Q&A for How to Clean a Betta Fish Bowl

It might be cold, sick (check for hyperventilating, swollen belly, sudden dull colors, and lack of appetite), or bored.

Make sure it is the same temp each time you change it, because it can stress out the fish. If you take out the fish, get a container and put the old water in it.

No. Bottled water is treated with the same chemical (chlorine) as tap water. As an alternative to using conditioner or dechlorinator to make the tap water safe, you can put the water out in a open container overnight. This allows the chlorine to evaporate, making the water safe.

They do. See How to Take Care of a Betta Fish for all of the details.

Yes, do not add rain water to your betta's tank.

Your betta should be swimming around your fish bowl, and not just floating in one spot. You can also try the finger test. Basically you just move your finger around and see if your fish follows it. Also, your fish's color will be vibrant if it is happy and healthy.

Betta fish need at least 2.5 gallons of water. Betta fish die faster if they're in a bowl due to a smaller environment. This can stress the fish out or cause viruses and bacteria to grow quicker, which is sometimes good, but not always.

Tap water is fine as long as you add water conditioner to it, but without it the water could be harmful to the fish.

That is completely normal; it means it is preparing to sleep or is sleeping.

Your betta may be bored or cold. Check the temperature and add a heater if needed, and make sure there are stimulating things in your betta's tank, like hideouts and plants.

It will take out the toxins in the water that could harm your betta, and it will help your betta develop a stress coat. A stress coat will help the fish to not be stressed.

Your betta may be shocked. Never do a full water change as this stresses and shocks your betta; do about a 25% change weekly.

No, it would be too much of a change for the fish and might send it into shock and kill it. You can change 50-80% of the dirty water but no more than that. Also, tap water is harmful on its own so you need to put water conditioner in it to make it safe for the fish.

I change out 1 gallon of water every week. I clean the plants and objects once a month. Every once in a while you may wart to make sure your filters aren't moldy.

Get a larger tank for your fish. You shouldn't keep your fish in a small bowl.

Yes, or at least until it gets to room temperature. Tt might take longer if it's a bigger tank. If you don't, it could send the fish into shock from the temperature change and kill it.

No, but if you have a filter, you will only have to clean the bowl once a month, as opposed to once a week.

I use the plastic cup that my betta came in to scoop her out of the water, but you could also use a net or another cup. As long as you're careful not to tear their fins, your betta will be fine.

If you have a piece of net of some sort, use that. You could also use a soup spoon (don't use it for soup again afterwards). But your best bet is to go to the store and buy a fish net.

If you feed flakes, it might be the remaining flakes breaking up and going to the bottom of the bowl. Try feeding pellets instead. Also, please take the betta out of the bowl and into a 2.5 gallon tank with a filter. Nothing, except aquarium shrimp, can live in a fish bowl. Pet store employees are told myths, not facts.

Once a week with conditioner. Twice with no conditioner. If it gets foggy, clean it ASAP.

Just use a cup and scoop out your betta. It's less stressful than using a net.

The aquarium salt container will tell you how much salt to add per gallon of water (or some other metric).

Yes. If you don't, your betta will die from the chemicals used to treat tap water, like chlorine.

No. Getting a bigger tank will help, as will certain varieties of food (brine shrimp, mosquito larvae, wingless fruit flies, etc.).

It would be better to use fake plants. If you want to use real plants, please make sure that they are clean and don't use dirt. If your water gets foggy, take them out asap! Also you would need to clean the water more often, possibly change 20% 2-3 times a week. If the fish looks stressed take them out and clean the whole tank.

Yes. I use spring water bought at the grocery store as recommended by the sales person at Petsmart. My betta as done well so far and has started blowing a nest of bubbles on top of the water, which is a sign he is healthy and happy.

If you have decorations, move them to different spots. Putting a small mirror against the tank and making the fish flare helps them with confidence and exercise, but don't do it for more than 3 minutes, as they will get stressed out and become prone to diseases. Also, buy decorations like fake or live plants and a small fish house so they can rest and hide.

If the water is cloudy or dirty, it should be changed. However, you can change the water 80% once a week and do small, partial water changes daily to simulate the constant flow of clean water in the wild.

As long as there is space for the fish to swim, you absolutely can! The fish needs at least 2.5 gallons of water for a filter, so you will be totally fine.