1st time betta/fish owner.

So I just got a new betta on July 5th, this is the first fish I have owned other than carnival fish when i was a kid that never lasted more than a day, and now I know why. Any how, I have him in a 1.5gal(yes I know a betta needs at least 5gal) tank. But this is what i have and he seems to be doing fine. I plan on cleaning his tank this sun, but not sure how to go about it. I know I need to change 25-50% if not all of it being that the tank is so small... Should I just get a water siphon and do it that way?

Before I got him I put the water in the tank with a new filter and let run a few days.(filter is not running now.)
And then the day I broght him home I acclimated him slowly, about a total of 6 hours.

Here is what I have so far for him...
I have Aquairium salt...1tsp/gal.
StartRight Water Conditioner.
AquaCulture Betta Pellet food. (which he spits out, unless he's hungry)
Freeze dried Blood worms(he likes, but i have only given him one per day only twice this week.)
I have BettaMin(which has flakes and freeze dried brine shrimp. Of course the flakes he spits out and the brine shrimp he eats)
I am keeping a feeding chart so I don't over feed him any one thing.

I'm thinking of fasting him over the weekend 1-2 days, and giving him the frozen blanched pea. Since I have read that helps clean his system.

I haven't seen him poop, but I have fancy colored(neon)gravel so it might be in there.
Hes doesn't looked swollen, his not swimming funny... so I think he's alright there. Of course I want to avoid any problems.

He's already making his bubble nest. He seems pretty active and he likes to greet me(or so it seems).

So other than the fact that I need a bigger tank... I just need to know how I should clean what he has now, and do the water change. I bought some betta bulbs, but I took them out and attempted to start them in a separate container that has conditioned water in it. But I don't think they will grow. i think i'll go to the pet store and get an already growing plant for him, he has a little cave which he sleeps in sometimes, but that is just about it... and at least once a day we play "Macho fish" with a mirror... to let him flare.
But he doesn't really need the mirror, sometimes he just flares at his shadow in the glass...

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks Any sorry for writing a book. I'll post a pic of him shortly.

since you have a little(1.5 gallon tank) tank so you need a carefull maintainance..you do change the water in every other day..also fssing 1 day only..don't overfeed him bcoz ot was produce high NH3 and nitrite level..this can be very harmful to your fish..

Wow he is a real pretty betta. I suggest you change all of his water because his tank isn't cycled and it is rather small. If you are going to get him the five gallon, make sure you cycle it so you won't have to bother changing all of the water unlike the 1.5 gallon. There is a blog in the blog section about the nitrogen cycle and if you get the five gallon, you can change about 20 percent every week. If you have more questions or questions I didn't answer, feel free to ask.

Also welcome to the forum and happy fish keeping!

ok everything ur doing sounds great but i would change the water 100% or close to that everyday in the 1.5 gallon tank once u get the 5 gallon tank which he will be really happy in with live plants i would change the water mayber like 50% twice a week or 100% once every week.one major this though that anoyes me as a betta breeder i would never add salt to a bettas tank! yea its good for a lot of other fish but not good with bettas it could hurt there fins easyly and can kill if over doused. i would stop adding salt to the water....for the plant bulbs i have gotten some to grow before but it was a different brand (they where like lilys/lily pads and something else) but i have seen the type you have before i would give them a month or two and see if they do anything. i wouold go and buy some live easy plants though just in case they dont work and its never bad to have exra plants just in case one dyes

So i'm a little confused about how frequently i should be changing the water... and when i do change the water... i know its has to be conditioned and at a similar temp, but do i have to re-acclimate him to the new water? And being that it is a small tank, should i take ou the gravel to clean it?

do change the water in every other day..for maintaining same temp of water the water you provide keep in a plastic bucket pour onto the water surface..do it for 15 minutes almost..then the new water you'll provide in your little tank will have same temp with the older water....

Just in case, you should acclimate him to the new water if you are going to do the 100 percent water changes. I think you should clean the gravel too because you aren't going to cycle the tank anyways. But when you do get the five gallon, don't clean out the gravel because that is where a lot of good bacteria will reside.

Welcome to our forum.

You can use a clear syphon hose to remove part of the water. You may also get a turkey baster to pull out any uneaten food. What type of filter does the aquarium have? It should be on all of the time unless it makes the water too turbulent. If the filter is an under gravel type or a sponge type, you can adjust air flow by putting a bleed valve in the air hose.

