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MrsSmartyPants

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Dec 10, 2013
Messages
6
Location
Newark, NJ
:ermm:

Hi all! A little background :

For the past year, I have kept 1 male Betta in a 1 gallon bowl. After much research I added an under-gravel heater and a slow filter for tanks under 3 gallons. I also added a decoration that he could hide in. Well, as to be expected, there was no room for the fish lol (kidding, but you get the idea)

So? Within an hour of setting up the decoration I was at PetSmart buying a 6 gallon Fluval Spec.

I set it up last night, filled it, and have been letting it run.

I know less than nothing about fish, but the last thing I want to do is hurt an animal through my ignorance.

I read through the "cycling for beginners" post ... and I'm more afraid and confused than ever.

1. The guy at the store thought I was ridiculous to be buying a tank for a betta, since, you know, they LIKE small spaces :facepalm:
2. He told me to fill it, let it run overnight (to cycle) and then put the fish in.
3. He said I absolutely can NOT add any other fish into the tank with a betta (I wanted to add a few friends to add visual drama to the tank). I really liked the black mollys (or is it mollies?).


Now, I know I need to go buy a testing kit and tap into my limited chemistry knowledge. :hide:

So now some questions:

- am I really looking at 3 weeks to cycle? (I live in the city, so the water will be chlorinated - perhaps I should use "filtered" water instead of straight tap water?)

- are there ANY fish that I can add with the betta? (If so? Please be somewhat specific so that I can google them)

- IF there are fish I can add, I was thinking of adding everyone at the same time so there are no "territory" issues - but after reading the guide, It says that's a bad idea. Who should go "first"? Or is there an order in which I should add them? (This may be a moot point if the betta does in fact need to be alone).

- in the future, how do I clean the tank? Specifically, the poop and food in the gravel? And how often does it need to be done?




I am truly sorry for the ridiculously novice questions, but they should possibly be a red flag that I'm not prepared to own fish.
:fish2::fish2::fish2:
 
Hello!
I have a little input but more experienced people will get to you.
You do want to do a cycle on the tank, get a test kit API is usually recommended to keep track of the water chemistry. You can do a fish in cycle but this will require plenty of water changes and you will have to be ontop of checking the water daily. My first go around I made so many mistakes and it took a month to cycle my first tank :/ it was hard work and frustrating but well worth It in the end. You learn gradually with this hobby. My second tank took 2-3 weeks to cycle and now my 3rd is underway.
Do lots of research on the cycling process and it'll become easier, everyone here is super helpful as well. I would have killed everyone off if I didn't have their help. I had 4 platys and still do even through the cycle they went through, I even got 3 babies in the process.

Molly's are a big no no. They need about a 30 gal tank, they have huge bio loads and grow to be about 3 inches or more. For a 6 gal tank I would suggest snails or shrimp, there quite a few to choose from. Shrimp need good water quality so an established tank will be better so you have minimal death. It also depends on the betta it's self.
I have a betta I just moved Into a 20 gal with the 3 baby platy I mentioned earlier, the tank also has snails. After 2 days I didn't see any aggression and still don't. He flared at the babies and the snails at first and now he just knocks the snails (pond snails) off the glass and chases the babies a little but seems to be very well tempered.

I hope some of this helped. I wish you luck! I think you'll do great, starting out asking questions is always a good sign
 
Good advice from juju. I would like to point out that as long as its just the betta in the tank than 2 50% water changes weekly on an uncycled tank should suffice to keep the water safe assuming you aren't ovetfeeding. The API test kit would help a lot though. You could also add a bag of the gravel from his current tank into the new tanks filter and that should just about instantly cycle the tank.

In a tank that size I agree with the shrimp and snails however I would go with adult ghost shrimp as the red cherry shrimp tend to become food to bettas.
 
Thank you south for the valuable advice so far.

I have purchased the API kit and Prime and about another 100 things and am on my way back home to start testing.

I am considering getting a few feeder goldfish and have them "dirty" up the tank.
 
Thank you south for the valuable advice so far.

I have purchased the API kit and Prime and about another 100 things and am on my way back home to start testing.

I am considering getting a few feeder goldfish and have them "dirty" up the tank.

You're welcome :) you also dont need to worry about dirtying up the tank. It's an unnecessary step.
 
So this is what my test kit results were.

Looks like a mix between 0 (yellow) and .025 (yellowy-green)

Is that in your old betta tank or the new one?

It's hard to distinguish the colors sometimes. If it doesn't look solidly like .25 I would just say it's at 0ppm
 
You can do a fish in cycle with a Betta but it will take forever. The smaller the tank the longer the cycle process takes. If you can get any seeded filter media from anyone it would help. Otherwise just do a water change of a few gallons every 2-3 days and check parameters about once a week
 
Welcome! So glad you're here!
Luckily bettas are pretty hardy and will be ok with just a few weekly water changes. Just be sure to check your parameters every few days.
Don't add any fish until it cycles which will probably take a while with just the betta, but there is NOTHING wrong with that.
 
Like I suggested earlier, adding the old gravel from the last tank into a filter bag and sticking it in the filter on the new tank should cycle it almost instantly.
 
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