cycling tank & water quality questions - please help

laurabb

laurabb

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Jan 7, 2007
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We had a betta for 3 days a couple of weeks ago, and it died. He didn't show any signs of disease, but I also didn't know anything about cycling tanks or ammonia/nitrates/nitrites. (Thanks to everyone who replied to my posts about that). Anyway, I want to try again. I rinsed out the tank well with hot water (and rinsed/scrubbed all accessories with hot water, except for filter media), and ran the marbles through the dishwasher (with no detergent). Here is the tank setup (no fish in it yet):

2.5 gallon Minibow tank
mini heater
thermometer (tank temp is 78 degrees)
Red Sea Nano filter, on lowest setting (very little current)
silk plant
plastic rock formation with cave
glass marbles
water pH is 7

water is treated with:
3 drops Aquari-Sol
1/4 teaspoon NovAqua Plus
1.5 teaspoons aquarium salt

Does the water treatment seem OK? Do I need anything else? I know the use of salt is controversial, but a lot of the betta sites swear by some salt to help prevent fungus and disease.

I also tested the water for ammonia with an API master test kit, and found the color hard to match against the chart. It looked like it was between shades, like between the 0 ppm color bar and the .25 ppm color bar (closer to 0 ppm). Is there an easier test to use for ammonia? What should I do? There's no fish in the tank, so why would I have ammonia? Or are these kits just hard to use, and I'm not going to get a perfect color match on the chart? Or could there be ammonia coming from the filter media, even though we only had the betta 3 days? I also tested water right out of the tap, and it looked closest to 0 ppm (but again, not a perfect match).

Also, I would like to do a fishless cycle of the tank, but can't find any pure ammonia anywhere. I've checked every Walmart, home improvement store, Target, pet shop, etc. in a 25 mile radius. I called a tropical fish store in desperation, and the lady laughed at me. She said that she'd never heard of a fishless cycle in her 20 years at the store, and to just get the fish and start the cycle. Well, even though we only had the betta 3 days, his death was really traumatic for my 3 young kids, and I'd prefer to try to cycle the tank without using fish. I read somewhere that you can toss in an uncooked shrimp to start a cycle - anybody have experience doing this? How long do you leave it in there? It sounds kind of gross...

Am I making too much of this? My son's class at school has a betta in a dinky vase with a lily stuck in the top, and it's alive (probably not happy, but that's another story). If my water looks OK, should I just get the betta, monitor the tank and do daily water changes, and caution the kids not to get to attached to the fish(es) until the tank cycles? All help is appreciated! Please, no wisecracks - I'm completely new to fish. Thanks!
 
I've never kept them, so I'm no expert, but most people don't keep them in cycled tanks. They just change the water. I know that they can be kept in tanks with a filter, but they don't like a lot of current.

A fish that died that quick may have been sick when you bought it, or just died from stress.
 
Bettas actually will do much better in a cycled and filtered tank then just changing the water all of the time. They perfer temps. around 78 degrees on the farenheight scale. I would still do a fishless cycle for the tank since the bettas really do not take well to the cycling process. Instead of adding the straight ammonia that you cannot seem to find anyway, you can accomplish the same thing by adding some fish food to the tank just as if there were fish already in the tank. When the food decomposes, then the cycle will have something to build the good bacteria in the tank. Test your water with the test kit that you have(it is the best test kit for the freshwater aquarium) to make sure that the levels are doing what they are suppossed to do. The thing about the fishless cycle is you can let the levels rise as high as they want to and the tank will cycle out faster then if there were some fish in it. After the ammonia and the nitrite reach 0 and you start to see a rise in nitrates then you are cycled and it will then be safe to add the betta that you want for that tank. I know this sounds like a lot and is confusing but once you get the hang of it you will not have a problem with it.

Good luck and keep us posted on the progress of your betta home.

Marinemom
 
i agree. i think the fishless cycle is so much less stressful on your self also. you wont have to do water changes until its cycled. you can also use shrimp to cycle the tank. both work fine.

Novaqua Plus is a multiple use dechlorinator. Contains organic immune health aids to help inhibit viruses and harmful bacteria. Builds a protective slime on fish. Contains essential electrolytes and vitamins. Removes chlorine and toxic metals. Stabilizes pH and breaks down chloramines. For fresh and saltwater aquariums.
http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18580/si1380491/cl0/kordonnovaquaplus16oz

i wouldnt use that just because it says it stabilzes ph. sounds like it might swing ph. i would go with prime or Amquel. i am a believe that unless something is broken dont fix it. adding salt for no reason isnt a good idea. in a clean tank there is no reason for salt. i think a lot of people add salt is because a lot of people keep betta's in unhealthy tanks.
 
Do a google search on "aquarium cycling" or "fishless cycling", you'll get tons of information on exactly how to cycle with ammonia. Look for "clear" ammonia instead of "pure" ammonia. I got mine at Wal Mart.

After a simple Internet search, I started doing fishless cycling on a 10 gallon tank with virtually no previous knowledge of aquarium fish what-so-ever. I added 5 drops of ammonia per day until the ammonia and then nitrite spiked and went back to 0 ppm. The ammonia spikes first and then drop as the nitrite rises. It took about a 5 weeks. After that I added two small goldfish, and I've never had ammonia problems since!

Over time, I've cycled several other tanks this way with good results. Instead of the 5 drops per 10 gallons, I added ammonia until I got a 2.0 ppm test result. Then I added 5 drops per 10 gallons each day.

Right now I'm actually cycling a 30 gallon tank the "old fashioned" way for the first time using two small fantails. I'm doing daily 1/3 water changes to keep the ammonia below .25 ppm. So far the fish seem to be tolerating this level of ammonia with no visible short term effects.

Rich
 
rcarltonj said:
Do a google search on "aquarium cycling" or "fishless cycling", you'll get tons of information on exactly how to cycle with ammonia. Look for "clear" ammonia instead of "pure" ammonia. I got mine at Wal Mart.

After a simple Internet search, I started doing fishless cycling on a 10 gallon tank with virtually no previous knowledge of aquarium fish what-so-ever. I added 5 drops of ammonia per day until the ammonia and then nitrite spiked and went back to 0 ppm. The ammonia spikes first and then drop as the nitrite rises. It took about a 5 weeks. After that I added two small goldfish, and I've never had ammonia problems since!

Over time, I've cycled several other tanks this way with good results. Instead of the 5 drops per 10 gallons, I added ammonia until I got a 2.0 ppm test result. Then I added 5 drops per 10 gallons each day.

Right now I'm actually cycling a 30 gallon tank the "old fashioned" way for the first time using two small fantails. I'm doing daily 1/3 water changes to keep the ammonia below .25 ppm. So far the fish seem to be tolerating this level of ammonia with no visible short term effects.

Rich
Click to expand...

or you could give them the link to our sticky on cycling....

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84598
 
Thank you so much for your responses!

I've decided to follow Marinemom's advice and toss some fish food in the tank. How much should I use? I just tossed in about 1/8 of a teaspoon of leftover Betta Bites. Is that OK, or should I use more?

Thanks!
 
It will take time for the fish food to decompose, before you get a true ammonia reading. Thats why people use pure ammonia it can be quickly and acuratly dosed. Ace Hardware Store brand "Janitorial Strength Formula", containing 10% ammonium hydroxide. The bottle doesn't have an ingredients list, but at the store they told me it was manufactured by Rooto Corporation. So, I called Rooto Corporation and they confirmed for me that it was JUST ammonia and water. Also I heard the ammonia at wal-mart I believe it's called "Goldex" is ok to use also.
 
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