New Tank- Cycling Prob.

[blueeyes]

HI!
Just have some questions as this is pretty new to me. I bought a 7 gallon tank with intensions of putting a male betta in it. It was filled with spring water, is at a temp of 78 degrees, and has a filter running. Well, then I learn that I just cant put fish in it. That I must be cautious of ammonia levels and nitrate, nitrite levels. So I was told to put AmQuel in my tank to get rid of all these bad things(which I did) and it SMELLS so bad. Was this a bad idea???
I did hear about cycling and that it must be done. I purchased bio spira today- but I'm just not sure if I can put it in today. Can I with that amquel in there??? If so, do I still put fish in right away??? I checked the pH (which was off the chart - very high) and the ammonia was high as well. I guess I'm a bit confused. Any help is appreciated!

[sweetsuvvyb]

I'll do my best to help!

You won't get any ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates in your tank UNTIL you add fish! There is no real need to let your tank set...in fact...since yours smells, it's a sign you've might have a bad bacterial infestion. I'd dump it out, and start fresh.

Here's a step by step.

1. Add fresh tap water (tap water is best, believe it or not!), with a dechlorinator (JUST a dechlorinator).
2. Once the tank is up to temp, add your betta!
3. If you want to use bio spira, add your bio spira at the same time you add your betta.
4. Sit back and enjoy!

It really is that simple. Except not. Here's the big talk on cycling

Once you add your fish, you will have ammonia in your tank. Ammonia is toxic to fish. There are bacteria that will "eat" the ammonia, and change it into nitrites. Nitrites, unfortunately, are also toxic to fish. But mother nature always has a plan...there is another kind of bacteria that will eat the nitrites, and spit out nitrates...which won't hurt your fish.

The problem is, these bacteria take some time to colonize in your tank...and in the meantime, you don't want the ammonia or nitrites to hurt your little betta! So it's important you have test kits, to test your water, and see how much ammonia and nitrites and nitrates you have in there. If the levels are high, you need to do water changes....which can slow down the growth of the bacterial colonies...but will also keep your fish happy. It's a tricky balance.

Lucky for us...Bio Spira was invented. It's basically alllll of the little bacteria you want in your tank, in a handy dandy package. If you use bio spira, it's possible to achieve a "cycled" tank immediately, rather than in the weeks it would normally take. It can take longer though...especially if the biospira isn't kept cold, or if you wait too long to add it to your tank. Still very important to have the test kits.

As for the Amquel...what it does is take any ammonia in the tank, and convert it to a form that won't hurt your fish. Unfortunately...that also means the bacteria can't eat it either! Additionally, most test kits can't tell the difference between the ammonia and the converted ammonia...so even after you've added the Amquel...you don't know if your fish are hurtin'. AND on top of that...adding Amquel can cause problems with your pH!!! It ends up being more trouble than it's worth! My humble advice is to stick with a dechlorinator (I use Aquarium Pharmaceuticals "Tap Water Conditioner") when you add fresh TAP water...and thats it!!

Good Luck!

[blueeyes]

thanks a lot!!! I will try all that. One quick question. I have well water. Is that bad to use??

[blueeyes]

Could you suggest some good kits to test ammonita, nitrates, and nitrites?? I hear that its better to buy them individually and that most strips don't work well.

[saberry]

You may want to test that well water first for hardness. I don't know what the range is for Beta's but well water can tend to have a lot of minerals and be hard. The test kit I got, which has been very easy to use, is by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals and is called the "Freshwater Master Test Kit." It should run you between $18 and $22 I think. It will have everything you need to properly test your water - no pH strips, by the way.

Since you are using only 7 [acronym:3f2c93a55f="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:3f2c93a55f]. you may want to consider [acronym:3f2c93a55f="Reverse osmosis"]RO[/acronym:3f2c93a55f] water. I may be wrong but I don't think Spring water is filtered in the same manner and ofttimes has minerals of its own either naturally or added back in after purification. You could even get a bottle of each and compare them with your well water if you're feeling ambitious.

[saberry]

Never mind about the hardness. Like I said, I don't know much about Betas, but I did a little checking and the dH range for them is 0-25 so hardness should not be a problem. You'll still want to check those other water parameters though.

[blueeyes]

thanks - I will get started. I may have some more questions as I test everything later, but I think I am getting the hang of it thanks again.

[jsoong]

One thing about well water, if it comes from a deep well, you'll need to let it degas (let it sit for 24 hrs or so so all the dissolved gases will come out) before you use it.

Also, you can forget about adding dechlorinators to well water (since there is no added chlorine or chloramines to worry about!) You may have to worry about heavy metals or [acronym:1c3e0f15ce="Nitrate"]NO3[/acronym:1c3e0f15ce] in well water (my inlaw's well has it), but if that's the case, you probably should not be drinking the water yourselves!

Actually it is good to let any water sit for a while to equalize tempoerature, etc. before adding to aquarium, although this is not too practical if you have a large tank.

[Catalina]

Just be sure there is no Amquel in the water when you add the Bio Spira. It even says on the Bio Spira package I have that "certain ammonia removing products will kill Bio Spira bacteria."
So do a complete water change or whatever is neccessary to get that Amquel out, because you don't want to waste that expensive bacteria!
Good luck