Help me save a Beta

[Dub-Dub]

Okay, so I am donating a 2.5g tank to my niece so she gets her beta out of a **** 5" fish bowl... should I cycle the tank? Sounds stupid, I know... but they seem to be hearty (having lived in a fishbowl for that long, with, I am guessing, awful care).

Given that the water has to be de-chlorinated, right?

Some lonely beta thanks you.

[OrionGirl]

Yes, cycling is important. If there is any substrate in the bowl, rinse it briefly in de-chlorinated water to remove solid wastes, and then put it in the 2.5. This should import the beneficial bacteria, and allow them to colonize the filter media. If you can spare some media from an established tank, that would be even better.

[Dub-Dub]

Thanks OG. Kinda what I knew, but good to hear it from someone else.

A lonely beta in a glass cell thanks you.