Cleaning tips?

[ilovenickle]

My tank and bowl are new enough to not appear very dirty yet.

However, whether they LOOK clean or not, I realize weekly changes are for the best. Does anyone have any tips on how I can make this go smoothly? I already pre-treat my water. I have 4 gallons ready to go, in jugs. I haven't found a single article providing me with advice on how to clean my betta's bowl. Should I just change all of the water at once, or 25% of his 2 gallons? What about his substrate? I'm planning on putting a live plant in his bowl next month. How will this affect his cleaning?

SETUP: A two-gallon drum bowl with a single crown-tail betta and an artificial plant (for now, live ones will be added soon). One inch of gravel on the bottom.

When I'm cleaning my aquarium, is it enough to siphon the gravel and change 25% of the water? Since my tank is newer should I change more or less water? Does anyone have any tips on siphoning? It seems difficult. How long should I let the replacement water stand before adding it to the tank? A day or two? Should I remove my fish from the tank when I clean it?

SETUP: A ten-gallon aquarium with a 10i Whisper filter. One and a half inches of gravel on bottom, anchoring four live aquatic plants. Three zebra danios (I plan on getting two more later. I didn't want to overwhelm my filter.) One rock.


Sorry for all of the questions, but I love my fishes, and I don't want them to be very stressed out.

[DemonShark]

just take a cup and dip it in and take out water then replace it with new

[kimmers318]

Do a google search on betta care to find out how much water to change weekly when they are in an unfiltered setup (bowl), mine are both in filtered aquariums so a weekly gravel vac/water change is sufficient.
I believe it is recommended to gravel vac/water change 10-20% weekly...I usually lean towards the 20% because it takes that long to get the "gunk" out of the gravel.
What are you treating your water with? It is generally recommended to use a water conditioner that can remove chlorine, neutralize chloramine and heavy metals in tap water....I personally use stresscoat....others recommend prime. Letting water sit will allow the chlorine to dissipate but not the chloramine that is sometimes added to tap water. That will also allow it to get room temp, which is fine for your unheated bowl, but for a heated aquarium you will want to bring the temp of the water for water changes to the temp of the aquarium so you don't shock the fish.
Siphoning is not difficult once you get the hang of it....although it is harder for bowls. To create the siphon action the gravel vac needs to be filled with water before being submerged with the vac head in the tank/bowl and the hose end in a bucket, that is all there is to it.