New Betta Tank

[emmamarie23]

Hi there

I am setting up a new betta tank with some background experience but it has been a while! I am trying to do the right thing and cycle my tank before adding fish. What is the best and fastest way to do so? I have been using seachem stability for 3 days now. Thank you!

 

[Aiken Drum]

You also need to be adding an ammonia source. A fishless cycle is typically going to take a couple of months to complete. Bacteria in a bottle products are very hit and miss. Mostly miss. Generally they do nothing useful and are just something to separate hobbyists from their money. Some are better than others, and stability is one of the worst IMO. Dr Tim's One and Only is one I've used to some effect and fritz products come recommended by another of our members.

Unless you have an already cycled aquarium and can simply moved established filter media to your new filter, there is no "fastest" way of doing this. It takes as long as it takes.

Here is a link to my fishless cycle guide.

Fishless Cycle Guide using Ammonia

STAGE 1 – SET UP AND PREPARATION. Set up the aquarium, stand, filtration, lighting, heater if required and any other equipment. Fill the tank and run for 24 hours to ensure there are no leaks and that all the equipment functions correctly. Drain the tank. Aquascape including substrate...

www.aquariumadvice.com

 

[Andy Sager]

As Aiken stated, the "fastest" way of cycling a tank is taking filter media from a fully cycled aquarium and using that in the new tank. Other than that, the other methods are going to take time. How much time will all depend on how much ammonia you are using. It won't be what you would call " quick".
If you are talking about only having 1 Betta in the tank, I would consider doing a "fish in" cycle so you can enjoy your fish sooner and control everything through routine water changes. Once or twice a week, change a decent amount of water. I would test the water daily for the first couple of weeks but that's more for you to know how what you are doing is effecting the water, not as a determination for when to change water. You change water once or twice or more per week no matter what the readings are. Eventually, the tank will naturally cycle out but Bettas are Labrynth fish so they have abilities to live in poorer quality water that other fish and inverts can't live in. That said, if your plan is to add more than just the betta, it will be best to have a fully cycled tank before adding them.

Hope this helps.

 

[emmamarie23]

As Aiken stated, the "fastest" way of cycling a tank is taking filter media from a fully cycled aquarium and using that in the new tank. Other than that, the other methods are going to take time. How much time will all depend on how much ammonia you are using. It won't be what you would call " quick".
If you are talking about only having 1 Betta in the tank, I would consider doing a "fish in" cycle so you can enjoy your fish sooner and control everything through routine water changes. Once or twice a week, change a decent amount of water. I would test the water daily for the first couple of weeks but that's more for you to know how what you are doing is effecting the water, not as a determination for when to change water. You change water once or twice or more per week no matter what the readings are. Eventually, the tank will naturally cycle out but Bettas are Labrynth fish so they have abilities to live in poorer quality water that other fish and inverts can't live in. That said, if your plan is to add more than just the betta, it will be best to have a fully cycled tank before adding them.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for the reply! I think I will go the fish in route! I figured to do so after I learned now!

 

[Andy Sager]

Thank you for the reply! I think I will go the fish in route! I figured to do so after I learned now!

Considering that " back in the day" every tank was done with a "fish in" cycle, it's not really a hard thing to do. It just takes the right fish and the right water change schedule and time, sometimes lots of time but as long as the water doesn't get "polluted", the right fish can survive the cycling process.