Cycling A 2.5 Tank?

[Noahsfish]

So today I received my aqueon betta bow 2.5. I replaced the incandescent light and added some sand substrate. After I get my driftwood and plants bought snd in the tank, how should I go about cycling? I'd really rather not have to buy ammonia and test my water so often, as I don't have a kit and my lfs doesn't currently have any ammonia testing kits. I know shrimp produce so little waste that the tank wouldn't even cycle killing them, but since my tank is so small could it work? If so, how many shrimp at once? What should my water maintenance be during this cycling process? I have other tanks, just nothing fish less and so small...

 

[snazy]

Shrimp would be the worse choice in an uncycled tank. They can't stand even trace amounts of ammonia. They may not produce much but once you put food inside that tank it will be no time before you find them belly up. An uncycled/unestablished tank has no natural food for shrimp so it's either starve them to death, or kill them by feeding them. Your other option is do a planted tank, tons of plants, like 75-80% of the substrate planted.  Then the plants will help with the cycle and provide something for the shrimp to nibble on but you have to know what you are doing because damaged/melting plants that don't grow will be counterproductive, producing ammonia and thus kill your stock.
 
So I'd advise do a fishless cycle first instead. There's info about it in the beginner's section. It's safer for all, easier and it will save you money in the long run because I am certain otherwise you'll be buying shrimp after shrimp when they turn belly up.
If you do go get impatient after all and prefer to do your own thing regardless of any advise, and don't mind risking the lives of these little creatures, then do 80% water changes daily for 2 months as that's the time it takes for a tank to normally completely cycle.

 

[Noahsfish]

2 months for such a small tank?? I'm not sure, the smallest tank I've ever had was a 10g and that cycled in 4-5 weeks, does it take longer the smaller?

 

[This Old Spouse]

You have a larger tank now, don't you? Just take some mature filter media and add to the media that's in the filter now

 

[Noahsfish]

could I?  if i were to take part of the media out of my 20 or 10 gallon would that make it safe for shrimp?  and also would this cause a mini cycle in the other tank?  just worried because i have some delicate fish in the 20 like cardinal tetras and sterbai corydoras.

 

[attibones]

Have you got an Ace hardware store around? They sell ammonia for under a dollar. Your LFS may be out of the testing kit, but I believe Wal Mart sells an ammonia tester for relatively cheap. Of course, the best deal is just to get the master liquid test kit, but if you are pressed for budget then maybe you could try another testing source. You could also see if you've any friends with aquariums? If you've for room in your decorating budget, you should be able to move a few things around to make a budget for the testing kits. Speaking of decorating, what does your driftwood look like? I've been looking for good nano driftwood for ages.

 

[Noahsfish]

oh, and my 10 gallon currently has ich ;C


for Driftwood my LFS has a huge inventory, theres also lots of nice beaches, but i've never actually used any.  I like darker driftwood and I have a couple pieces of Malyasian driftwood lying around which i might use, although they're a little big...

 

[This Old Spouse]

You can take up to 1/3 of the media from a filter with no ill effects. But if you have mature media in your 20g, you could take just a bit from there, about 10%, and that should cycle your 2.5g. Just replace the media you take from the 20g with fresh media to colonize.