So when is my fishy cycle over?

[Rava]

I bought a 5 gallon tank to move my female betta into June 11th. I put all her old gravel and plants and ornament in the new tank, but I did NOT leave the water for any period of time before putting her in (in other words, I did a fishy cycle I guess). I just did daily water changes (usually about 20%), and watched her behavior closely for indicators of stress or illness.

I'm just wondering, the tank seems to have stabilized now, where I don't ever see Vitara looking stressed anymore. Before, I'd change the water nightly, and I could usually see discoloration at the base of her fins, her laying against objects, or another odd behavior or two that told me she wasn't feeling well. The water change corrected all that, and she's perk up and swim around normally until the next night or sometimes longer (I didn't purposely leave it longer at any point in time, but I did forget to do the water changes at least twice). But I haven't seen her exhibiting any of these behaviors lately, and I've been doing the water changes less frequently.

The tank water is crystal clear and clean, Vitara is plump, growing, and swimming around healthily. Does this indicate the tank has stabilized? I don't know the technical terms for what it does during the cycle, so sorry if my post is confusing. :-s Thanks!

 

[phanmc]

Cycle is the term used to describe the process where ammonia is added into the water (by fish or by people for a fishless cycle), the ammonia is then broken down into nitrITE by bacteria, and then the nitrite gets broken down into nitrATE by another type of bacteria.

The cycling process happens in spurts. The ammonia will start to grow until the bacteria that eats it gets established. Then the ammonia level will drop as its being converted to nitrite. Nitrite levels will climb until the other bacteria establishes itself and converts it into nitrate. You know when your tank has fully cycled when ammonia and nitrite are non-existant. Normally, the cycling process takes between 2-6 weeks to complete. The clarity and color of water aren't good indicators.

Ammonia and nitrITE is toxic to fishes. NitrATE is still toxic in high quantity and you will need to eventually remove it by a water change.

A fishless cycle is when we don't add fish into the tank and manually add ammonia to the water instead. You'd have to add ammonia daily to provide ammonia to the bacteria. The benefit is that you don't harm any fishes by forcing them to live through the ammonia and nitrite spikes, which could kill most fishes.

Bettas are very hardy fishes and since you're doing frequent water changes, she'll be fine. If you want to know whether you can do less frequent water changes, test your waters to make sure the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels are safe. For a 5 gallon tank, you should still do water changes at least once a week though.

 

[daveedka]

Testing for ammonia and Nitrite are the only real way to know, but assuming you don't plan to add more fish, you probably are finished. Test your water, if your ammonia and nitrite are 0 you are done estabiliching the cycle. After that you can test nitrAtes and do water changes according to maintenance needs.
Dave