Cycling

[Meggie :)]

Hey all

So my little sister is getting a betta that is being shipped from Thailand...and since the total cost for this betta will be around 40 dollars or more, we want to make sure that her tank is in perfect condition for him when he comes. Well this sounds heartless, we would want it in perfect condition for him anyway haha

I was wondering what you all think the best way to cycle this tank would be. I will be using my filter media from my 4 year old 10 gallon tank, but I obviously can't put that in the tank yet until I have an ammonia source...My lfs doesn't carry bottled ammonia...I could always order it online, but I've heard that sometimes using liquid ammonia to cycle a tank doesn't work? I don't know if this would be possible, though, since I already have bacteria (from my ten gallon filter media)...now should I order bottled ammonia online, or is there any kind of small species of fish we could put into this tank to really get the bacteria going? (With lots of water changes of course, so these fish may not die, especially because of the mature filter media)...I would move them to my ten gallon (which is currently housing some balloon mollies and shrimp) as soon as it was cycled and the betta got here...

Thanks in advance,
Meg (and her little sister)

Edit: oops forgot to mention the betta tank is roughly 30 liters/5.5 US gallons

 

[Fishy friend2]

i would put your betta in the tank and then add the mature filter media

 

[Meggie :)]

He won't die from the lack of cycling? How many water changes and how big? I'm in the middle of cycling my tank as well...it's the same as my sister's tank, except my betta is in it already and i added the mature media a few hours after he was in.

 

[waterdrop]

FF2 is right, often with small tanks and bettas you can do ok with just using the mature media and testing to make sure it is working as expected (with water changes if you detect any unexpected ammonia or nitrite.)

However, since you indicate that you are worried about getting it as right as possible... Performing the qualification week portion of a standard ammonia fishless cycle is a great way to verify that nothing has gone wrong and the biofilter is still performing like it should, prior to adding fish. In the US (where your info indicates you are I think) most of us have settled in to just finding an Ace Hardware for the correct type of ammonia. If you can't find one of those just keep in mind that the ammonia needs to not have dyes, fragrances, soaps or surfactants. When you shake it you should just see some larger bubbles lasting 2 or 3 seconds just like water.

If you are familiar with fishless cycling, you'll know that the ammonia dosing is done each day at your 24 hour mark (say, 7pm for example, so you could run your 12-hour tests at 7am the next morning.) With mature media you want to see the 5ppm ammonia drop to true zero ppm at your 12 hour testing and for a qualification week you want to see this repeat for 5 to 7 days in a row. If you pass then you're ready for the big water change and the introduction of first fish (the betta in your case.)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[waterdrop]

He won't die from the lack of cycling? How many water changes and how big? I'm in the middle of cycling my tank as well...it's the same as my sister's tank, except my betta is in it already and i added the mature media a few hours after he was in.

The purpose of cycling is to create matue media (MM). If you alreay have mature media then there is a good chance you can have a correctly cycled situation simply by placing the MM in the filter and having it begin running at the same time as the first fish are introduced. The bacteria will need the ammonia from the fish and the fish will need the biofiltered water due the the presence of the working bacterial colonies.

The problem is that in rare cases the mature media can fail on you. It sometimes shuts down from the disturbance of the move (usually only for a day or three, but sometimes it just dies.) Again this is very, very rare but it is good to just be aware that the bacteria are complicated living things and so there is the possibility of of things sometimes going wrong. This is the reason for my post about how to qualify a biofilter.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[XeroTolerance]

I've heard that sometimes using liquid ammonia to cycle a tank doesn't work?

I am pretty sure that liquid ammonia will work just as long as it doesn't have any other chemicals. A way to test this is by shaking it and you should hardly see any bubbles at all. Sometimes even none.

Since you have a 10 gallon mature filter media I would recommend adding it to your sister's tank and add ammonia (if you get some). As water drop said, add the ammonia every 12 hours at 5ppm. Next time you add ammonia check to see if the levels are zero.

Do you have any gravel your could give her to just "boost" the process even more?

 

[Meggie :)]

I've never done a fishless cycle but I'm familiar with it...How exactly, though do I figure out how many drops of ammonia it will take the 5.5 gallon to get to 5 ppm? And I should dose every 12 hours up to 5 ppm and test every 12 hours right before each time I add the ammonia? about how long do you think it will take to cycle it?

I don't have any gravel to give to her. My ten gallon is black sand and this tank is white sand...haha not sure that would work out well

 

[XeroTolerance]

I've never done a fishless cycle but I'm familiar with it...How exactly, though do I figure out how many drops of ammonia it will take the 5.5 gallon to get to 5 ppm? And I should dose every 12 hours up to 5 ppm and test every 12 hours right before each time I add the ammonia? about how long do you think it will take to cycle it?

I don't have any gravel to give to her. My ten gallon is black sand and this tank is white sand...haha not sure that would work out well

Just add a few drops of ammonia and test the water. Make sure to count the drops!
For example if you added 3 drops of ammonia and you only have 3 ppm then you would add 2 more drops.

It depends on how much filtered media and a whole bunch of other things to be able to even guess how long it will take. It is what it is.

 

[Meggie :)]

Thanks so much! I will search for some pure ammonia! I can't find any good ones on amazon, though I will keep searching...but would prefer to get it as soon as possible

 

[XeroTolerance]

This is what I used. Its on amazon and it works great!

Ammonia

 

[the_lock_man]

What everyone seems to have forgotten to tell you, is to replace the mature media you take from your filter with the new media that comes your sister's new filter - it gives the bacteria room to re-establish themselves.

Xero Tolerance mentioned swapping gravel over as well - IMHO this would do nothing as the vast majority of beneficial bacteria live in the filter, not the gravel (unless it's an undergravel filter). I appreciate you can't do this, but wanted to post for the benefit of anyone else who happens to read this.

 

[Tizer]

you are so thoughtful lock, i think i love you

 

[the_lock_man]

you are so thoughtful lock, i think i love you

I love me too!

 

[XeroTolerance]

IMHO this would do nothing as the vast majority of beneficial bacteria live in the filter, not the gravel (unless it's an undergravel filter). I appreciate you can't do this, but wanted to post for the benefit of anyone else who happens to read this.

Yeah, there really isn't that much bacteria in the gravel but all the bacteria the better!

Thanks for clarifying that.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, have to agree with lockman and tizer, gravel is next to nothing compared to mature media from inside a filter. WD