Forget this! I'm done

[jetajockey]

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.

Exactly.

This part is what threw me for a loop when I saw everyone pushing the fishless cycling at this point.

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.

 

[Bettafanatic]

I everyone. I'm pleased to report that I have nitrites again in one of my tanks. In tank one, i have 2 ppm ammonia and 5 ppm nitrites. I won't redose yet because 2 is fine. In tank 2, I still have 4 ppm ammonia and 0 nitrites. I dechlorinated the water and will test again tomorrow. I'm just going to do fish less cycle for now but if it starts taking too long (like 3-4 weeks) ill do a fish cycle instead so they can get out of those 1 gal tanks. I'm fine for now.

 

[didysis]

Long long ago I had problems with ammonia, a guy told me to put a packet like this in my filter and I have never ever had problems, do it and all will be much better trust me. Just get something of this type, it will save you lots of pain. Just keep it where water can flow through it

Amazon.com: Fluval C4 Ammonia Remover - 3-Pack: Pet Supplies

 

[didysis]

Sorry to hear about the complications I know it can take a bit to get going after that it will seem so simple and easy

 

[KaylNeko]

Putting ammonia removers in slows, stalls, if not stops completely, your cycle. Not necessary in a cycled tank. Not a great idea if you want a cycled tank, especially when we're talking about a betta in a 2.5 gallon.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Long long ago I had problems with ammonia, a guy told me to put a packet like this in my filter and I have never ever had problems, do it and all will be much better trust me. Just get something of this type, it will save you lots of pain. Just keep it where water can flow through it

Amazon.com: Fluval C4 Ammonia Remover - 3-Pack: Pet Supplies

Adding a product like this prevents a cycle. It absorbs the ammonia and leaves none for the bacteria. Once it is 'full' you can experience ammonia spikes. I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[Hobgob]

Long long ago I had problems with ammonia, a guy told me to put a packet like this in my filter and I have never ever had problems, do it and all will be much better trust me. Just get something of this type, it will save you lots of pain. Just keep it where water can flow through it

Amazon.com: Fluval C4 Ammonia Remover - 3-Pack: Pet Supplies

Never ever ever use these! Or any easy fix for anything. Do you no what it released into your tank? Probably wasn't very good for them.

 

[Ryanlr88]

Problem with taking advice on fishkeeping is everyone has their own way and there are million right ways to cycle, stock tanks, etc. It's easy to get confused into doing the wrong things. Best to remember fish are resilient and the world isn't going to end if everything isn't perfect. The tank will stabilize on its own with time. And like someone else said, ammonia is NOT bacteria. It's a chemical like nitrite and nitrate. Good bacteria is the goal. And filters are not the enemy.

 

[blackmolly]

we're about doing things the natural, and more forgiving way. simply forgetting to change the ammonia packet and winding up with a tank full of dead fish is NOT the goal. there will be no good bacteria if you use a packet anyways... and the tank can't stabalize if you're constantly (or even occasionally) forgetting to change a packet. stopping nature from doing what it wants to do is a recipe for disaster. the tank wants to cycle... why stop it?

 

[Ryanlr88]

That's why you cycle with fish. Use hardy fish and they will be just fine. It isn't super touchy of a process like fishless cycling.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Fish in or fishless. Same result in the end.
The old way of cycling a tank with fish was to pick a few 'hardy' fish, place them in the tank and hope they survived. Weekly (or less) water changes where preformed because it was believed that too many water changes would disrupt or stall the cycle. The fish used to cycle would suffer and often die during the process. Now we know that water changes will NOT hinder the cycle in any way. The bacteria do not just float around in the water. They fix themselves to surfaces in the tank and filter. Fish in cycling can be done just as safely as fishless. Daily testing and large water changes are done to keep ammonia and nitrite to a minimum to protect the fish.
I fish in cycled all my tanks with no deaths.

 

[ocminpin]

Fish in or fishless. Same result in the end.
The old way of cycling a tank with fish was to pick a few 'hardy' fish, place them in the tank and hope they survived. Weekly (or less) water changes where preformed because it was believed that too many water changes would disrupt or stall the cycle. The fish used to cycle would suffer and often die during the process. Now we know that water changes will NOT hinder the cycle in any way. The bacteria do not just float around in the water. They fix themselves to surfaces in the tank and filter. Fish in cycling can be done just as safely as fishless. Daily testing and large water changes are done to keep ammonia and nitrite to a minimum to protect the fish.
I fish in cycled all my tanks with no deaths.

This is great advice! I always do fish in cycles and my fish haven't been harmed in the process.

 

[Hobgob]

Problem with taking advice on fishkeeping is everyone has their own way and there are million right ways to cycle, stock tanks, etc. It's easy to get confused into doing the wrong things. Best to remember fish are resilient and the world isn't going to end if everything isn't perfect. The tank will stabilize on its own with time. And like someone else said, ammonia is NOT bacteria. It's a chemical like nitrite and nitrate. Good bacteria is the goal. And filters are not the enemy.

