Bettas by Jennifer Lapello
Whether you own one pet Betta or a thousand Bettas, water quality is the single most important factor to keep your Betta(s) healthy. It needs to be kept clean at all times and prepared properly to ensure that your fish will be happy and healthy.
Most people these days receive their water from municipal water sources (AKA city water). Most water treatment facilities use both Chlorine and Chloramines to disinfect drinking water. I have read on many websites that you can simply "age" your water (let it sit out overnight) to allow Chlorine, which is highly evaporative, to dissipate. However, Chloramines DO NOT evaporate, so most people will need to use a commercially-prepared water conditioner such as Novaqua or Amquel. These products instantly remove all chemicals from your water, making it safe for fish.
If you receive well water, you may or may not have to make adjustments. Some people receive excellent water from their wells, while others get nasty, hard water with heavy mineral content. It all depends on where you're at and how much stuff your water is picking up in the ground and well before it reaches your house. The good news is that it is free of Chlorine and Chloramines. For extremely hard water, I recommend using a water softener. It isn't cheap to set up, but it will save you many headaches in the long run. Not to mention that it will also soften the water that you bathe in and wash your clothes in, which is an added bonus. Many people will claim that there are adverse effects to using water from a water softener on aquatic species, but that is because they have been misinformed. Water that has been cycled through a water softener is 100% safe for your Bettas. Another option for treating hard water for fish is a Reverse Osmosis (R/O) unit. R/O units are not cheap, but if you are going to be breeding Bettas in really hard water, it is a wise investment. You can either using straight R/O water (with commercially prepared trace minerals added back in), or you can mix it 50/50 with your tap water.
Whatever you do, do not use distilled water on your Bettas! Distilled water does not contain necessary electrolytes and minerals that your fish need to survive. You can mix it with tap water to make slight adjustments, but don't overdo it.
Another option is purchasing R/O water from your local fish store. I have never personally seen this at any of my local fish stores, but I have talked to several people who have purchased water this way. The only downside to this is that you will have to transport the water to your home, which could be quite a task if you keep several Bettas. I'm sure it can get costly too.
Whenever you do a water change, you want to make sure that the water you are adding is the same temperature as the water you are replacing. Bettas are highly sensitive to temperature changes. The best way to do this is to let the new water sit next to your Betta for several hours or overnight. This isn't always possible if you have hundreds of jars or several tanks to clean though. What I do is fill up 5-gallon buckets using a hose hooked up to the utility tub in the basement right before I do water changes. I hold my hand under the running water and adjust the temperature as necessary to get it to the same temperature as the Bettas' water I am going to change. This takes some practice, and you have to be careful with this method, because the water temperature can change as the water runs, especially if it takes a while for your hot water to navigate through the pipes. However, once you have this method down, it does save time when you have to change large quantities of water.
There are several water parameters that can be tested for your Bettas, but I am just going to cover the most important ones for Bettas here.
PH is an indication of how acidic or alkaline your water is. A PH of 7 is considered neutral. PH below 7 is considered acidic, while PH above 7 is considered alkaline. Bettas prefer soft, slightly acidic water. Anything between a PH of 6 and 8 should be safe for Bettas, but you should try to mantain it between 6 and 7 for the best results.
Simply buy a test kit to determine your PH. I recommend a decent one where you put water in a tube and add drops of PH testing solution into the tube of water to test it. I have used the "quick dip" strips in the past, but I feel that you get a more accurate reading using the chemical test kits.
If your PH is too high, there are a few things you can try. Peat moss will lower PH. You can either design some sort of filter that contains peat to run your tap water through, or you can prepare your water in large containers and let the peat soak in it for a while, usually in a "pillow" of some sort.
There are also several commercial PH reducers, which usually involves adding so many drops per gallon until the desired PH is reached.
The other option is again, using R/O water, either straight or mixing it with your tap water.
If your PH is too low, you can adjust it using different methods. You can filter it over limestone. You can also put it in a large container ahead of time and aerate it. Or, you can use a commercially-prepared substance to raise it, which works the same way as the chemicals that are used to lower PH. Most people in the United States will not have PH too low for Bettas, but it should be tested anyway.
When doing PH changes, always test your water, and lower or raise the PH slowly. Do not change it by more than 0.2 per water change, as you can shock your Bettas with PH swings. Depeding on how much you need to change your existing PH, it may take several water changes to get it where you want it. However, it is better to make the changes slowly and let your Bettas adjust to it slowly.
GH or general hardness, is the amount of metal ion concentration in your water. Ideally, you would like to keep this under 140ppm, which is the high-end for soft water. This may be very hard to acheive though for people with very hard water. Anything 320ppm and above is considered hard, and if you're over 530ppm, you really have hard water problems. Hard water makes it more diffuicult for males to build bubblenests, because they pop in hard water, and you may find mineral deposits in tanks and containers. High GH has also been liked to the all too familiar ray-curling in Crowntails, although it is not the only factor involved with curling rays. GH can be lowered either by again, using peat moss, or by mixing in R/O water or using a water softener.
Bettas being used in a breeding program are usually kept in smaller containers which need water changes once or twice a week, so KH (carbonate hardness/the buffering capacity of the water) is a non-issue for most breeders. Even in spawn tanks and grow out tanks, Betta breeders change the water so often that we don't usually have to worry too much about KH levels. However, if you are going to have one Betta in a large container or tank that does not require twice weekly or weekly water changes, you should test your KH. Also, altering the PH and GH of your water will affect your KH levels, which can cause dangerous swings in PH. So, if you are keeping pet Bettas, it is probably best not to mess around with PH or GH unless you have a severe problem with one or the other.
For an adult Betta kept in the bare minimum of space (1/2 gallon), 100% water changes need to be done religiously twice a week. If kept in a gallon container, 100% water changes can be done once a week. For larger containers or tanks, water changes can be done less frequently, or reduced to 50% water changes on a frequent basis. If you are unsure when your Betta's water needs to be changed, you can again use a test kit. You will want to test for Ammonia, Nitrities, and Nitrates. Ideally, you will want to get readings as close to 0ppm as possible for each of these. When you test your water and see something starting to test high, change as much water as possible immediately.
Preparing the water
PH
GH
Frequency of water changes