Forget this! I'm done

[KaylNeko]

Whoever told you to do water changes during a fishless cycle was wrong. Was it possible they said do changes during a fish-in cycle?

Ideally, fishless cycle is better for the fish and not as stressful for you. However, since you were getting frustrated (and stressed ), we were giving you could do that would ease some of that.

If you're ready to give it another shot with the fishless cycle, dose 2 ppm (and I say 2 because it's only a betta in a small tank), monitor daily, dosing back to 2 whenever it begins to drop. Once you start getting nitrites, drop it to 1 ppm ammonia dose daily until they're both 0.

However, since you already have the fish in bowls, personally, I would put them in the tanks and do fish in cycle--you just have to do daily water changes like, hopefully, you're already doing since they're already dealing with ammonia output from being in there only in a smaller body of water.

Did that clear some things up and help any?

 

[Hobgob]

Ok wait a second! The people on this site were the ones who told me that I need to do weekly water changes while cycling, and now you're all telling me the opposite. I'll just do a fishless cycle I love my fish too much to put them at risk. Oh and the people here were the ones who told me that doing a fish cycle would scar my fish for life and now I'm being told it's fine? Make up your minds!

People would have only said to do water changes for fish in cycle. Also a fish in cycle will scar your fish if you do not keep the water parameters in check. Also I highly doubt everyone said to do water changes during a fishless cycle. It sounds more like you misread some things.
Also make up your minds! We are giving you advice and you being rude! You should have done the research before you bought your animals. It's like when people go and buy a bird and put them in the worst spot in the house. Don't care about the diet and have no bedding for them.

Now I'm not trying to be mean or anything but you need to have patience and an understanding of what is going on. Obviously you didn't read the links people provided you about fishless cycling or you would not have done water changes so it goes both ways!

 

[Ibrahim]

Ok wait a second! The people on this site were the ones who told me that I need to do weekly water changes while cycling, and now you're all telling me the opposite. I'll just do a fishless cycle I love my fish too much to put them at risk. Oh and the people here were the ones who told me that doing a fish cycle would scar my fish for life and now I'm being told it's fine? Make up your minds!

I think you're misunderstanding cycling. Earlier you said you added ammo then it turned into nitrite then into nitrate and afterward it all disappeared. That's where your cycle finished. There was supposed to be a spike in everything then a drop.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Glad you decided to continue trying. Follow the directions you've been given carefully for either fishless or fish in cycling and you should be fine.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

However, since you already have the fish in bowls, personally, I would put them in the tanks and do fish in cycle--you just have to do daily water changes like, hopefully, you're already doing since they're already dealing with ammonia output from being in there only in a smaller body of water.

I agree. Add the fish to the new tanks. If you are already doing daily water changes on the bowls then why not just add them to the bigger tanks and continue from there?

 

[Bettafanatic]

I didn't misread anything. Nobody told me in this thread but in a different thread I was told to do weekly water changes. I'm just getting confused, so I'm sorry. I started cycling again with 4 ppm so I'm good now. Thank you everyone for your help. Oh, and hogbod, I did do research before. I did a whole heap of research. I was just having problems and that's why I'm here.

I decided on a fish less cycle because I love my fish too much to risk them. I've had them for a year now in one gallon tanks and just got them bigger tanks.

 

[maestromad]

Good luck and I'm glad your sticking to it. I understand your frustration with different advice from different people. Hopefully it all goes smoothly now

 

[corinne118s]

Wait so you had ammonia and nitrites but they went to Zero? Am I confused or ist that exacty what its supposed to do?

 

[blert]

The only times you should bother with doing a PWC during a fishless cycle is:
If your pH drops into the LOW sixes, you want to keep it from crashing and stalling your cycle.
Or...
If nitrites are off the chart.

But really, the only reason you don't do PWCs during a fishless cycle is because there's no fish to be worried about. You can do them if you wish, it won't hurt anything.

When ammonia drops to zero you are doing good. When nitrites drop to zero you are golden and ready to do your large PWC and add fish. Read the fishless cycle sticky.

 

[librarygirl]

Glad you decided not to give up. I though did not know you already had fish waiting in 1 gal bowls. To me it seems weird to fishless cycle larger tanks when there are already fish subsisting in small bowls. I haven't gotten an answer to my previous question about what size tanks you are cycling and what fish are going in there?

Personally I'd do a large water change with dechlorinator on the tanks that you are now trying to cycle and put the fish into those tanks and monitor parameters from there and do water changes as needed if you see any ammonia or nitrite on the tests. Those fish in 1 gal jars are probably not happy (do they have heaters?) and swimming in toxins so I vote to put them in the larger tanks now.

There's a link below in my signature: guide to starting a FW aquarium. You might want to give it a read.