You are correct about everyone has their own way. But the majority of the time, especially with people on here. When it comes down to doing something. There isnt that many ways of doing things right. There might be more then 1. Like cycling a tank, there are two right ways. Fishless or fish in. Or It could be like doing a water change. Everyone has there own way to do it, but overall it comes down to 4 main steps:
Remove water
Match temperature
Replace water
And dechlorinate somewhere in there depending on your way.

When people talk about doing things right, normally the same thing are mentioned just a little bit different.
Just go with what ever cycle you want to do. Monitor it. And everything will be good in the end

 

[Bettafanatic]

You are correct about everyone has their own way. But the majority of the time, especially with people on here. When it comes down to doing something. There isnt that many ways of doing things right. There might be more then 1. Like cycling a tank, there are two right ways. Fishless or fish in. Or It could be like doing a water change. Everyone has there own way to do it, but overall it comes down to 4 main steps:
Remove water
Match temperature
Replace water
And dechlorinate somewhere in there depending on your way.

When people talk about doing things right, normally the same thing are mentioned just a little bit different.
Just go with what ever cycle you want to do. Monitor it. And everything will be good in the end

I agree with this completely. Everyone has their own ways and ideas, but in the end it s broken down to the few correct steps.

 

[Hobgob]

Hows it going? Are you doing a fish-in cycle or fishless cycle? How the bettas doing? Still making their nests?

 

[Bettafanatic]

Hows it going? Are you doing a fish-in cycle or fishless cycle? How the bettas doing? Still making their nests?

Hi thanks for checking in on me. The cycles are going fine so far. I'm still doing fish less for now because they're still making nests so they should be fine for now. In tank one I have a good level of nitrites. Ammonia drops every day to .25 from 2 ppm, so that one is going well. In tank number 2, still the same. 4 ppm ammonia and no nitrites yet. But I'm keeping watch. I tested pH today also and it's a good level: 7.6 for both.

Hey, since I have your attention I have a quick question. Why is pH so important? I know it's how hard or soft the water is but can it kill or harm fish if levels get extreme? Or is it just the fish's preference? I know it's important but I just wanted to know if it can kill fish like ammonia.

 

[librarygirl]

Hi thanks for checking in on me. The cycles are going fine so far. I'm still doing fish less for now because they're still making nests so they should be fine for now. In tank one I have a good level of nitrites. Ammonia drops every day to .25 from 2 ppm, so that one is going well. In tank number 2, still the same. 4 ppm ammonia and no nitrites yet. But I'm keeping watch. I tested pH today also and it's a good level: 7.6 for both.

Hey, since I have your attention I have a quick question. Why is pH so important? I know it's how hard or soft the water is but can it kill or harm fish if levels get extreme? Or is it just the fish's preference? I know it's important but I just wanted to know if it can kill fish like ammonia.

No PH isn't toxic, but drastic changes in PH suddenly can harm the fish, so thats' why it's good to monitor it to make sure things are stable. Your fish can adapt to whatever your PH is in most cases so there's no need to try to alter it. During cycling the PH can swing due to the bacteria eating up the buffers in the water very quickly so it's common for PH to swing during cycling. With fish, the swings can cause problems. When fishless cycling the nitrification process can stall/stop if PH drops too low (in the low 6's or less) so that's why we test for PH and then do a water change if the PH starts to drop. Hope this answers your question.

I'm wondering why tank 2 is having problems though. Did you start cycling both tanks at the same time? Did you do anything differently in the second tank?

 

[didysis]

You said it far better then I could have

No PH isn't toxic, but drastic changes in PH suddenly can harm the fish, so thats' why it's good to monitor it to make sure things are stable. Your fish can adapt to whatever your PH is in most cases so there's no need to try to alter it. During cycling the PH can swing due to the bacteria eating up the buffers in the water very quickly so it's common for PH to swing during cycling. With fish, the swings can cause problems. When fishless cycling the nitrification process can stall/stop if PH drops too low (in the low 6's or less) so that's why we test for PH and then do a water change if the PH starts to drop. Hope this answers your question.

 

[alli.knight]

Hi thanks for checking in on me. The cycles are going fine so far. I'm still doing fish less for now because they're still making nests so they should be fine for now. In tank one I have a good level of nitrites. Ammonia drops every day to .25 from 2 ppm, so that one is going well. In tank number 2, still the same. 4 ppm ammonia and no nitrites yet. But I'm keeping watch. I tested pH today also and it's a good level: 7.6 for both.

Hey, since I have your attention I have a quick question. Why is pH so important? I know it's how hard or soft the water is but can it kill or harm fish if levels get extreme? Or is it just the fish's preference? I know it's important but I just wanted to know if it can kill fish like ammonia.

pH is actually how acidic or basic your water is. So yes. Certain pHs can kill your fish. Most fish adapt to pH within a range but if the water gets to acidic (lower pH) or too basic (higher pH) it will kill your fish. However, if your water is hard, it has more buffering capability which means it prevents the water from changing pH as easily. Hope that helps do you know if you have hard or soft water?

 

[Bettafanatic]

Wow that was one great answer librarygirl! Thank you. I don't know why tank 2 hasn't started up yet. Before both cycles crashed, tank 2 only had .50 nitrites while tank 1 had over 5 ppm. Perhaps it just takes a little longer. Anyone have any tips to get things moving along?