It's not as complicated as you think! But please let us know how large your aquarium is, because depending on the size you can't just say "change it once a week".

i don't know if it matters what size the tank is, but i know your not supposed to change all the water. I do a 10% water change each week. And I use a gravel siphon to clean the gravel. If your aquariums are big enough, you could add a small bottom feeder or two to help keep it clean.

AshleyNicole:

If your tank is cycled, then a 100% water change is not recommended. Uncycled small tanks benefit from 100% water changes.

Minaku,as I said ,I have two one gallon tanks for my 2 male bettas. Now what?
Ashely("I use a gravel siphon to clean the gravel")is that some sort of suction device to remove the gravel.
Please bear with me,as I stated,I am new to all of this and could use all the help I can get.
Grice

Grice,

This is not an exact science, because so many factors play into the equation:

How much do you feed?
What sort (if any) of filtration?
How efficient is your filtration?
Live plants in the tanks?
What kind of plants and how many?
And there are many more...

These questions are all sort of of rhetorical, of course, I'm just trying to point out that nobody can give you a one-size-fits-all answer.

In a larger established tank, a 50% water change weekly would probably be overkill, but in your 1 gallon tanks, that's what I would recommend. Be sure to neutralize the chlorine/chloramines in your tap water (if present). Also make sure the water going into the tank is close in temperature to the water coming out. But keep an eye on things. If your water gets cloudy or it starts to smell, do water changes more frequently.

You can get pretty scientific about this, if you wish, and buy a good test kit to check for nitrates, ammonia and other bad things (well, bad for fish, but good for plants!).

I'm personally a big advocate of using live plants in aquariums. Plants are an aquarist's best friend! They do a lot to provide your fish with a healthy environment, and they make a tank look so much more interesting! Begin with some of the hard to kill varieties like anubias and java moss.

I totally missed the 1 gallon tank thing in the initial post. My apologies for being illiterate and blind.

A 1-gallon tank will require a 100% water change weekly. To do less will result in ammonia buildup which will burn and then kill your fish. To do a water change, do the following:

1. Lure Fishie to the surface, then scoop him into a small cup. Cover him and set aside. Make sure he can't jump out.

2. Look at your thermometer and remember the temperature. Dump the water in the tank. Get scalding hot water going from your tap and rinse/scrub all decorations including substrate and the sides of the tank.

3. Adjust the water so that it matches the temperature of the original water. I basically let my tap run and stick my thermometer underneath the stream until the temperature is juuuuust right. A fluctuation of 2 degrees in water will shock a betta. I try to be as accurate as possible. Put dechlorinator and whatever additives you want in your tank (like aquarium salt). Fill with water. Add substrate and decorations.

4. Acclimate Fishie to the new water. Add a bit of the new water to his cup, then float it in the tank for 5 minutes. Keep adding new water until there is more new water than old. Finally, let him swim into his new, clean environment.

All in all, this shouldn't take more than 15 minutes for the change, and another 15 for the acclimation.

I never kept bettas in that sized tank, but a friend of mine's daughter acquired a betta through a school raffle. She had a small (very small - like 1/2 gallon) unfiltered sort of receptacle for the betta (with artificial plants, no heat no light). The betta lived for about a year and a half - but they also were religious about water changes (100% water changes) once a week. What they did was fill up a bottle for the water change - and let the chlorine disappate from the water. Then they added some sort of betta water purifier product when they actually did the water change.

It's not the way I keep my bettas, but her daughter's seemed to do pretty well.

Hi grice,
Since you have a 1 gallon container for each Betta. I would remove the Betta in some of it's old water in plugged sink or cup. Then totally clean out the container, flush out all the 100% junky water, wipe out the glass then put in fresh, luke warm, Stress Coated treated tap water. It is important that you treat the water to get chlorine and other junk out of the tap water. These product treatments only take a few drops then your betta is ready to be put in his clean home. So scoop him in with a small fish net. The reason I would not do a partial water change is because the water has 7 days of waste matter from the fish like a toilet bowl. If you had a pump/filter then yes you would do water changes.
Theresa

Thanks drygulch,I will invest in some live plants after I do more reseach. Any suggestions?
Minaku,no need to appologize. I go illiterate and blind at least twice a week,lol. I'll have to get a thermo. I hear that I should avoid the shiny ones. Thanks again.
Thanks Theresa. I do have an air pump for both tanks and they came with an undergravel filter. I just got so confused. Some said that I should only do a patial change. Said that it would allow healthy bacteria to build but that sounds terrible to me especially when one thinks of it as you said'like a toliet bowl' Yuck!! I am thankful for all the info that has been sent my way so far. I ran across a few of your posts Theresa here about your bettas(I can relate to some of your tales as I too have rescued my two from Walmart. They were simply heartbreaking in those small cups). Though I have to admit that I am such a soft touch that if I saw a betta in a drinking fountain on mainstreet,I would immediatly feel the need for a rescue,LOL. One thing more,is it alright to keep the hood light on during the night? I know that may sound so silly but I thought that since I do not have a heater,the light would provide added warmth to the water.
Well thanks again. Betta and Buddy(the corny names that I selected for my new friens) send thanks as well.
Grice

Personally, I don't keep lights on 24/7... first because algae is more likely to grow (even without real plants, there's always a possibility of algae.) And also fish really do need a period of "night".

I have two three gallon tanks side by side which individually house a single betta. One has a heater, the other does not. I know this is a lousy reason, but I simply ran out of outlets and didn't want to overextend the already overloaded outlet. In any case, the location of these tanks are in the kitchen which does get rather cold in the winter (bad heating, drafts) but the tanks are set over the sill where the radiator is. The unheated tank does well - the current resident betta has been there for 2 years. But the smaller the tank, the more fluctuation in temps in accordance to the air temps.

They make low wattage heaters (25 watts) which probably would be fine for your 1 gallon tank. If the room where you keep the betta is pretty cool in the winter, it's definitely worth the investment.

You could buy an extra tank fill it and let sit overnight then move fish into it. Clorine will have dissapiated and tempeture will be the same.

Skygee I hadn't a clue about the algae,thanks for the heads up. I didn't know that fish needed some 'night time',though that makes sense,we all need to rest sometime.
So I should get a low watt heater? I thought I should though many tell me that a heater in anything less than a five gallon tank would fry the poor fish.

Thanks James for the suggestion.
Grice

Invest in a 25 watt that has temp controls. They're a little more expensive than the set ones, but worth the price if you love your betta! :)