Couldn't Stand To Leave Him In the Cup. . .

[honmol]

I got this poor little betta at my lfs. He looked so sad and beat up. The problem was that I just couldn't stand to keep him in that tiny cup. . . I put him directly into his tank (I know, Not the best thing. . . But he couldn't stay ina cup while I fishless cycled) But I had to go to San Diego for 5 days so there were no water tests. Now it shows no ammonia. (It's been this way for while. At first I just thought that it was normal but now it takes forever. Is it possible that the ammonia spike came and went that fast? Or is there something strange about my tank? Could you please give me a cycling timeline? (just average time for the coming and going of the ammonia spike and the nitrite spike)

 

[swanandmokashi]

try here : http://www.swanandmokashi.com/HomePage/Aquarium/WaterParameters.htm

 

[honmol]

ok, but I posted because I'm worried about the fish. It's not a fishless cycle (unfortunate circumstances but I didn't want my betta in a cup for a month) so I need a timeline for that. I'm not adding ammonia and the water keeps saying 0. Occasionally it will go to 0.1 but the next time I test it says 0 again. :|

 

[Guest]

betta's don't really produce a lot of waste so it doesn't take much bacteria to keep the bioload down.. what size tank is it?

 

[honmol]

5 gallon. Oh, and there's a snail with him. But It's just 1 tiny snail (literally, about as big as the following smile ) I'm culturing (is that the correct term for it) some gravel in a different, 3 cup container. It goes much faster. It's now reached the ammonia spike in there within the first few days. Soon I'll have cultured gravel to put in there.

 

[Guest]

oh ok, well be sure you do a lot of water changes to keep the levels from hurtying your fish and snail.