Am I Doing It Wrong?

[Spitter33]

So I've had a Betta fish for about a month now. It's always lived in a 2.5 gallon tank. This tank was always uncylced of course, I just did 100% water changes every 4 days. Recently I bought another 10 gallon tank for it. 
 
Now, people told me it would be fine to cycle this new tank with my Betta as it's used to it. It's never lived in a cycled tank and it's used to water changes so it will be fine I was told. But I just want to make sure I'm doing this right as I don't want to hurt my Betta.
 
10 Gallon tank:
- 2 large cabomba plants.
- 1 Betta fish
- 100W Heater
- Filter
- Gravel, fake plants, decorations, etc. 
 
Now here's what I THINK I'm supposed to be be doing, but please tell me if I'm wrong. 
 
Just let me Betta live as he's always lived. Feed him twice a day but not over feeding him, etc. Treat everything the same as I did in the 2.5 Gallon. 
 
Test ammonia every second day or so. If ammonia levels get about 2ppm do a 25% water change. Keep doing this for about a month or so and after that the tank should technically be fully cycled. 
 
Is it as simple as that? I feel like that sounds to easy, am I doing something wrong here? 

Also, the tank has been set up and running with the Betta in it for three days so far. I haven't done a single water change or anything yet and I just did  an ammonia test. The ammonia is just below the 0.25ppm mark. I'd say it's around .15ppm but that's just a guess. 

 

[Ch4rlie]

Am afraid your effectively doing a fish in cycle which is not best way to do things really
 
What i may suggest, is to put the betta back into the 2.5 gal tank, continue to do the large water changes as much easier in a 2.5 than a 10 gal.
 
In meantime start a fishless cycle on the 10 gal following this, http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first/
 
Should take between 6 to 8 weeks to complete. Sounds a while I know but to do a fish in cycle takes much longer, months really, but can be done but stressful for the betta and for you really.
 
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/433769-rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-i/
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/433778-rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-il/ 
 
But I'd strongly suggest trying to cycle the 10 gal while the betta is in the 2.5 with large water changes.
 
Better yet, if you have any friends or family who have a fish tank and is cycled, perhaps if you could ask for some of their filter media, that would greatly help cycle your tank quicker. 
 
And one more option, if you prefer, a bottle of Dr Tim's One and Only Nitrifying Bacteria would cycle your tank faster.
 
You will need a water test kit if you have not already got one, API FW Master Kit is fairly decent and good value.

 

[Byron]

With a 10g tank, containing a couple Cabomba plants (which are fast growing), and a single Betta, you should not see "cycling" occur.  However, things don't always go as expected, so continue to test daily for ammonia and I would test for nitrite at least alternate days, but as I say you should not have issues.
 
Now, to correct some of the other data.  The existing/former smaller tank did in fact cycle.  This occurs in any freshwater system in which ammonia is produced, be it from fish respiration, the breakdown of organics, whatever.  It just happens, fortunately.  The problem with cycling damaging fish is when the ammonia is being produced faster than it can be handled.  The time taken to cycle depends upon several factors, and the level of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (and then nitrite oxidizing bacteria) will be determined by the amount of ammonia/nitrite present.
 
Second, tests during cycling should be daily.  And water changes should be performed if ammonia (or nitrite) appear above zero, and be at least half the tank volume.  Ammonia is a by-product of all aerobic metabolisms--fish, snails, invertebrates, fungi and bacteria; it naturally occurs from continuous biological processes and living organisms in any aquarium, and even at very low levels this ammonia is very highly toxic to all life.  At levels between 0.5 and 1 ppm there can be long-term or permanent gill damage in fish.  Fish may live through cycling, but the physiological damage from ammonia is still within the fish and may cause issues down the road.  Now, having said this, I would not worry about your test of 0.15 as you have the plants [I'll explain this momentarily].  Which test kit are you using that detects this minutely?
 
Feeding the Betta, I would say no more than once a day initially, even every second day, although in this present situation this may be over-cautious.  But nothing wrong in that.
 
