Q&A for How to Clean a Fish Bowl

Males have longer fins; females have shorter ones and have an egg spot. The egg spot is like a white dot underneath the betta's "chin". Males also have a "beard" (larger gills) when flaring.

Since you have a goldfish in the tank you should do a half water change every week if you do not have a filter. It should be fully scrubbed if it is in an unfiltered tank as goldfish produce a lot of waste. Also you should probably get a bigger tank for three fish.

Check out this article on How to Tell if Your Goldfish Is a Male or Female .

No. Use a small net or large spoon to pick them up. Then put them in a bowl of water.

It depends on what type of fish you have in the bowl. Most fish require an air stone, but certain fish, such as bettas and other labyrinth fish, just take in oxygen from the surface to supplement their breathing.

Fish bowls with live plants don't require cleaning as in-depth as non-planted tanks. With your hand or a sponge, remove algae from the plants and sides of the bowl.

Yes. Unless you clean the tank at least twice a week, ammonia will build up and kill your fish very quickly.

Use a net, and fill the temporary bowl with water from the old one so your fish are used to it, then after you have cleaned the old bowl fill it a little more than halfway with new water and fill the rest of it with the old water.

Java moss and java fern are very pretty and easy. Look online for more options.

Slowly stick the net part inside the water. Wait until the fish swims over the underwater part of the net. Scoop it up. If this won't work, try scooping it up while the fish is in the middle of the water, but do it slowly.

There could be multiple contributors to your fish dying. First, with a five gallon tank/bowl, the water can get cold really quickly, and cold water that doesn't match the ideal temperatures of a fish's natural habitat can kill the fish. Also, if you used tap water without getting water conditioner to level out the levels of chlorine and flouride, then that's definitely what happened. Lastly, seven fishes in a five gallon fish tank is, in my eyes, a little too many fish, and sickness could've spread easily.

It is probably the oxygen bubbles you see. They are very small, but you can see them with a magnifying lens. It should clear up in a couple of hours.

You shouldn't use bottled water, as it does not have the right minerals for fish (provided in tap water and water conditioner) and may have added minerals that are harmful. Water conditioners can run at $10 USD per large bottle that will treat about 2000 gallons, so in the long-term it will not be as expensive as bottled water.

Fill the bowl almost to the top. If you're adding decorations after, then fill it with less water so it won't spill over.

Follow the methods in Take Care of a Betta Fish .

Actually yes, because live plants eat up nitrates. Live plants are very beneficial to the water but have requirements of their own, like appropriate light amounts and fertilizer.