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Thats 7 hours continuous light. So split that into 2 shorter periods. Say on from 1:00pm - 4:30pm, off from 4:30 - 6:30pm and on from 6:30 - 10:00pm. You can experiment with the times. Having two shorter periods with a two hour break in between gives less chance for algae to take a hold. The...

After the water change dose with ammonia again. Only if within 24 hours after dosing that ammonia & nitrites test as 0ppm is the tank cycled.

My opinion is anything less than 5 gallon is too small for a Betta.

Have you kept an eye on your pH since adding the distilled water. The blurb on the link you posted for the gravel states; Note: Gravel may contain minerals that affect water pH. Monitor your water pHafter adding gravel and adjust as necessary to avoid sudden pH changes Sounds like the gravel...

I had the same problem when I started out. pH kept climbing to 8.2 no matter what I did. Do you have substrate. If so tell us exactly what you are using.

40% water changes and minor gravel vac once a week. Clean the filters every 3rd water change. Once a month I do a major gravel vac where I lift out the wood and decorations and deep gravel vac underneath. Trim the plants once every 2 - 3 months. I've never done 100% water change as part of...

I have NLS pellets for my Betta. I always soak them for about 10mins before feeding. They double in size in that time.

Like Mebbid, I recommend vinegar and an algae scuff pad that you would use for aquariums. Some people use razor blades, but I don't like the idea. Only takes a minor slip and you can cut or puncture a silicon seal. Then you have a much bigger repair job. Speaking of which, give the tank a...

I've done this at one time and like you thought about doing it bits at a time with fish in. But in the end I just got a plastic storage tub, thoroughly cleaned and rinsed it with hot tap water. Dried it out then siphoned 99% of the tank water into it and moved over the fish and filter while that...

Dose the ammonia every second day now. Your ammonia stage is complete. You only need to keep the bios alive now, not continue to bomb them with ammonia. Now, water change until your test kit reads below maximum nitrites. As many water changes as it takes. It won't harm or stall anything. If...

I do a no feed day religiously every Monday for all my fish.

Thats the wetting agent I was talking about before. The suds eventually go away.

I haven't experienced any problems sticking them right next to my swords or crypts. But I don't use whole ones either.

I found these at my local hardware warehouse about 6 months ago. Yes the ingredients are good and they do what they say they do. I liked they were low in phosphates. The pack does say they are suitable for tanks but I still started small (and still do it to this day because one of those doses...

Softwoods take ages of forced submersion before they sink on their own. Some never do and have to be siliconed tto slate to hold them down. After that they disintegrate and rot pretty quickly.

I can't see it properly to determine the style of wood.Is it floating? Is it a hardwood? Are you able to push your thumb nail into it and easily leave an impression? If its soft or a softwood, don't use it. If its hardwood, I'd continue to sterlise it as you are doing then leave it in water...

This is how a simple passive siphon gravel clean is meant to work. You clean the gravel and do a water change at the same time. The gravel muck ends up in the bucket. Gets both jobs done in one go. This is what I do. If you're losing too much water then you are vaccing the gravel too slowly, or...

Fishless cycled both my 18gallon and 8 gallon. First time was the 18gallon. Started from scratch and no seeded material. Took about 21 days. The 8gallon I took some gravel, sponge material and ceramic media from the 18 gallon and it fishless cycled in 10 days. Used straight ammonia drops for...

The 4ppm guide is based that you have a tank that you intend to fully stock with many fish, in which case 4ppm is still a lot but a reasonable and still very safe figure. But 4ppm is way overkill for only one Betta.

I agree with this. There is absolutely no need to dose to 4ppm for a single betta.

Agree. The 1" per gallon thing is only a guide and only really for what are considered small fish. For instance you shouldn't put one 30" fish into a 30 gallon tank!

Sorry to burst the bubble but that filter is neither new nor revolutionary. Lots of people have made fluidised bed / moving bed filters on you tube. I also made my own and have been running it in my main tank for about 9 months now. They still need to develop bacteria. They still need to cycle...

Big post. Overly complicated. I can sense you are passionate about the topic but fishless cycle isn't as complex as you make it to be, allows a large margin of error & fishless cycle teaches the nitrogen cycle just as well as a fish in cycle. Simply put. If you stuff up a fishless cycle, other...

I've done a fishless cycle with and without seeded material. For me it was about the ease of it all. Why bother with constant water changes, constant checking of parameters, overuse of prime, etc etc. I didn't have to worry about ANY of that. High ammo and nitrite readings? Who cares, there's...

Yes. Thats fine.