Now on the plants.  Aquatic plants need nitrogen, and most species (including Cabomba) prefer nitrogen in the form of ammonium.  This is the positive or charged form from the negative or uncharged ammonia (if I've got that right way round).  Ammonia produced by fish, etc. will change into ammonium automatically in acidic water.  But plants also can take up the ammonia and convert it themselves into ammonium.  They can also take up ammonia in its toxic form and use it in other ways that I won't bog this down by trying to describe.  Suffice it to say that the ammonia/ammonium is grabbed quite quickly by the plants, faster than it can be by bacteria in fact.  And when plants take it up, an additional benefit is that nitrite is not produced.  Some ammonia/ammonium will get past the plants and be taken up by the Nitrosomonas marina-like strain of nitrifying bacteria, but with sufficient plants and minimal ammonia entering the system, this won't be noticed.
 
Hope this helps with understanding the process.
 
Byron.
 
Edit:  While I was typing, Ch4rlie posted, and he is quite correct in what he says.  But in this situation as I mentioned, you should have no issues.  So I wouldn't worry this time.  B.

 

[Spitter33]

Hm, I'm a little confused right now. You're saying cycling won't occur due to my Cabomba plants consuming the majority of the ammonia. But, you're saying this as if it's a good thing? I thought a tank had to be cycled? 
 
So let's see if I understand  
 
Having a lot of live plants in the tank rids the need of cycling? And this is because live plants consume most of the ammonia therefore the tank remains clean and safe for the fish without ever needing to even cycle it? Of course, regular checks and occasional water changes if needed. 
 
So, if I were to add another Cabomba plant and maybe 2-3 other random plants my tank should be perfect? I could even maybe add a small school of Tetras or something along those lines?

 

[Byron]

Sorry I confused you, let's see if I can sort it out.
 
As I said previously, cycling will occur in any aquarium with aquatic inhabitants.  Having live plants just makes the aquarium safer for fish immediately, provided there are sufficient plants (some have to be fast-growing as these use more nutrients including ammonia/ammonium) and not too many fish to overwhelm the process.  This is really the only fish-in "cycling" that is safe.  Without live plants you are relying completely on the nitrifying bacteria and this takes time.  The plants are immediate as they need nitrogen (as ammonia/ammonium).
 
I would suggest you just continue as you are, with the Betta, and monitor ammonia and nitrite as I suggested previously.  You can add more plants, no harm there.  I would get some floating plants, as Betta love these.  Water Sprite is ideal, another is Water Lettuce.  Their dangling roots collect live food that Betta (and many other fish for that matter) will browse and eat.
 
As for adding other fish with a male Betta, this is very risky.  Not all Betta like sharing their space, and many smaller fish like tetra tend to fin nip when combined in a small space (to the fish) with a sedate fish with flowing fins that are so tempting.  Also, a 10g is not much space for these other fish anyway.  Some aquarists have luck adding some cory catfish, but I certainly would not consider upper water fish as they will be in the Betta's space.
 
Byron.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Plants help in 2 ways, they use ammonium and they have needed bacteria on them. The more plants one has, the less bacteria one needs to keep a tank safe from ammonia. Have enough for any given situation and you do not have o cycle in the traditional sense.
 
I am going to disagree with Byron on some of what he said. I am also going to disagree of some of the OPs assumptions. And I am going to agree with most of what is there.
 
If one makes the choice to cycle with fish, they are making the choice to expose fish to ammonia. The choice is only what levels and for how long. The way to answer that is to know how much of the total ammonia is NH3. The goal is to do the least amount of water changes possible while also not allowing the fish to come to harm. fish can take some level of ammonia exposure short term and deal with it OK. Knowing how high one can go for how long is not so simple to know when one is a beginner. So, in the end, I suggest the same as most, please don't cycle with fish.
 
To know if that .25 ppm of ammonia might be a danger, if it is real, you need to know how much of it is HN3. That requires knowing the pH and temp. of your tank.
 
