Cycling a tank clarification?

[bubbaboy]

I have two tanks, one established, and one new. Both are 10 gallons.
The established tank has one betta fish.
If I take some gravel from my established tank and put it in my new one, will that help the cycling process?
Also, if I just put the betta fish inside the new tank, with some gravel from the established tank, will it cycle without killing the fish? (since the bacteria is already there)


and hello AA community, it's great to see a forum who loves fish as much as i do

 

[Caliban07]

I think this will help. Also squeezing your filter sponge from the established tank on the new filter sponge my help. Maybe even take 1 ornament out of the established tank and put it in the new one. Of course you would have to dechlorinate the new water first or the bacteria will die.

Skip feeding the betta for a couple of days or if you feed twice a day only feed once as you will be taking bacteria out if the established tank and you don't want a spike in ammonia.

A tip for the future also. If you are planning to get a new tank (you may not have been this time) put a second filter sponge in the established tank a few weeks before then you can transfer it directly in to the new tank. This will dramatically reduce cycle time and make a fish in cycle much safer.

 

[bubbaboy]

Thanks caliban. However for the past two months or so I've stopped using my filter in the established tank (since I only had one betta). I'm pretty sure all the bacteria from the filter sponge has died.

And also, thanks for the advice! i have dechlorinated the tank already.

 

[Fishfur]

Oh well. Fact is, gravel does not have much in the way of BB in it. It may have some, what it has mostly is other types of bacteria that form biofilm, and are sometimes the cause of bacteria blooms.

The Betta doesn't really need a filter. I'd venture to guess the majority of them are kept without one. Regular water changes every few days are sufficient to control ammonia and other by products of fish waste.

If you want to cycle the filter, if you put it on the tank the Betta is in, it will cycle the filter for you in the course of time. Read up on fish in cycling to make sure you know when to do the water changes to prevent the fish being hurt. Once the filter has cycled.. [ same as a tank being cycled.. it's the filter that grows the BB that allow a tank to cycle], then you can use it for either tank, but if you switch the filter to a fishless tank, you must feed it with ammonia to prevent the BB from dying again. Or put a fish in right away to keep it cycled.

 

[bubbaboy]

Hello fishfur.
Is it possible for ammonia spikes to happen in a 10 gallon tank with just 1 betta fish?
On my new tank i have a filter so hopefully the bacteria will stay in there.
But what I'm hoping for is the betta fish waste to be so minimal that the bacteria from the decoration I put in from the established tank multiply quickly enough and cycle that way.

BTW I should have mentioned this in the original thread but i'm planning to use guppies/other freshwater tropical fish in my new aquarium--im simply using the Betta fish to cycle my aquarium before i run off to buy some tropical fish.

 

[Fishfur]

Any fish will produce enough ammonia in time to spike the levels if you don't do regular water changes. There are not enough BB on the decor to make a material difference, though I know some folks will disagree with me on that. Based on all I have read on this subject, and the articles that referenced decent studies, instead of just being copies of articles from other sites... BB live in filters, not in tanks.

They need a few things to grow well. Surface area to stick to, constant water flow to bring food, and food, in the form of fish ammonia. They don't get any of that in a tank. Some flow, yeah, but the filter grabs virtually all the food for them before bacteria living in gravel or on decor would have a chance to eat it.

So while you can use the Betta to cycle the filter, you must test and do water changes no matter how big or small the tank is, or the fish will die of ammonia poisoning.

Edit. For example. I kept Betta in a 2.5 g tank. Three days after adding the fish, ammonia readings were over .25, so I changed the water, and thereafter changed it at least every 3 days, but I also added a small, low power filter, to reduce any chance of disaster if I missed a day for any reason. So in a ten G tank, the ammonia will be too high soon enough, you may get ten days or so before it's toxically high, but once it reaches toxic levels the fish will not last too long. Hope that clarifies things.

 

[Rivercats]

Honestly using a single betta to try to cycle a 10 gallon for guppies isn't going to work very well at all and will not produce enough waste to produce enough BB to support more than a guppy or two if at all. You'd be better off doing a fish in cycle with the guppies you want or do a fishless cycle using ammonia. Here's a list of articles you can read on both types of cycling.... http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...ou-get-started-with-your-aquarium-154837.html.

 

[Caliban07]

Just to clarify. In my 5 gal betta tank I have a pump and a filter sponge. You can still add a filter in the way of a sponge without having a flow. I agree with fishfur that the filter harbours more bacteria but in your case I was advising to swap decorations and gravel as this won't do any harm. The filter sponge is the key. It is my understanding that the heterotrophic bacteria responsible for braking down organic matter and producing ammonia is the bacteria that mostly makes up decor and substrate bacteria. Mainly because their reproduction rate is so extreme in the early stages of a cycle that they stick to what they can. Only when they get to work can the others grow.

I run a small pump as stated above. Just because the betta fish don't have much flow in the wild doesn't mean they won't benefit from a small flow in the tank. As soon as they go in our tanks, they are no longer in the wild and IMO we must treat them the same. My betta even Looks sad when I turn the pump off and his fins droop.

I think 1 betta in a 10gal would cycle a tank eventually by keeping on top of water changes. It would just take a lot longer. I prefer to do fish in cycles personally. As the ammonia source of the bacteria is constant and in small doses. This allows the bacteria to reproduce in proportion to the food that is available. If you are vigilant with testing and water changes there is no reason why a fish In cycle can be stress free for our fish and ourselves. Smaller tanks need extra care of course.