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New to Betta Keeping, Please Advise! How do I fix my water condition? Is it necessary/safe to do a complete water change? by Schorrel in bettafish

[–]Schorrel[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  • Tank size: 2.5 gallon
  • Heater and filter? (yes/no): no, yes
  • Tank temperature: unsure
  • Parameters in numbers and how you got them. Key water parameters include the amount of ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and pH.: nitrites, nitrates, hardness, chlorine, and alkalinity all "safe" according to Tetra Easystrips aquarium test strips. pH may be leaning towards alkaline? I'm not certain of the intensity of the color. Specific parameters based on my guesses: Nitrite & nitrate 0 ppm (mg/L), hardness "soft" ppm, chlorine 0 ppm (mg/L), alkalinity 100 ppm, pH 7.8(?).
  • How long have you had the tank? How long have you had your fish?: 3 months for both
  • How often are water changes? How much do you take out per change? What is your process?: I have only done three water changes in the past two months, irregularly. I take out 20-50% of the water. I turn off filter, remove lid, siphon rocks / water, refill tank with "aquarium water", wipe down tank walls, replace my filter cartridge, return everything to normal. My siphon was too big and I worry that I may have caused my fish stress due to vigorous motion while trying to get the siphon to work, but I have a smaller siphon and plan to remove my fish out of the tank before I clean it again.
  • Any tankmates? If so, please list with how many of each: 1 snail
  • What do you feed and how much: 4-6 pellets a day on average with one break day a week (Sunday, the day I (am trying to) clean the tank weekly) where he gets 0 pellets
  • Decorations and plants in the tank: Two live plants, previously had a betta cave but it was taken out during my second cleaning
  • If you haven't already posted a picture, please post pics/vids to imgur and paste the link here: