Uncared for fish. Taking it under my care, please help.

[Johny.Lebedeiv]

Hello everyone, I recently moved into my parents house and I noticed that in some far corner they have a Betta fish. As far as I understand they do not change the water, don't measure the temperature, do not measure the pH level, and for filters they just stick in whatever fits inside. I feel bad for the fish.



Straight to the points now: I have not taken care of fish and I am on a spree to learn as much as I can for this fish. I will take it under my care. What are your recommendations? What do I start with? One thing I noticed is something built up at the top (salt?) that can't be cleaned with a normal sponge. How do I take care of that?
Should I fully change the water/clean out the whole thing? (They changed the whole tank around 4-5 months ago (They only added water when it evaporates).

If I were to clean the whole thing, whats to be done? What should I look out for?

Throw in any suggestions or points you have, thank you.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Link to some stickys for new fish keepers.

https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/showthread.php?t=154837

One thing i would say is that short of living in toxins, fish can adapt to a wide range of living conditions. But, they often struggle with rapid changes to their conditions. As such i wouldn't do too much too quickly.

Start off with a very small water change. Like 10% of the water. And maybe do a few of these a few days apart. Do you have water conditioner to remove toxic chlorine from the water you add?

Dont do too much cleaning. Maybe wipe any algae off the inside of the glass. Rinse out sponges and any other filter media in tank water or water treated with conditioner. Not too much cleaning of filter media though or you might crash your cycle. And again dont do too much on any one day. Slow and careful, gradually improve its living conditions.

If you have any specific questions after reading through the stickys, let us know.

 

[Johny.Lebedeiv]

Hello, what do I do with the hard white stuff on the top. Do I leave it?

 

[Aiken Drum]

The white stuff on the top frame? Limescale? Does it wipe off with a wet towel? Or scrape off?

Im not sure there is a safe way to remove limescale from an aquarium with fish in the tank.

 

[MaiMero]

bett fish prefer more natural environments id get some live plants. plants also help with putting oxygen into the water !!