Betta going from neglected tank to brand new tank… will it shock him?

[Karen B.]

Greetings 

I am very ashamed to admit I have been neglecting one of my betta’s tank (a 5 gallons). The main reason being I was going to upgrade it to a 10 gallons, I didn’t keep the usual maintenance I do like vacuum cleaning the substrate, algae control, plants care, etc.

The problem is that the transfer took longer than I tought - it was supposed to happen about 4 weeks ago. So the tank got neglected, and worst and worst. I still did WC weekly (well, I topped it every week as it doesn’t have a top and about 15-20% of the water evaporates.)

But a lot of algae covers the glass, some plants has hair algae and other plants have just been somewhat dying. The catappa leaf left a lot of debris, so did the wood (it accumulated as I didn’t vacuum). Granted I didn’t stir the water but it still wasn’t as clean and clear (but it wasn’t cloudy. Just a bit more debris floating around).

Anyway, so today I started the transfer - I siphoned about 3 gallons of water (the cleanest one on top) into a bucket, put the sponge filter, the heater, some decor and floating plants in it. I added about 1 gallon of new dechlorinated water Then I added the betta and it will be his house for the next two day as I build his new tank. I am using his old substrate but had to add more (going from 5 gallons to 10), and the manufacturer says to wait 2 days before adding any fish to the aquarium to let the filter remove any particules. It will also give me time to plant back the tank and run the filter with its seeded media to kick-start the cycle.

My main concern tho is that I am afraid to shock the fish going from a not so top clean water/tank to a very new tank. I did try to siphon the cleanest water to put in the bucket and did add brand new water. But what are your opinion? Any tips or advice to make sure he doesn’t get shocked?

Thank you

[Guppysnail]

As long as your parameters are close new tank to current holding bucket he will be fine. Are sure temp and ph are close and it should be fine. 

[Wrencher_Scott]

No problems there, but going the other way like a new fish into bad water is not good. Fish can get used to bad water over time and the new ones could be harmed when put in the foul water.

[Torrey]

On 5/17/2022 at 6:37 PM, Karen B. said:

Greetings 

I am very ashamed to admit I have been neglecting one of my betta’s tank (a 5 gallons). The main reason being I was going to upgrade it to a 10 gallons, I didn’t keep the usual maintenance I do like vacuum cleaning the substrate, algae control, plants care, etc.

The problem is that the transfer took longer than I tought - it was supposed to happen about 4 weeks ago. So the tank got neglected, and worst and worst. I still did WC weekly (well, I topped it every week as it doesn’t have a top and about 15-20% of the water evaporates.)

But a lot of algae covers the glass, some plants has hair algae and other plants have just been somewhat dying. The catappa leaf left a lot of debris, so did the wood (it accumulated as I didn’t vacuum). Granted I didn’t stir the water but it still wasn’t as clean and clear (but it wasn’t cloudy. Just a bit more debris floating around).

Anyway, so today I started the transfer - I siphoned about 3 gallons of water (the cleanest one on top) into a bucket, put the sponge filter, the heater, some decor and floating plants in it. I added about 1 gallon of new dechlorinated water Then I added the betta and it will be his house for the next two day as I build his new tank. I am using his old substrate but had to add more (going from 5 gallons to 10), and the manufacturer says to wait 2 days before adding any fish to the aquarium to let the filter remove any particules. It will also give me time to plant back the tank and run the filter with its seeded media to kick-start the cycle.

My main concern tho is that I am afraid to shock the fish going from a not so top clean water/tank to a very new tank. I did try to siphon the cleanest water to put in the bucket and did add brand new water. But what are your opinion? Any tips or advice to make sure he doesn’t get shocked?

Thank you

Follow your normal acclimation, just you are using the bucket in a few days to do the acclimation in.

Temperature is the biggest parameter they don't like sudden drops in.

Here's Cory's interview of Gianne, an IBC Betta judge and betta breeder, with information on how to keep bettas the happiest and healthiest.