 

[Hobgob]

I didn't misread anything. Nobody told me in this thread but in a different thread I was told to do weekly water changes. I'm just getting confused, so I'm sorry. I started cycling again with 4 ppm so I'm good now. Thank you everyone for your help. Oh, and hogbod, I did do research before. I did a whole heap of research. I was just having problems and that's why I'm here.

I decided on a fish less cycle because I love my fish too much to risk them. I've had them for a year now in one gallon tanks and just got them bigger tanks.

That's good that you research. I just dont like it when people snap at us on here when everyone is only trying to help. Read the sticky for a fishless cycle If that's what you want to do.
Now you say you care so much about your fish. Then put them in the tanks. With a betta fish, you probably have the bacteria in the filter needed to transfer the ammo and nitrites into trates. And also having your fish live in a small bowl, no filter, no heater, and crowded spaces. Also since you should be doing water changes on the bowl. Why not do it to your tank and have it cycle that way. It will be nicer for your fish then making them live in the bowls they are in now.
Anyways which ever cycle you choose read the sticky in the getting started section. It is a must!

 

[Clausura]

Hi, please do not give up! I also did a fishless cycle and I took 6 months, yes! 6 months to cycle! I had a whole host of problems, pH crashes, total BB die off, soft water, the whole works. Now after the experience, I know what to do, also with the help of helpful people like librarygirl and Eco. I wanted to give up so many times but I perservered cos I have been waiting so long, whats another few months if the fish benefit. I completed my cycle 2 weeks ago and now I have a nice stocked tank with happy fish! =)

A few points to note.

You must have a few essential items:

Liquid ammonia
API liquid test kit for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH
Prime water conditioner
Plants would be good as they help to process the ammonia and provide an additonal place for the BB to grow. I have java fern on driftwood.

Place plants and fill up the tank with water. Add in the Prime, following the dosage as instructed.
Add ammonia to 4ppm and add 2 grains of finely crushed fish food. Add an airstone for extra aeration and put in a heater as the BB prefers warmer temperatures.
Test ammonia, it should drop after a week or so. Everytime it drops, top it up back to 4ppm. Follow the other instructions to the letter as pointed out in Eco's article. It is a fantastic guide.

Now, a few things to take note.
If you have soft water like I do, it will stall your cycle if the pH of the water drops close to 6.0. What i did was to add baking soda to the water so that the kH will increase to 5 so pH will be more or less stable. i also added coral pieces to my filters so pH will not dip below 7. There are calculators to guide you on how much baking soda to add.

Be patient. Once nitrites spike to over 5ppm, do a water change to bring it down to a detectable level. Wait for nitrates to show up. Monitor and wait for ammonia and nitrites to drop within 24 hrs and you are almost done. Once it does, do a 90% water change or until your nitrates drop to 10ppm and get fish the next day!


Remember to drip acclimatise as I drip acclimatised my otos and neon tetras and they are so healthy so far but my zebra danios and harlequin rasboras lost one each as I acclimatised them by floating bag method.

Just my 2 cents worth but all the knowledge here was from the helpful people of this forum and doing a lot of reading up and am paying it forward now =) I apologise if I droned on.

 

[Hobgob]

Hi, please do not give up! I also did a fishless cycle and I took 6 months, yes! 6 months to cycle! I had a whole host of problems, pH crashes, total BB die off, soft water, the whole works. Now after the experience, I know what to do, also with the help of helpful people like librarygirl and Eco. I wanted to give up so many times but I perservered cos I have been waiting so long, whats another few months if the fish benefit. I completed my cycle 2 weeks ago and now I have a nice stocked tank with happy fish! =)

A few points to note.

You must have a few essential items:

Liquid ammonia
API liquid test kit for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH
Prime water conditioner
Plants would be good as they help to process the ammonia and provide an additonal place for the BB to grow. I have java fern on driftwood.

Place plants and fill up the tank with water. Add in the Prime, following the dosage as instructed.
Add ammonia to 4ppm and add 2 grains of finely crushed fish food. Add an airstone for extra aeration and put in a heater as the BB prefers warmer temperatures.
Test ammonia, it should drop after a week or so. Everytime it drops, top it up back to 4ppm. Follow the other instructions to the letter as pointed out in Eco's article. It is a fantastic guide.

Now, a few things to take note.
If you have soft water like I do, it will stall your cycle if the pH of the water drops close to 6.0. What i did was to add baking soda to the water so that the kH will increase to 5 so pH will be more or less stable. i also added coral pieces to my filters so pH will not dip below 7. There are calculators to guide you on how much baking soda to add.

Be patient. Once nitrites spike to over 5ppm, do a water change to bring it down to a detectable level. Wait for nitrates to show up. Monitor and wait for ammonia and nitrites to drop within 24 hrs and you are almost done. Once it does, do a 90% water change or until your nitrates drop to 10ppm and get fish the next day!

