Suitable Water Changes For A 22 Litre Tank

Live plants will use fish poo as fertiliser so hoover the gravel where there are no roots and leave the bits round the roots.

With 22% I would change a quarter, ie 5.5 litres.


When I had gravel I never needed to remove the fish. How vigorous are you with the siphon tube? You just need to push the open end of the tube into the gravel, wiggle it round a bit and wait till the muck stops flowing then gently remove the tube and do the next bit the same way.

I've always used a manual siphon. They are easy to control, you just keep your spare hand on the tubing so you can pinch it flat if you need to stop the water flow in a hurry.

This one has a squeeze bulb to start the siphon (useful in a small aquarium) and it looks as though it has squashable tubing unlike the similar looking biorb siphon which has unsquashable corrugated tubing.


But bettas can be a problem. They are inquisitive fish and often hover round the siphon tube in the hope there is food. It is possible to clean a tank with a betta in there - I do it - but you can't take your eyes off the fish for a second.
The problem with taking them out to clean the tank is it is too easy to damage their fins when netting them. And it is quite stressful for the fish.

Using a jug is much better than a net. If he copes well with it, that might be better than risking him getting in the way.