New Fish Owner Advice

Question
Hi Chris,

I am a US citizen currently living in Japan.  I am a newbie fish owner, but hopefully a responsible one (or at least becoming a responsible one.)  I currently have a three gallon (12 liter) fish tank with two fancy goldfish - a black moor and a red and white fantail.  (Yikes, I know, very small!)  Both fish are rather small, about 1 1/2 inches each.  The tank has a Tetra AT-20 filter with a bio-bag filter.  I'm afraid I can't tell you any pH, ammonia or nitrite levels, I have ordered a kit but it hasn't arrived yet.  (Unfortunately, the kits here don't do me any good, I can't read Japanese!)  I have had the tank set up for about three weeks.  Fortunately, both seem to be happy and healthy fish.  (When I first got them, I didn't realize they needed so much care, but have since been educating myself via the internet.)  Right now I do a one gallon partial water change daily for them.  (I had no clue about cycling the tank or the nitrogen cycle before I got them.  I have also read that anything less than a 5 gallon tank will never develop a nitrogen cycle.)  I also condition the water with Tetra AquaSafe.  My first question is: Is a one-gallon daily water change enough, or should I be changing the water more frequently?  (The water is crystal clear and the white gravel on the floor of the tank is pristine as well.)  I worry a little about this, especially since I can't actually test the water.  My fish seem to be happy and healthy - they are both little pigs who love to eat and the fantail has nice shiny scales.  I just want to keep them this way, rather than suddenly finding myself with sick fish that are much harder to care for!

Secondly, just recently purchased a red betta who is living in a 1.5 gallon tank.  The tank also has a Tetra AT-20 filter with bio-bag, running on a very low setting, with the water pouring over a soft plastic plant to help diffuse any current.  There is also a small 10-watt heater which keeps the water at 78 degrees.  I have only had Flash for a day now, but he seems happy in his new tank.  Unfortunately, like a lot of bettas in pet shops, he was kept in a very small cup and his water was filthy when I brought him home.  He doesn't appear to be sick, and has a good appetite, but he does show evidence of ammonia burns, in that he has some black spots on his body, his fins are rather ragged and stiff, his eyes are slightly blackened, as is his mouth, and his gills also look black (although I understand that some bettas can have black gills, so I'm not 100% sure that all the gill coloring is from ammonia burns.)  I did a 50%+ plus water change this morning and added a small amount (about 1/16 of a teaspoon) of salt (non-iodized table salt, I'm going to get some sea salt this afternoon) to his water to help him heal.  (I read you should gradually add salt to the water to prevent too much stress, and he has obviously been stressed enough already!)  I say 50%+ because I use a gallon of new water.  I take out about half the water, then fill the tank up, then take out a little more and put the rest of the new water in.  Again, his water is crystal clear, as are the white rocks on the bottom of his tank.  My second question is:  Is there anything else I should be doing to help him heal and make him feel better?  I will continue the daily water changes forever and plan to increase the salt to 1/2 tsp per gallon for a few weeks.  I'm giving him Hikari Betta Bio-Gold pellets, and plan to give him a varied diet much like my goldfish.  I don't know how old he is, and since he was kept in such awful conditions, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't have a long lifespan, but I would like to make him as happy as possible for whatever he has left!

Thank you for your help, and I hope you'll forgive the rather long question(s).  (Hopefully, you won't mind too much, since I'm actually asking about preventative things, rather than a fish emergency!  Though I may be back, if I ever have one!)

Answer
Hi Joni;

Lots of information is GREAT! I'm usually begging for more to be able to help. You're being so diligent with the goldfish, they will be okay for a little while as long as ammonia and nitrites stay very low. But, they still need a larger tank very soon. Each one needs at least ten gallons. Once you get your new test kit you can monitor the water to be able to tell when it isn't enough anymore. Ammonia and nitrite should be "zero". Small tanks actually do develop a nitrogen cycle. It's just that they are often overstocked so they don't remain stable in that case.

I think you're doing great with the betta too. Water is clean, temperature is good, etc. Fresh water is the best "medicine" for healing. I wouldn't do anything differently.

Keep up the good work!

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins