Twisted fin

[Keekers]

You need to do more frequent water changes to keep the ammonia down since it isn't cycled. Adding water from an old cycled tank won't help the cycle as the good bacteria doesn't float freely in the water, but lives on your filter and decorations. What dechlorinator do you use? I recommend prime and googling "how to do a fish in cycle with prime".

 

[Damiri]

ahhh... I didnt realize that the bacteria will not come with a cycled tank water! That explains it. So we essentially have an uncycled tank. I am reading on doing a fish in cycle and doing water changes and taking measurements. I was away from work for a couple of days (tank is at work) and today I saw the ammonia levels skyrocketed to a toxic level. My coworker mentioned adding a dose of aquarium bacteria on Monday. I am not sure if that is what caused the spike but i did a 50% water change to dilute it. I will try to get prime and read up on how to proceed. I will see if i can get some medium from my cycled tank at home to put in the filter of the work tank to speed up the process. Since we've had the tank at work for about 3 weeks now i thought things would have settled by now but it seems the opposite has happened.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

There is some really good in this situation.

• There is only one fish, so there won't be as much ammonia as many uncycled tanks end up with in overcrowded situations.
• You have some cycled filter material that you can add.
• Bettas love floating plants and floating plants are a great way to lower ammonia.

The simplest solution is some floating plants added to the tank, maybe some frogbit. This will use the ammonia in the tank, offer the fish some cover to hide under and generally make him a "happier" fella. Some anubias as well would help. Bettas like to sleep on large anubias leaves. Both are unfussy plants that require almost no attention to thrive.

The next solution is some media from your established filter... any material like this placed anywhere in the Betta tank will seed the tank with the good bacteria.

A final solution is bottled bacteria. This should added after a large water change, to ensure that you remove as much ammonia as possible. After adding the bacteria, you can't change the water for about a week (follow the instructions) to ensure that you aren't removing the bacteria -as it takes a little time to get attached. Dr. Tims and Tetra Sfestart are what I'd recommend if you decide to go that route.

I'll link you to our fish in cycle gone bad articles as well. You aren't in a bad spot, you just need to fix it as quick as possible. If it were my tank, I'd go the plants and mature media route. The mature media would deal with the problem immediately. And the plants will make the Betta feel more 'at home' and confident in his new home.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

http://www.fishforums.net/threads/rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-i.433769/

 

[eaglesaquarium]

http://www.fishforums.net/threads/rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-il.433778/

 

[Damiri]

Thank you for great advice! I did a large water change and added bacteria and prime. I got some media from the other tank and put it directly into the filter in the work tank. I also brought some plants and i left them floating freely in the water. They have delicate spidery leaves and Jean-Luc immediately loved it. He hopped in there and seemed very happy. Ammonia levels measure now at 0.5 ppm which is still high but a big improvement over 2 we had before.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yes, the 0.5ppm is high, but it will come down now. IF possible, you should go in to work tomorrow and check that the ammonia is now falling. If it doesn't, you'll want to do another water change to lower it in the meantime.