A sigh of relief for my bettas

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mikedel

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Oct 27, 2003
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I have a pair of bettas in their own 3/4 gallon vases. I bought them before I knew all about the whole nitrogen cycle, heaters and filters. I was assured by the guy at the petstore all they needed was a bowl to live in. Now I know better. Since then I have felt guilty about makeing them live in a "toxic wasteland" that everyone says fish in a bowl live in. So I never bothered to test the water. For kicks and giggle though I decided to finally test it, and suprisingly it wasnt that bad. Amonnia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 20 Ph 6.6. That makes me feel alittle better about making them live in the bowls till I can get them a tank. The water test raised a couple questions for me though. Why is it that I use the same water for both the bettas and my 2 tanks, and the Ph for the bettas is 6.6 while the Ph for my 55g and 10g are both at 7.2? My secound question is what will be the best to aclamate the bettas to the higher Ph When I get their new tank set up?


Thanks,
Mike
 

aquariumfishguy

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With your pH, Bettas dont need any sort of "acclimation". It is ok, DO NOT try to change it! :D

And with the various pH readings, all I can say is sometimes with city water the pH varies depending on if the water company is treating the water at different levels. Also, in small containers (bowls?) the water quality level goes down significantly and in turn, this can lower the pH a little. Perhaps this is what you are seeing...
 

mikedel

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So going from a bowl where the Ph is at 6.6 I can stick them directly into a tank where the water ph is at 7.2 and it wont shock them?
 

shewlett

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I would first set up the new tank completely and let it sit for a few days and then test that tank's pH. If it is significantly different from the pH of the bowl I would do a partial (approx. 25%) water change in the bowl using the new tank's water. A couple of days later I would repeat the process. The goal is not to shock the betta with radically different water parameters. Once the bowl is near the tank in terms of pH you could then move the betta to the tank, assuming temperature and dH are similar.

Make sure you have a divider for the new tank if both bettas are going into it so you don't have a brawl on your hands. An opaque divider is best so the fish aren't constantly stressed by each other's prescence.
 

OrionGirl

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I think AFG was urging you not to try to change the pH in the bowl--you will need to acclimate the fish to the higher pH when you move them into another tank.

The pH is likely low in the betta bowls as a result of the biological processes eating away the buffer (KH). In the other tanks, you may have rocks or decorations that are slowly contributing to the alkalinity--crushed coral, shelss, etc. To move the bettas into the higher pH, I would start by slowly adding the water from the destination tank into the current bowl--1-2 cups of water each day, until they are equal.
 
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