eats so you can remove ineaten food - go with floating pellets rather then sinking, since these fish are surface feeders and it makes it easier for your to remove if you need to. Even if you miss a pellet, your weekly vacuuming will cover it. It sounds like you are taking care with feeding and don't have much to worry about.



My last betta lived over 5 years with this type of routine so I highly recommend it, regardless if some think it's overkill.



Turning off your filter is not necessary for the most part, but if you have a legitimate reason to do so and it ensures good water flow and aeration for the fish and bacteria - but that said, since your tank is understocked, you will doubtfully find any problems with turning it off sometimes. Even in my 10 gallon community in the guest room, I turn it off some nights when I have guests and want to cut out the noise and it has never caused me an issue.



Good luckHow often should I change the water in my fish tank?25% every 2 weeks. A gravel syphon. No dont take anything out, syphon the crap out of the gravel, but leave it in the tank.How often should I change the water in my fish tank?You can get a gravel siphon, it removes everything but the gravel!

You should do weekly 20-30% water changes and never completely clean it, or you will kill the naturally-occuring bacteria that nitrify ammonia, then turn the nitrites into harmless nitrates.

You should keep the filter on always, so a bacteria colony can establish and thrive in it.How often should I change the water in my fish tank?get a small gravel vac, you dont nedd to clean that often, i only clean mine once a month or when it gets dirty. do s 50 percent water change.How often should I change the water in my fish tank?hey,just buy a simple gravel vacuum and it not only cleans your gravel thoroughly but also takes some of the water out to! you just thread the tube attached to the vacuum into a bucket or sumthing and pump out the water/crud.



youll know you betta has eaten because when you feed you should watch him/her for a min to see it eat and also if t doesnt youd see a dusting of whatever you feed it on the substrate (gravel etc.)

if your worried about it rotting and contaminating the water then buy an apple snail or a couple of amano/cherry shrimp to help you out a little :)



hope i helped.How often should I change the water in my fish tank?start keeping the filter on ALL day, it houses good bacteria when you turn it off some dies.



I'd say between a 10% and a 25% would be good, if you want to know exactly how much, test the water for nitrates.

NEVER change all of the water. the gravel shouldn't get mucky because partial water changes should be done with a gravel siphon. also don't change the filter pad/cartridge, the good bacteria lives on there and when you throw it away your tank has to recycle. instead if it has carbon in it, remove the carbon and then just rinse it off with old tank water during weekly water changes.



really all you need is a gravel siphon (and a bucket to put the water into unless you get a fancy siphon that drains to the sink). a lot of people have a designated bucket, so after they dump out the old water they fill the bucket with new water and add it to the tank. I use old milk jugs to put water in and have them waiting in my room (so I don't have to carry the bucket up and down for each tank, I have 5).

a test kit for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate is a good idea too.



lastly, you don't mention a heater so I just wanted to add that in case you didn't know they should also have a heater :)

I am so glad (and your betta is very lucky) that you got him a bigger tank when you learned he needed more space! a lot of people go %26quot;oh well, it's just a fish he seems fine...%26quot;



do you feed him pellets? you could watch him to make sure he ate, but if not you can tell, if he starts getting skinny he's not eating.How often should I change the water in my fish tank?I would keep the filter running all the time...

For water changes get a gravel vac. It will siphon out the water and all the waste from the gravel.

In a 5 gallon tank with just a Betta 25% every 2 weeks is probably sufficient, but I change 25% of my Bettas water every week and he is in a 10 gallon tank.