As for partial water change frequency, the average recommendation is 25 percent once a week. A very small aquarium may require more frequent partial water changes, because a small volume of water gets polluted with just a small amount of over feeding.

I have a a whisper in tank filter that sits on the side of the tank, I have been running only for a few hours a day since it does create some current, but i am so paranoid about stressing the fish that i don't keep it on very long.

The tank is actually a Tetra 1.5gal, that comes with the filter and air pump thingy. The tank was given to me by a friend.

So I think I will change the water today, but if I only do a partial change more frequently should I take him out?

I am also thinking of getting a new tank for him next week... is a 3gal still too small?
And if I do get another tank I suppose I should get the filter and air pump set up too... Wal-mart usually sells the kits, so I was thinking of going in that direction.

Also once I get everything down pat with "Spike" I want to get a larger tank for other tropical fish... that other subject all together though.

So I have some that say 100% water change once a week, 50% twice a week and then there is daily changes? I would think the daily would be too much strain on the fish... But once again i am a "New Betta Mom" And I suppose just like babies, everyone raises theirs differently.

Yeah I think too much current is stressful for a betta. 3 gallons is fine for a betta in my opinion. If you do the partial water change you don't have to take out the betta. I currently keep another betta in a 5 gallon made by marineland. There is a tank on the market made by marineland that is 3 gallons. It is an eclipse system. I personally prefer these tanks for bettas. It is a wonderful tank in my opinion.

for a 3 gallon tank if you change partially the watewr you may not buy a filtr but you have to buy an air pump...ok change 50% twice in evry week and 100% once a week.but also you have to check whether the water is clean or not..small tankalaways need carefull set up.

Thanks for the advice on the 3 gal tank...

So. I just did a complete water change, rinsed out the tank and his little cave, put the filter and air pump back in and added a full new gallon and some of new conditioned tap water, same as I used when i first brought him home, now I seem to feel more nervous about getting him re introduced with the new water, since he has been doing so well.

Its about 8:55pm and right now i have him floating in a plastic cup with the old water... the one he actually came in, on top of the new water I put in the tank. I have the filter running as well, because when I poured the new water in it kicked up sediment or something from the gravel and made the water foggy? Maybe I need new gravel? I guess I will be slowly re-acclimating him as I did when he first cam home. But I am so nervous that this won't go well... I didn't add aquarium salt this time, just the water conditioner. How long should I take to get him acclimated to the water this time, I took 6 hours when he first came home... but its 9pm now...I'd be up till 3... guess I picked the wrong time to do this, but i will be gone most of the day Saturday, and won't be back till sunday eve.

You don't have to acclimate the betta for six hours. That's a long time. Did you rinse the gravel thoroughly before you added it in the tank? The betta will be fine. Don't worry. Your on the right track.

hm good work...you do the right thing that you have to do...before introducing gravel in your tank clean it throughly so that foggy may not appear...no you can use the older gravel...

I think I rinsed the gravel well? Well enough?

So I will slowly reintroduce the new water into what I have him in now with the old water... new water every 30min till he's pretty much all in the new water? So maybe 2 hours at max? Is that too long?

Since I put him in the plastic jar he cam in, he doesn't look happy... its clear.. and I think he wants to swim through it... He'll be out soon enough...

As long as the temp. of the new water isn't that different with the temp. of the old water, you can acclimate him for about 15 minutes. There is a better way to acclimate fish. It's in the blog section and it's called the drip acclimation method.

hm he'll....and 2 hours is too long time...

Thanks for all the tips and advice, i think once I get through Spike's(my betta)first water change, I think i will be more comfortable with the whole fish keeping process.

Welcome, Andrea.

I am a fairly new Betta owner and I've learned a lot over the past year. I hope I can add some good advice too. If you are interested you can read my post "Ongoing Betta Tail Rot" which includes problems that I had with a small tank and keeping my Betta happy. I moved him to a 10 gallon tank and the difference I found in the 'life' of a Betta was incredible. He went from looking lethargic, laying at the bottom of his small home to being lively and healthy. I can't say enough about not putting Bettas in small tanks. I learned my lesson.

I rigged up a damper on my filter so that the turbulence was lessened but still worked to clean the water. I attached photos to the post I mentioned above. I hope this helps.

Good luck to you in your new hobby.