There a handy dandy ammonia calculator you can find here: http/www.hamzasree...FreeAmmonia.php
 
1. Choose NH (NH3 + NH4)*
2. Enter in the total ammonia reading from your test, choose ppm. .25 ppm
3. For a fresh water tank, enter 0 for the salinity.
4. Enter your tank’s current pH.
5. Enter your tank temperature and choose F or C, whichever applies.
6. Click Calculate.
 
The number you want to know is the one for NH3.
 
If this is .02 or less you are safe for a while. If this is approaching .05 ppm you need to change water. Read the section of signs of ammonia poisoning in charlie's 2nd link above.
 
Also, are you testing for nitrite? If so any readings? My bet is you may not see any, as Byron noted, and i think the the ammonia will drop to 0 very fast or, else it is a false reading. The one thing to be alert to is any rise in it or any nitrite over the next few days,
 
The one edge you also have here is volume. The readings we get from testing are showing us the concentration of things in the water. You have pretty much the same things in the new as the old tank but a lot more water diluting them. So the same amount of ammonia etc. is spread out over all the water. Because the water circulates it keeps bringing new nutrients to the plants and bacteria to take out. Just at much lower concentrations. In this situation they can quickly reproduce to handle that much concentration vs starting from scratch if needed.
 
Unless the fish shows signs of ammonia poisoning, I would just be doing the normal weekly change of 20-25% in your case. If you are adding more fish ( other creatures), you would likely want to increase that amount at some point.

 

[Spitter33]

Thanks for all the help everyone, I think I'm starting to get this! 
 
I didn't realize how dangerous ammonia could be for fish. I'll definitely do some research on ammonia poisoning and keep an eye out for it. 
 
Currently I only have a water test kit for ammonia. Maybe I'll be able to find some pH strips somewhere? 
 
I definitely won't be adding any other fish for a while, and if I ever do it will just be some bottom feeders I suppose! 
 
I'm wanting to add some more plants regardless, so basically the more plants I add the safer (in general) the water will be? If I add another 3-4 plants to this tank then I could essentially bypass the entire traditional cycling process with no real harm done to my Betta? And then say in a month or two the cycle should technically have naturally cycled itself completely? With, of course, no real damage done due to no huge spikes in ammonia? 
 
Also: I'm keeping my tank at 76 F right now, does that sound about right?

 

[Ch4rlie]

Would not get pH strips test kit at all if i were you.
 
Pretty unreliable really, better of with a liquid based kit, like API FW Master Test kit for example, more reliable and not bad value for money. Though nitrate test not that accurate at times but rest of tests are good enough for testing water parameters.
 
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[Ninjouzata]

I can't really add to what has been said but I did want to mention that your temperature should be a minimum of 78F for the betta. HERE is more info on caring for them.

 

[Byron]

I'm wanting to add some more plants regardless, so basically the more plants I add the safer (in general) the water will be? If I add another 3-4 plants to this tank then I could essentially bypass the entire traditional cycling process with no real harm done to my Betta? And then say in a month or two the cycle should technically have naturally cycled itself completely? With, of course, no real damage done due to no huge spikes in ammonia?
 

Yes.  The only thing you may be caught on is the fact that the aquarium will cycle no matter what, but this may just be the choice of words.  The cycle is not being "bypassed" as you put it, it just occurs "in the background" so to speak with no harm to the Betta.  The plants take up the ammonia/ammonium faster so it has no opportunity of causing trouble.  But the nitrifying bacteria will still establish and do their thing.
 
I have acidic water so I do tend to forget when explaining all this that I and those with acidic water are in a better position since the ammonia is changing to ammonium on its own and this is harmless by comparison.
 
Byron.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Well done everyone.  Great job.

 

[Spitter33]

Thanks everyone!
 
So I went ahead and raised the temperature to 83 F. And I also went out and bought some more live plants! 
 
I picked up another Cobomba and also 2 Moneywort's. So I now have 5 plants in the 10gallon, I'm hoping this is plenty especially when they start to grow a little more!