I have been wondering about frequent water changes and the absence of bacteria colonies. Do Bettas not need the bacteria like other fish do?

The purpose for bacteria is to break down the waste and leftover food.
That bacteria is kept alive by some sort of oxygenation - usually a filter or airstone - which one of those 2 also helps to oxygenate the water for fish that aren't surface breathers.

Since bettas are surface breathers, they don't need to have a filter or airstone - and therefore they can live in a tank that doesn't have either. Then, the tank can be completely emptied and rinsed, therefore ridding the tank of bacteria.

So in other words, the tank doesn't need to be cycled.

Hope that makes sense :)

Ok, thanks I was just curious as to how it works but now it makes sense. In a 1 gal jar how often should the water be changed? I try to remember to do it once a week but forget half the time, it rarely goes over 2 weeks, is this ok?

He has a Philodendrian slip in there that he gets between the glass and the stem and sleeps, it's so cute. The other day I didn't put the usual ammount of water in and he got mad because he couldn't get into his nap spot :lol:

:lol: Mine get mad if I don't put their thermometer stuck to the side down low enough so they can rest on top of it.

My 1/2 gallon tanks get changed out about every 4 days, but I have very high ph so I do it that much to try to keep the ammonia levels in check.

Do you ever notice any fin problems? I would possibly try to make sure you don't let more than 7 days go between the changes to make sure that the ammonia levels don't start to affect their fins.

He has a slight ripple to one of his fins but he was that way when we got him, he's the guy we rescued from the neighbor about 1 1/2 months ago and his water was slimy when we got him, other than that he seems fine. I will try to be more vigilent with water changes from now on.
I've been thinking about getting him a bigger "apartment" but have to wait until it seems like it's Mom's idea :lol: I have "planted the seed" though. Mom's b/f will let her do anything she wants as long as it's her idea :lol: and she loves the little guy.

If we get him like a 5 or 10 gal tank with the whole setup(filter, air, etc.) will he still need freequent water changes?

Actually, if he's in a 1 gallon now - I probably upgrade him to anything bigger than a 2.5g minibow. In fact, that size tank (in my opinion) is about perfect for a betta. :)

However - if you did go to a 5 or 10 g tank (I am always leary of these because upgrading my very first betta to a filtered 5g tank made him so stressed he died!) I would be very careful and make sure the filter flow is made very minimal. And right - you wouldn't have to do full water changes quite so often. You do have to vacuum the gravel, and you also have to do partial water changes on a regular basis.