Fishless Cycle Question

[Will91]

Greetings:

We recently purchased a betta fish for my 83 year old mom to give her some company. Following advice of the fish store, we simply filled a 1 gallon bowl with tap water, added declorinator, acclimated the bag with the betta in the bowl, and then turned him loose.

We have now been considering getting a small (2.5 or 5 gallon) tank prepared for the betta primarily because I'm concerned that the room temperature of the house (62-65F) is simply not high enough for a betta to thrive in. Anyway, this led me to the Beginner forum where I came across the topic of fishless cycling. I now feel badly that we subjected the poor beta to the stress of an uncycled environment. Therefore, on to my questions:

1) I assume fishless cycling applies to betta's as for any other tropical fish, right?
2) regarding the instructions I found, it discusses filling the tank and then starting with the ammonia drop/testing sequence. There is no mention as to whether declorinator should first be added (or whether the chlorine will naturally dissipate by the time the whole cycle is completed), OR whether the filter should be on during this entire sequence.
3) Finally, is it necessary to have some sort of bacteria source or is this an option?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[goldencomet]

You should really do the fishless cycle for all fish, and the water should be dechlorinated as this will kill the good bacteria.
It says how to do the fishless cycle here, you might have already seen it
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861

 

[AlphaBetta]

You don't even need to cycle a tank with one single betta if you do frequent water changes. Cycling is only required when you have a filter.

 

[Will91]

You don't even need to cycle a tank with one single betta if you do frequent water changes. Cycling is only required when you have a filter.

Thank you. What I'm thinking of doing is putting the betta in a small 2.5 or 5 gallon tank (perhpas one of these Eclipse tanks) which does have a filter.

After thinking about all this, it seems to me that a person does not have to cycle a tank for only one fish if frequent water changes are done (at least at first). It seems I can address any ammonia build up with frequent water changes at first. Then, once the bacteria set up shop, the tank should start the cycyle automatically, right? Is it OK to skip the upfront fish-free cycle even if I use this approach and have a filtered tank?

 

[AlphaBetta]

Yes you can do frequent water changes while cycling with fish. In fact it's almost the same thing as doing water changes in a standard filterless tank, however it will prolong the cycling process by maybe a couple weeks. As long as the water changes keep the ammonia/nitrite within safe levels your betta will be ok and your tank will eventually complete the cycle.

 

[Will91]

Yes you can do frequent water changes while cycling with fish. In fact it's almost the same thing as doing water changes in a standard filterless tank, however it will prolong the cycling process by maybe a couple weeks. As long as the water changes keep the ammonia/nitrite within safe levels your betta will be ok and your tank will eventually complete the cycle.

Thank you. I talked with the folks that make the Eclipse tank and I understand their filter cartridges have charcoal in them which removes "some ammonia". Apparently, their biowheel which works in conjunction with the charcoal serves as the surface for beneficial bacteria. My question is do I want the filter ON while the tank is going through the cycle? Doesn't the bacteria need some ammonia to get started and won't the charcoal take it all out?

 

[AlphaBetta]

The ammonia will be coming from the betta's waste products and no the carbon doesn't remove the ammonia. The carbon will only remove ammonia when "some" bacteria grow on it. The majority of the bacteria will grow on the biowheel. Yes you will want the filter ON so that the bacteria will start growing on the biowheel as it rotates.

 

[Will91]

The ammonia will be coming from the betta's waste products and no the carbon doesn't remove the ammonia. The carbon will only remove ammonia when "some" bacteria grow on it. The majority of the bacteria will grow on the biowheel. Yes you will want the filter ON so that the bacteria will start growing on the biowheel as it rotates.

I went to a lfs tonight. They had the bio-spira product for $12. Would it be worthwhile to use this for my 5 gallon setup? I talked with the manufacturer, MarineLand, and they say you want to introduce the biospira and the fish at the same time. I'm just wondering if one betta fish is going to produce enough ammonia to keep the majority of the bio-spira alive and whether I should just stick with cycling the tank with the beta, no bio-spira, and being regular at first with the partial water changes.

 

[eb2]

The ammonia will be coming from the betta's waste products and no the carbon doesn't remove the ammonia. The carbon will only remove ammonia when "some" bacteria grow on it. The majority of the bacteria will grow on the biowheel. Yes you will want the filter ON so that the bacteria will start growing on the biowheel as it rotates.

I went to a lfs tonight. They had the bio-spira product for $12. Would it be worthwhile to use this for my 5 gallon setup? I talked with the manufacturer, MarineLand, and they say you want to introduce the biospira and the fish at the same time. I'm just wondering if one betta fish is going to produce enough ammonia to keep the majority of the bio-spira alive and whether I should just stick with cycling the tank with the beta, no bio-spira, and being regular at first with the partial water changes.

I have done an eclipse 3, and added biospira after I already started the tank by doing like a 100 % water change then adding biospira and fish (1 Betta), it worked great but in the small tank I had high nitrate levels in 12 hours and did another water change right away, ..the thing with the biospira is that you have to use the whole pack to get the full mixture of bacterias, the manufacturer probably told you that(I called them too) .. and I my understanding is that the amount of bacteria that survives is the is proportionate to the bioload in the tank. My experience with biospira in a 10 gal tank after the filter got killed was that I didn't have to do a water change right after. I've read threads about people having trouble with the product, I think it's great but I believe that you still need to test your levels to make sure, and not take for granted that the product did everything. I 've done the samll Betta tank both ways and the advantage to have a filtered tank is that you don't have to change the water every other day, in an unfiltered bowl, you really can't just let a water change go because something came up, or you were out of town or whatever, without harming the fish.