Fastest Way To Cycle Tank In Emergency?

[Jonk]

Hi guys we recently set up a 48l tank and cycled it for a week, upon testing we got Ph 7.0, temp 25, Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate all at 0. So we added a male Betta. On advice we left him for a few days to get settled and this evening we went and bought 2 Small Molly's as we were told they would make good tank mates.

However I think this could have been wrong, all evening the Betta has been chasing them both with flared tail etc, he never really gets near them but we are worried that they will become stressed so as of 1.20am this morning we drilled small holes in a large plastic container, attached this to the top of the tank and put the Betta in there. Within minutes the 2 Molly's were obviously so much more relaxed (both took a dump, although could be coincidence) and were much more active at the front of the tank.

I have a 23l Fluval edge which is going to be set up first thing in the morning for the betta but I need to know the fastest way to cycle this so we can get the Betta into his new home as soon as possible.

I plan on de-chlorinating the water immediately and filling the edge first and then getting the heater and filter plugged in, I have some filter start to help get the bacteria started but when we cycled this tank we left it a week before introducing any fish.

Is there any way of taking say 25% of the water from the bigger tank approx 12 litres to kick start the edge? Or even better half of the 48l tank to completly fill the edge, I have a large container so can de-chlorinate the replacement water and get to ph 7.0 before refilling the larger tank.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[gatorsean]

If you have suitable lighting you could just add a lot of plants. Some people just heavily plant and then add all the fish that they want. Also adding water from your original tank will not jump start cycling your other tank because nitrifying bacteria need to be attached to something (like filter media, plants, or substrate)to be survive.

 

[Jonk]

Thanks for the reply. Would it be possible to get the tank to temperature tomorrow, de-chlorinate and then add the betta on his own and then add the 'filter start' bacterial solution every 2 days for 14 days if I kept an eye on all levels?? Basically cycle the tank with a fish in it.

 

[jacko32]

forget the bottled bacteria its just a placebo theres 2 ways to cycle a tank 1 is fishless cycling using pure ammonia the other is fish in cycling which is the method you will be using its basically partial say 30%-50% water changes everyday untill your test reads 0ppm ammonia everyday

 

[mishmash]

Thanks for the reply. Would it be possible to get the tank to temperature tomorrow, de-chlorinate and then add the betta on his own and then add the 'filter start' bacterial solution every 2 days for 14 days if I kept an eye on all levels?? Basically cycle the tank with a fish in it.

Do you have any gravel and filter media from the original tank that you can add to the filter in the Fluval Edge ? That would give it a good kick start. Also, SERA have a couple of products which they say make it so you can add fish after 24 hours. Sera Bio Filter Start, which you squirt over your filter media, and Sera NItrivec which you squirt into the water. It makes it go cloudy for between 4 and 24 hours depending on how much work it has to do but they claim it is safe to add fish that way. In addition, I would suggest testing your water levels every 12 hours and doing largish water changes (50% or more) accordingly, which should not be too much of a chore with a 23L tank. Your Betta will thank you for plenty of plant cover including floating plants, and the more plants you add the better the water quality will be. In addition to the above, there is a third product I have just remembered called Sera Toxivec which will handle dangerous nitrite levels. Check out this link..... SERA WATER CONDITIONING PRODUCTS

 

[Tolak]

Fastest way of cycling is cloning. Find someone with a mature tank, swap 1/3 of their mature bio media for new media, run the mature media in the new tank. This amounts to an instant cycle suitable for 1/3 the stocking of the donor tank.

 

[Steve H.]

Definitely getting mature media is the fastest way.

I am super new to the hobby, but I wouldn't use gravel or filter media from your original tank. I don't think you can be sure your tank cycled in 1 week because you don't have any nitrates present. I would move the Betta as soon as you can, and treat both tanks as fish-in cycles, and act accordingly. Constantly monitor the water parameters of both tanks.

I was in a similar situation where I thought my tank was cycled to find I had started a fish-in cycle. I did 50% water changes everyday, and it took 18 days before I was cycled, and all the fish survived.

I don't want to steer you wrong, so maybe a member with more experience can verify this.
Your fish should be fine if you do a lot of water changes to keep ammonia levels low.

 

[the_lock_man]

Definitely getting mature media is the fastest way.

I am super new to the hobby, but I wouldn't use gravel or filter media from your original tank. I don't think you can be sure your tank cycled in 1 week because you don't have any nitrates present. I would move the Betta as soon as you can, and treat both tanks as fish-in cycles, and act accordingly. Constantly monitor the water parameters of both tanks.

I was in a similar situation where I thought my tank was cycled to find I had started a fish-in cycle. I did 50% water changes everyday, and it took 18 days before I was cycled, and all the fish survived.

I don't want to steer you wrong, so maybe a member with more experience can verify this.
Your fish should be fine if you do a lot of water changes to keep ammonia levels low.

Can't argue with anything that Steve has said. Your original tank will have next to no bacteria in the filter, the filter start products are often of little value. Gravel holds negible bacteria anyway, unless you are using an undergravel filter.

