Betta tank
- Thread starter Bert64
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Do you want to cycle the tank before putting anything in the tank (fishless) or introduce your betta and cycle the tank with fish (fish in)?
Both ways will typically take 6 to 8 weeks. Obviously the fish in cycle lets you have a fish pretty much on day 1 but means your betta will be living in an uncycled tank and you control waste with regular water changes, and the other way means you are looking at an empty tank for a few months but when you get your betta the tank is cycled and safe.
Both ways will typically take 6 to 8 weeks. Obviously the fish in cycle lets you have a fish pretty much on day 1 but means your betta will be living in an uncycled tank and you control waste with regular water changes, and the other way means you are looking at an empty tank for a few months but when you get your betta the tank is cycled and safe.
Do you know how to do a fishless cycle? It's not just a matter of setting up a tank, adding some stuff and waiting 8 weeks.
Hi Aiken, not really tbh, I'll try to get all the info from here, im not in a rush, I'll try to do it perfect so it won't harm the fish. I'd tried it out with a small Nano with 1 Platy and worked well, for the Betta I have a slightly bigger tank wich I have to empty/clean etc and make a brand new start.
Things you will need over and above what is essential for keeping fish anyway.
- A test kit, preferably a liquid test kit. API freshwater master test is a good one. It covers the basics, easyish to use, although more expensive than strips its more cost effective long run.
- An ammonia source. I would recommend an aquarium specific ammonium chloride product like Doctor Tims Ammonium Chloride. You could also use fish food or a cocktail shrimp but this method will be more difficult to accurately judge how much to add to dose your system to the required ammonia level. Another option is bleach but you have to be careful to get bleach with no other additives. The really cheap thin bleach.
- Do you have access to established filter media? You mention a platy in a nano tank, or perhaps you have a friend who keeps fish who would let you have some.
- If you cant get hold of established media then a biological booster product like Dr Tims One and Only or Fluval Cycle might help speed things up.
- A test kit, preferably a liquid test kit. API freshwater master test is a good one. It covers the basics, easyish to use, although more expensive than strips its more cost effective long run.
- An ammonia source. I would recommend an aquarium specific ammonium chloride product like Doctor Tims Ammonium Chloride. You could also use fish food or a cocktail shrimp but this method will be more difficult to accurately judge how much to add to dose your system to the required ammonia level. Another option is bleach but you have to be careful to get bleach with no other additives. The really cheap thin bleach.
- Do you have access to established filter media? You mention a platy in a nano tank, or perhaps you have a friend who keeps fish who would let you have some.
- If you cant get hold of established media then a biological booster product like Dr Tims One and Only or Fluval Cycle might help speed things up.
To do a fishless cycle.
- Set up your tank, filter, heater, lighting etc. I would probably fill the tank, get everything running for 24 hours to make sure it all works before going any further. Drain it down, aquascape in a dry tank, refill, add water conditioner. If you have access to established filter media then add it into your filter or if its an old sponge squeeze the sponge into the water. Raise your water temperature to around 29c/85f.
- Dose ammonia up to 4ppm. Check with your test kit, dont just rely on any instructions on the bottle. If you are dosing bleach you will need to calculate the dosage based on the amount of water in the tank and concentration of bleach. If doing fish food as much as you would feed in 1 day is typical. You might need to do this daily to get your ammonia up.
- Add any biological booster products as per the instructions on the bottle. This may be some additional doses over the next few days as well.
- Start testing daily for ammonia. Once you start to see ammonia dropping start to test for nitrite and nitrate also. You should start to see nitrite when the ammonia drops and you might also start to see nitrate as well.
- Once ammonia has dropped below 1ppm redose it back to 2ppm. Timeline for this might be 1 to 2 weeks.
- Keep testing daily, every time ammonia drops below 1ppm redose back to 2ppm. After another couple of weeks this should be daily. You will probably be seeing nitrite rising steadily here also.
- After some while your nitrite will also start to drop as this is processed into nitrate. This will likely take another 2 or 3 weeks.
- Eventually you will be able to dose 2ppm ammonia and after 24 hours see 0ppm ammonia and nitrite and nitrate will be rising. You are cycled. Maybe keep it for another couple of days to make sure, do a big water change (don't forget water conditioner whenever you do a water change) to bring nitrate down to around 10ppm. Lower your water temperature to whatever your fish require.
- Go get your fish. Acclimate before adding.
Good luck. Keep us informed on progress.
- Set up your tank, filter, heater, lighting etc. I would probably fill the tank, get everything running for 24 hours to make sure it all works before going any further. Drain it down, aquascape in a dry tank, refill, add water conditioner. If you have access to established filter media then add it into your filter or if its an old sponge squeeze the sponge into the water. Raise your water temperature to around 29c/85f.
- Dose ammonia up to 4ppm. Check with your test kit, dont just rely on any instructions on the bottle. If you are dosing bleach you will need to calculate the dosage based on the amount of water in the tank and concentration of bleach. If doing fish food as much as you would feed in 1 day is typical. You might need to do this daily to get your ammonia up.
- Add any biological booster products as per the instructions on the bottle. This may be some additional doses over the next few days as well.
- Start testing daily for ammonia. Once you start to see ammonia dropping start to test for nitrite and nitrate also. You should start to see nitrite when the ammonia drops and you might also start to see nitrate as well.
- Once ammonia has dropped below 1ppm redose it back to 2ppm. Timeline for this might be 1 to 2 weeks.
- Keep testing daily, every time ammonia drops below 1ppm redose back to 2ppm. After another couple of weeks this should be daily. You will probably be seeing nitrite rising steadily here also.
- After some while your nitrite will also start to drop as this is processed into nitrate. This will likely take another 2 or 3 weeks.
- Eventually you will be able to dose 2ppm ammonia and after 24 hours see 0ppm ammonia and nitrite and nitrate will be rising. You are cycled. Maybe keep it for another couple of days to make sure, do a big water change (don't forget water conditioner whenever you do a water change) to bring nitrate down to around 10ppm. Lower your water temperature to whatever your fish require.
- Go get your fish. Acclimate before adding.
Good luck. Keep us informed on progress.
This is a big issue new fishowners not understanding how to cycle a tank, but thinking they do and putting in an additive and letting a tank run for a while will cycle it.
In reality you can make it as easy or as complicated as you like. Just a add a small number of fish, or in your case a single fish. Change some of the water every couple of days for the first month, then some of the water every week from then on your tank will likely cycle whether you know what you are doing or not. Its when people get tanks and add large bioloads on day 1 without understanding how to cycle that problems start.
In reality you can make it as easy or as complicated as you like. Just a add a small number of fish, or in your case a single fish. Change some of the water every couple of days for the first month, then some of the water every week from then on your tank will likely cycle whether you know what you are doing or not. Its when people get tanks and add large bioloads on day 1 without understanding how to cycle that problems start.
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