A list of newbie questions about bettas and cycling

[Meagan.Marie]

I have two 2.5 gallon betta tanks


1.My LFS owner loves me and she gave me two filter from one of her already cycled tanks which means my tank should jump started on its cycle right?

2. With that i also put some seeded material from my bettas old bowls into the tank as well to help the cycle. the only thing that is new is the gravel so how long should this cycle take to finish?

3. I am looking into buying two small pieces of driftwood to go in there, I want to grow a bit of java moss so I was wondering what kind of driftwood do you prefer?

4. Since my cycle has jump started I decided to put my two male bettas in their tanks. I should do about 40% water changes every day right?

5. Where is the best place to buy plants and how do I make them snail free? I am sure my bettas would eat the snails anyways I was just wondering

6. My bettas keep seeing their reflection in the tanks and getting all puffed up, I heard that is bad for them when they are constantly doing that, How can I stop this?

I think thats it for now. Thanks to anyone who can answer these

 

[BigJim]

1 & 2. If the filter is cycled and it was kept wet during transport, you may not see a cycle at all.

3. If it looks nice, go for it. I've got a couple pieces of mopani with moss and ferns growing on them and a piece of unknown wood I got off eBay with a ton of moss on it. I'm a little more partial to the unknown piece because it looks like wood I see in lakes around me.

4. Keep an eye on the water parameters and do PWCs accordingly. Keep the ammonia below 0.25ppm.

5. What kind of lighting are you using? That'll determine if and what plants you can keep. I usually buy plants at my LFS, but I've had success buying them on eBay and trading plants with other people here on AA. A quick dip in hydrogen peroxide or a longer dip in a 5% bleach solution followed by a 3x dechlorinator solution will get rid of snails. I'm not sure the bettas will eat snails unless you crush the shells for them.

6. I have one betta that likes to flare every time he sees my rainbows, but it doesn't seem to affect him at all. If it's non-stop all day every day, it could cause problems, but I see the occasional flare as a sign of good health.

 

[Meagan.Marie]

1) it was kept wet during transport
3) Okay I will. I wasn't sure I think ill just buy some from the lfs
4) that's what I was doing
5) I was looking at Low lights. I heard people had success with the light that came with the kits. I will do that to prevent snails
6) I was concerned because he did it for like 20 minutes straight... now hes calmed down again.

Thanks for your help

 

[BigJim]

What kind of light did you kit come with? With LED prices coming down, some small tank kits are coming with surprisingly powerful lights.

 

[Meagan.Marie]

15 Watt Incandescent Bulb I think I may switch to a plant growing light

 

[BigJim]

Incandescent bulbs aren't worth much for plants. The good news is that it's really easy to install a 6500K CFL instead. With an 18W CFL, you could grow a decent variety of plants.

 

[Meagan.Marie]

do you know where I would find one that are ment to go in aquariums

 

[BigJim]

Any daylight spectrum CFL will work. You don't need anything special.

 

[Meagan.Marie]

okay I will head off to walmart then