Cycling Tank Question

laurabb

laurabb

AC Members
Jan 7, 2007
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I bought a 2.5 gallon Minibow aquarium for my kids for Christmas, added a mini heater and small filter, a silk plant, and some colored marbles. Tested the pH (7.0), and treated the water with Aquari-Sol and NovAqua +. Added a betta from Petco, and it died 3 days later. Devastating!

In spite of all the research I did on betta sites, no site discussed tank cycling, so this site has been a revelation. The betta had no signs of disease, but I think we did overfeed him one day (last time I'll follow the directions on the bottle), and I have no idea about the levels of ammonia, nitrates, or nitrites.

We want to try again. I'll set up the tank for fishless cycling, but have a couple of questions.

1) once a tank is cycled and the betta added, how often should we do water changes (and how much?) The tank is a 2.5 gallon Minibow, and has a filter (but not a strong current)

2) when doing water changes, does adding new water change your ammonia, nitrates, and nitrite levels? I haven't tested our tap water yet to see if ammonia is present, but what if it is? How to do you control the levels when adding new water?

Hope these aren't dumb questions. Even though we only had him 3 days, we miss the little guy, and want to successfully keep a happy and healthy betta next time. Thanks!
 
Don't worry too much about the death of the betta - considering you bought it from Petco (I'm guessing from one of those little bowls?) it probably wasn't in great health to begin with. And you definetely didn't ask dumb questions.

1) With a small tank like that I'd say do about a 20%-25% water change every week.
2) The point of a water change is to control the nitrate levels (the ammonia and nitrite levels should always be at 0). I doubt you have ammonia in your tap water, but it shouldn't be a problem as long as concentrations are low. Just treat the water with tap water conditioner to remove chlorine and chloramine and you'll be fine.

If you ever accidentally overfeed, remove the excess food right away, as this can cause nitrate levels to spike.

Good luck!
 
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most people think bettas are fine in a small cup or jar and know nothing about cycling. well i suggest you get a ap mast test kit. that way you can test for ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites.

you should do weekly water changes i think 25% should be fine but test your water after to see if any ammonia or nitrites show. if they do do another water change and next time do a bigger one.

the reason for a water change is to effect the levels. its to remove the built up ammonia nitrites and nitrates. i use prime and that helps to remove chlorine, chloramine, and detoxifies ammonia and nitrite (so says the bottle.) from the new water.
 
laurabb said:
1) once a tank is cycled and the betta added, how often should we do water changes (and how much?) The tank is a 2.5 gallon Minibow, and has a filter (but not a strong current)
Click to expand...
Do weekly water changes of about 25% once the tank is fully cycled. Clean out the filter in TANK (not tap) water about once a month...

laurabb said:
when doing water changes, does adding new water change your ammonia, nitrates, and nitrite levels? I haven't tested our tap water yet to see if ammonia is present, but what if it is? How to do you control the levels when adding new water?
Click to expand...
First do a test for ammonia and nitrite straight out of the tap and see if this is actually a problem for you.
 
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