Cycling with Fish - 2 weeks, no nitrites?

[bettamom]

New to this and we have two Fluval Edge tanks, a 6g and a 12g. We went to two highly rated local aquarium stores where we were told that we needed fish to start a cycle. If only I had found this site first!

So, we have one betta in each tank. We love these fish. My daughter will be heartbroken (and so will I) if we lose them.

Details:

• 
  Tanks have filters and heaters
  Using CaribSea Naturals sand substrate
  Plants in both tanks
  Use Prime to condition water
  Doing 30-50% water changes frequently (every other day)
  Ammonia keeps reading at .25
  Nitrites are consistently 0

So will ammonia suddenly spike one day and then will we see nitrites?

How high will it go when it spikes and what will that do to the fish?

Do we need to do something differently?

Will SeaChem Stability help? (I just ordered from Amazon)

If ammonia reads at .25 is a 50% water change enough?

One time the 12g ammonia read .5 -- is our betta permanently harmed?

We don't know anyone with an aquarium so we can't get filter media to jumpstart the cycle. At the rate things are going how long can we expect to wait before tanks are cycled? We don't mind testing the water every day and doing the PWCs frequently. We're only anxious because of the fear that the ammonia will suddenly go crazy one night and we will wake up to dead fish.

 

[RRiley774]

No need to panic, while " fishless " cycles are very popular these days, " fish in cycles " have been in play since the beginning of fish keeping. If done responsibly you shouldn't lose any fish. It sounds like you already have a test kit so you are off in the right direction already. With a fish in cycle you will need to monitor your water pretty much everyday. If your amm is .25 you are ok as your bacteria will need some ammonia to grow and get established. .25ppm of amm is a very small amount and usually will not harm your fish. If you get over .25 you will need to do a water change to lower it. Just remember though that every time you do a water change it will slow down your cycle process so only do one if necessary. Eventually your bacteria colony will grow and consume the amm and then create nitrites. Another colony of bacteria will grow and consume the nitrites turning them into nitrates. If your nitrites are high you will also need to do a water change. It is possible though that you can go through a full tank cycle and not read any nitrites if your bacteria converts them to nitrates quick enough. When you finally reach 0 amm and 0 nitrites with some nitrates you are cycled! A good idea would be to set out some tap water for 24 hours and test it so you will have something to compare your tank water readings to in the begining as some tap water may contain nitrates. Their is no way of knowing how long your cycle will take but a good guess would be between 3 - 6 weeks depending on water change frequencies. Also try to keep your feelings down to a min as any excess food and fish waste will increase your amm levels.

 

[Fishfur]

Any chance you know anyone who has an established tank ? If you do, ask if you can have a small amount of media from their filters, or the squeezings or rinsings from when they clean the filter. Either place the media into your filters, or pour the squeezings into them. Usually results in a finished cycle within days.

Seachem makes some first class products, but I am leery of all the products that claim to enhance, speed up or 'instant' cycle a tank. To do what they claim they must have live bacteria in them, that can survive until they reach a tank environment. Results using such things have been, to say the least, very erratic. I tried a couple of them back when I started, and while they did actually provide a few bacteria in one case, it was not enough to make much difference to the cycle itself. Overall I think they are not worth buying, but they do no harm as a rule either.

Edit. Fish can be permanently harmed by exposure to high ammonia levels, but it depends on how long the exposure was and just how high the level was too. Nitrite has the same basic effect. Gills are the first organ to suffer, being burned chemically by the ammonia or nitrite, and if it's severe enough, fish either die or have their life spans dramatically shortened.

Bettas are fairly tough, and hopefully the exposure was short, but you can only keep the water pristine and hope for the best once an exposure has happened.

Just fyi, Betta fish from most pet stores typically live for about two years at most. In the very best case scenario, given top class, very young stock from a good Betta breeder, a fish may live five years.. just to let you know these are not especially long living fish, so you will be prepared.