Do you have any gravel and filter media from the original tank that you can add to the filter in the Fluval Edge ? That would give it a good kick start. Also, SERA have a couple of products which they say make it so you can add fish after 24 hours. Sera Bio Filter Start, which you squirt over your filter media, and Sera NItrivec which you squirt into the water. It makes it go cloudy for between 4 and 24 hours depending on how much work it has to do but they claim it is safe to add fish that way. In addition, I would suggest testing your water levels every 12 hours and doing largish water changes (50% or more) accordingly, which should not be too much of a chore with a 23L tank. Your Betta will thank you for plenty of plant cover including floating plants, and the more plants you add the better the water quality will be. In addition to the above, there is a third product I have just remembered called Sera Toxivec which will handle dangerous nitrite levels. Check out this link..... SERA WATER CONDITIONING PRODUCTS

IMHO, you are contradicting yourself. If the Sera products work (which is debatable) then there would be no need to do 50% changes daily. If you are going to do 50% changes daily, there is little point investing the money in the Sera products. Personally, I would take the latter course of action.

I would agree with the point about adding live plants, though.

 

[Jonk]

Thanks for all your help guys. We have managed to find a brilliant solution, i phoned Harrogate aquatics this morning and spoke to a wonderful lady who has said she would gladly swap him for a community safe betta she currently has in stock even though we have never shopped there before.

I am amazed by this as i actually phoned to purchase numerous products worth around £60 to help move him but she still offered this, even though she lost out on a sale.

This means we can now leave the edge for 5-6 weeks and then hopefully get a solo crowntail to put in there once we find a breeder.

Even though it is nearly 20 miles from where we live, i will be using Harrogate aquatics.

Thanks again for the help and we are just going to pack Mr Miagi up now.

 

[the_lock_man]

Thanks for all your help guys. We have managed to find a brilliant solution, i phoned Harrogate aquatics this morning and spoke to a wonderful lady who has said she would gladly swap him for a community safe betta she currently has in stock even though we have never shopped there before.

I am amazed by this as i actually phoned to purchase numerous products worth around £60 to help move him but she still offered this, even though she lost out on a sale.

This means we can now leave the edge for 5-6 weeks and then hopefully get a solo crowntail to put in there once we find a breeder.

Even though it is nearly 20 miles from where we live, i will be using Harrogate aquatics.

Thanks again for the help and we are just going to pack Mr Miagi up now.

That's a great offer, but I have just one caveat. Bettas are very individual fish, they have very differing personalities, just like humans. It might be that Mr Miagi is a very feisty boy, and that this one at Harrogate Aquatics is very docile. However, it could also be that having levels of ammonia in his water stressed Mr Miagi, and that's why he turned on the mollies. In which case, the new betta could go the same way.

I'm not saying to reject Harrogate Aquatics' offer, just to continue monitoring the situation, and ensuring that ammonia & nitrite levels in the water are always as low as you can keep them.

 

[HayzH]

No Betta is community "safe". And has been said, you havent cycled your filter, so it's probably stress from the Ammonia levels. Also i agree, put the Betta in the fluval and you will be in 2x fish IN cycles, with multiple waterchanges daily.

 

[mark4880]

When you go and swap your betta at the LFS it would be a good idea to ask for some mature media. All LFS have lots and lots of tanks running as we all know so giving you some media would extremely speed up your cycle to almost instantly. But make sure you keep in a bag of tank water as to stop it drying up and also I would suggest going straight home and putting it in as after a few hours it will start to die off.

 

[Jonk]

Just checked ammonia and nitrite levels, both zero. Is this normal for a tank a couple of weeks old?? Also the new betta is brilliant, he is in there with 2 x molly's, 2 x indian goramis and 2 female bettas with no problems at all. I know the nature of these is feisty but the original mr miagi was a real monster. I am actually sad to see him go as I really liked the fact he was so much like his original nature, but was worried about stressing the other fish. I am currently cycling the fluval edge and when it is ready I plan on having a single crowntail in there. I got some mature media from my local aquatics centre and had it in the edge filter within 20 minutes. As it was just a foam pad I cut it to size and placed it in between the bottom sponge and the carbon bag. Is this o.k??

 

[Rummynose]

Just checked ammonia and nitrite levels, both zero. Is this normal for a tank a couple of weeks old?? Also the new betta is brilliant, he is in there with 2 x molly's, 2 x indian goramis and 2 female bettas with no problems at all. I know the nature of these is feisty but the original mr miagi was a real monster. I am actually sad to see him go as I really liked the fact he was so much like his original nature, but was worried about stressing the other fish. I am currently cycling the fluval edge and when it is ready I plan on having a single crowntail in there. I got some mature media from my local aquatics centre and had it in the edge filter within 20 minutes. As it was just a foam pad I cut it to size and placed it in between the bottom sponge and the carbon bag. Is this o.k??

Your Betta has only been in there a couple of days, your ammonia may be too low to be measurable at the moment. I imagine unchecked it will spike quite quickly. You want to aim to have your ammonia level well below .25, be prepared to do lots of water changes, once or even twice a day, whatever it takes to keep the level low low low! Oh, I just saw now that you did get media, that's super! Just to be sure keep checking for ammonia until you get readings of Nitrate!

 

[Tolak]

The mature media may be doing what it's supposed to do. Keep an eye on it for a good week.