Remember to drip acclimatise as I drip acclimatised my otos and neon tetras and they are so healthy so far but my zebra danios and harlequin rasboras lost one each as I acclimatised them by floating bag method.

Just remeber that you are only housing a betta so dosing it to 2ppm will be fine. 4 is a guideline for stocking a bigger tank with a heavier bioload. a betta will not create as much waste as 4ppm of ammonia so why try and grow all that extra bacteria? Since your fish are in bowls though I would advise doing a fish in cycle.

 

[blert]

Just remeber that you are only housing a betta so dosing it to 2ppm will be fine. 4 is a guideline for stocking a bigger tank with a heavier bioload. a betta will not create as much waste as 4ppm of ammonia so why try and grow all that extra bacteria? Since your fish are in bowls though I would advise doing a fish in cycle.

Actually, since it only going to have a Betta in it you could likely get away with dosing a lot less. 2ppm is still a ton of ammonia.

 

[Bettafanatic]

I'll consider doing a fish in cycle but since it's my first time cycling I'm a little nervous. I can be forgetful too so I run risk of forgetting to test one day and losing my fish, but I'm heavily considering it. I already dosed 4 ppm so is it too late to lower it to 2 or can I just do a 50% water change to lower it?

Thank you so much every one for encouraging me not to give up. I'm sorry I constantly snapped at you but my frustration just got the better of me.

As for the fish in cycle, my bettas have bubble nests now and that means they're happy so will they be fine or are they still better off doing the fish in cycle?

 

[KaylNeko]

Since they're already in small bowls, yes, you'd be better off doing a fish in cycle. They'd have more room, and more water to dilute their waste.

If you decide to go ahead and put your guys in their tanks, do a 100% water change (just siphon it all out--don't dump it or anything decorations or gravel) refill it with fresh water to get the ammonia you dosed out of the water, and put your bettas in. Then test daily. If your ammonia or nitrites get above .25, do a water change to get them below that again (ie, if you test at .5, do a 50% change, if you test at 1, do a 50 to 75% change, then do another 50% change immediately afterward). If they stay at or below .25, stick with a bi-weekly change of about 50% until they hit 0, then weekly. Don't change your filter material--once you consistently get 0 readings for ammonia and nitrite, you can start swishing it in used tank water to get any gunk off it. Don't do it before because you don't want to risk messing with the BB.

Since you've been cycling fishless, it's possible when you put your bettas in, you'll either immediately or very quickly get your ammonia and nitrite levels to 0 and be cycled since you probably have a BB colony already set up.

Good luck Ask if you need clarification. ^_^

 

[corinne118s]

They make new nests just plant it well. Do a PWC to Lower the ammonia. Do not dose it anymore if you are adding a fish. Just monitor the ammonia and make sure you don't feed mch for a while and do PWC

 

[jetajockey]

I'll consider doing a fish in cycle but since it's my first time cycling I'm a little nervous. I can be forgetful too so I run risk of forgetting to test one day and losing my fish, but I'm heavily considering it. I already dosed 4 ppm so is it too late to lower it to 2 or can I just do a 50% water change to lower it?

Thank you so much every one for encouraging me not to give up. I'm sorry I constantly snapped at you but my frustration just got the better of me.

As for the fish in cycle, my bettas have bubble nests now and that means they're happy so will they be fine or are they still better off doing the fish in cycle?

That's the thing, if you've been keeping them in smaller bowls or containers for all this time already, those containers are/were also fish-in cycling, so you might as well just move them into the bigger tank. As has been mentioned, 'cycling' is just the process of bacteria building up that eats the waste produced by inhabitants of the tank.
I'm not sure why anyone would advocate anything else at this point.

 

[stingrays4]

Hi just a thought but if you had an ammonia increase then nothing then a nitrite increase then nothing - your tank has cycled my friend as this is what its meant to do!!!
To test if its cycled is easy - simply add a source of ammonia,leave for 24 hours then test for ammonia if none is reading then your tank is 'CYCLED'!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I'll consider doing a fish in cycle but since it's my first time cycling I'm a little nervous. I can be forgetful too so I run risk of forgetting to test one day and losing my fish, but I'm heavily considering it. I already dosed 4 ppm so is it too late to lower it to 2 or can I just do a 50% water change to lower it?

Thank you so much every one for encouraging me not to give up. I'm sorry I constantly snapped at you but my frustration just got the better of me.

As for the fish in cycle, my bettas have bubble nests now and that means they're happy so will they be fine or are they still better off doing the fish in cycle?

They are in more danger in the smaller bowls than the larger tanks. The ammonia will be building quicker in the bowls than it would in the tanks.
IME it will take more than one 100% water change to rid the tank of the bottled ammonia so just be aware of that.