Cycling ...

[CPQ]

Sorry - i know you guys must get cycling questions ALLLLLLL the time!

But basically my situation is this - I started cycling a sixty litre tank for my betta (he is currently in a community tank and doing ok - but i thought this would be nicer for him!). Anyway, it had been cycling for just over a week and two of my gouramis in the main tank suddenly started fighting like crazy - when i finally caught one of them i put him in a floating breeding trap but the two of them were still tryng to attack each other through the plastic sides!! So after figuring out that they wern't just going to calm down and stop (they kept at it for almost an hour even though they were seperated) I checked the stats on the cycling tank (ammonia and nitrites 0) did a water change on it and moved the honey gourami (the one i's put in the breeding trap) into the betta tank.

He's been in there since monday and is doing fine but I just wondered whether it's safe to move the betta over now? is the tank properly cycled or have i effectively turned a fishless cycle into a fishy cycle half way through!? ammonia and nitrite 0 still.

Any also - does anyone know if having the honey gourami in there has messed up my stocking plans for the tank now? I was planning on having the betta, some pygmy corys, some spotted rasboras and a couple of ADFs maybe.

Any insight would be appreciated! thanks.

 

[jarcher1390]

if your ammonia, nitrite levels are at zero sounds like you have cycled your tank, by adding another fish your not restarting doing a fish cycle and you've probably already have a large enough colony of bacteria to deal with the ammonia waste which will be produced by your gourami.
I would not know if a betta and gourami will go together i guessing they would be alright just keep checking those levels and see if they increase if they do do a 20% water change

 

[JamieBailie]

If you are only going to add the betta and 1 gourami you may be able to get away with this. This is something im experimenting with at the minute and you could help me out a lot!

Keep the gourami in the tank for a while and keep testing your water, If you see any rise in ammonia then the bacteria you built up over the week is not enough to cope with the waste the gourami is producing. I would test twice a day.

People may say to remove the gourami and keep cycling, But I believe you might be ok with just 2 fish.
Leave the gourami in there unless you see any ammonia readings within 4 days.

And keep us updated!!

 

[LakeyGal]

Sorry - i know you guys must get cycling questions ALLLLLLL the time!

But basically my situation is this - I started cycling a sixty litre tank for my betta (he is currently in a community tank and doing ok - but i thought this would be nicer for him!). Anyway, it had been cycling for just over a week and two of my gouramis in the main tank suddenly started fighting like crazy - when i finally caught one of them i put him in a floating breeding trap but the two of them were still tryng to attack each other through the plastic sides!! So after figuring out that they wern't just going to calm down and stop (they kept at it for almost an hour even though they were seperated) I checked the stats on the cycling tank (ammonia and nitrites 0) did a water change on it and moved the honey gourami (the one i's put in the breeding trap) into the betta tank.

He's been in there since monday and is doing fine but I just wondered whether it's safe to move the betta over now? is the tank properly cycled or have i effectively turned a fishless cycle into a fishy cycle half way through!? ammonia and nitrite 0 still.

Any also - does anyone know if having the honey gourami in there has messed up my stocking plans for the tank now? I was planning on having the betta, some pygmy corys, some spotted rasboras and a couple of ADFs maybe.

Any insight would be appreciated! thanks.

Do you have any NitrAtes?

 

[johnnyr]

We need to know if you actually STARTED to cycle the tank...did you put ammonia in? Did you get the nitrite spike? Do you have nitrates? If not, then your tank if NOT cycled, and you need to move the fish out of there.

A tank will not just cycle on its own, you need to add in ammonia to get it started.

 

[rdd1952]

For 2 fish you may be ok if you keep a close eye on ammonia and nitrite and do waer hanges as needed BUT bettas and gouramis should not be kept together. They are from the same family and will fight. The betta will eventually kill the gourami.

 

[CPQ]

ok ...

yes I did add ammonia at the beginning. the whole cycling thing confuses me a bit so my uncle came over (hes been fish keeping since he was young) and started everything off (I can ask him exactly how much was added if necessary?)
After that, I didn't test every day (work away during the week and figured after the initial week i'd start testing to see when the ammonia dropped.)
I also used gravel from my currently-in-use tank for 50%ish of the substrate.

I didn't test for nitrates - figured the water change would get them down to a reasonable level. But i think maybe i should have checked for nitrates to see if tank was cycled!? (didnt think of that - just thought id do the water change to make sure they wernt at a serious level to harm the gourami!! oops).

Since I'm away from home mon-fri my mum's been testing for nitrite and ammonia every day and says they've both been staying at nil.

Oh - and the betta's not in there yet - just the honey. I'm trying to figure out if it's safe to move the betta over - don't want to put him in if the tank hasn't finished cycling.

I know that gouramis and bettas arnt supposed to go together but i really dont know what else to do! my only other tank has a CAE in it and theres no way i can put the honey back in with the kisser. So my only alternative to having the honey and betta in the same tank is to get rid of one of the male gouramis! is that right - is there no other alternative!?

Thanks for all your advice so far guys!!