ok...i just set up my 2.5 gallon iduvidual tank and i was wondering how often i needed to clean it, i am currently cleaning it once a week and i don't have any algae but do you think i should be cleaning it more frequently?
How often is going to depend on a few different factors. What drives it all is water quality, which you already knew. So the first thing to think about is how many fish are in there. The more fish, the more waste, toxins and hormones that needs to be dealt with. You could keep ten bettas in there, but you would need to change the water several times a day. Just for relevance sake I'll assume it has a single betta in it.
The next thing that needs to be taken into consideration is if you have filtration of any kind in there. There are different kinds of filtration. It is possible to have either biological, chemical or mechanical, as well as a combination for a tank of that size. Filtration will give you some help in water quality, although for a tank that size it would be more of a false sense of security.
One of the big problems with a small tank is hormones. Fish give off a hormone that inhibits growth. The hormone evolved, I'm guessing, to keep fish in a given area to not out grow the food source. Bigger fish eat more. If they stay small there will be more food to go around. Hormones can't be filtered out. Basically keep in mind that you will have to do water changes to keep from your fish's growth being stunted. It's because of these hormones that the myth got started that a fish will only grow to the size of the container it's in. Now keeping this in mind it kind of seems a waste of time and energy to bother with a filtration system if you're going to be needing to remove those hormones with water changes anyway. It's a personal preference.
One advantage to having some sort of filtration in a small tank of this size is that the water circulating will create a current. Now, of course, you wouldn't want to be getting too much current in there with a male betta with big fins. He would be struggling constantly. The prolonged stress would make him more prone to getting sick. Slight water movement will give a betta some exercise.
Think of a person who leads a sedentary lifestyle and someone who is active. Now which do you think is going to be more likely to be healthier? Even something as simple as an airstone would help. My personal exercise program involves baby guppies. It gives them something to get excited about.
Another idea is live plants. They readily absorb nutrients that can be harmful. Java fern and duckweed are two good ones. Keep in mind that you need to feed the plants also.
If you thought I had a lot - - - there's more! Heat. How warm is this environment going to be? The warmer the water the faster the fish metabolize. Bettas can take temps up to 90! Not a good idea to keep them at that, but they aren't going to die from it. The higher the heat, the more they will eat, the more they will poop. You get where I'm going with this. Not to mention higher temps makes fish age faster. Keep them in the upper 70s - low 80s and you'll get the best color and behavior.
Then there's pH! I don't want to get into this too much, but the lower your pH the the fish waste is going to be more toxic to your fish.
Last but not least is how much you feed your fish. That one is pretty easy to understand.
LET ME SUMMARIZE
Things that would lean towards more water changes:
- More than 1 betta
- No filtration
- No plants
- Higher water temps (mid 80s)
- Low pH
- Too much food or uneaten food in the water
Long story short....
Try 50% every 2-3 days and watch the water quality. You want to get ammonia, nitrite and nitrate out of there. There's not a magical answer. Observe your fish, they will let you know if they are happy. If they startle easily you're over due on a water change. One recommendation is to age your water for a day before water changes. The water will get a chance to degas and your fish will be more comfortable.
I'm sorry for the over kill. This may be handy for someone later on that isn't familiar with having fish. I just hope this gets you going in the direction you wanted.
Do, Observe, Adjust Accordingly, and NEVER FORGET TO KEEP IT FUN!
What an excellent answer. I have a 2.5 minibow and I change it out once a week, however it has filtration on and running on high and has only one betta per tank and I do not overfeed.
Only problem I see with this is that in a cycled (larger than 2.5 gal) tank... WC's every 2-3 days might not give your beneficial bacteria enough time to regenerate between changes. Also, smaller tanks require 100% WC's usually, so defeat the purpose of trying to cycle the tank. I quit keeping bettas in smaller tanks... now I keep them in a divided 10 and do 50% WC's every 2 weeks... LAZY, I know... but they seem happy with it.
As far as flow. Plato has 4x turnover in his section and does fine.
They do learn to swim quite well if you start them slowly and allow them to build up their strength as you raise the flow. Kinda like you going to the gym, you start slowly and increase the weights as you go.
As far as hormones go. I haven't had any problems... but I have a 10 gallon with 3 girls in a sorrority, a male, and a female seperated and they have grown quite large.
So, it has 5 fish... pretty low stocking really.
In a 2.5 gal. filtered... I'd say once every 4-5 days is the MINIMUM...
In a 2.5 gal. unfiltered... you might get away with 2-3 days... but then there is NO SKIPPING ALLOWED... and therefore, probably no vacations either.
Anything smaller... every day or 2 would be best.