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Itsmemario

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So I was one of those people that thought bettas are fine in a bowl
So I kind of did everything backwards. I've had Mario for 2 weeks and then after finding out they shouldn't be in bowls went out and bought him EVERYTHING for a 10 gallon setup and waiting for it to cycle (I have no clue what im doing with that part LOL)

P.S If my family finds out how obsessed I am with this fish they would disown me haha!
But hoping to learn more on this forum.
 
Last edited:
Hi and welcome to the forum :)

Anything that breaks down in water (be it fish food, fish waste, rotting fish, dead plants, etc), produces ammonia. The more rotting material, the more ammonia that is produced.

Cycling an aquarium is where you let the filter develop colonies of beneficial bacteria that eat ammonia and convert it into nitrite and then nitrate. It takes about 4-6 weeks for this to happen and during that time you can get ammonia and nitrite levels building up in the tank. These can poison the fish so we recommend only feeding the fish a couple of times a week. Don't worry the fish won't starve.

You should do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding, and any day you have an ammonia or nitrite reading above 0. And do a 75% water change if your nitrate level goes above 20ppm.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

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If the fish is still in the bowl, put him in the tank. The aquarium will have more water and this will dilute any ammonia or nitrite more than the water in the fish bowl.

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The following link has information about what to do if your fish get sick. It's long and boring but worth knowing. I recommend printing it out and reading it in bed to help fall asleep. :)
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/
 
Hi and welcome to the forum :)

Anything that breaks down in water (be it fish food, fish waste, rotting fish, dead plants, etc), produces ammonia. The more rotting material, the more ammonia that is produced.

Cycling an aquarium is where you let the filter develop colonies of beneficial bacteria that eat ammonia and convert it into nitrite and then nitrate. It takes about 4-6 weeks for this to happen and during that time you can get ammonia and nitrite levels building up in the tank. These can poison the fish so we recommend only feeding the fish a couple of times a week. Don't worry the fish won't starve.

You should do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding, and any day you have an ammonia or nitrite reading above 0. And do a 75% water change if your nitrate level goes above 20ppm.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

-------------------------
If the fish is still in the bowl, put him in the tank. The aquarium will have more water and this will dilute any ammonia or nitrite more than the water in the fish bowl.

-------------------------
The following link has information about what to do if your fish get sick. It's long and boring but worth knowing. I recommend printing it out and reading it in bed to help fall asleep. :)
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/
He's still in the bowl and I'm having to do a 50% water change everyday just to keep the ammonia down. I got Api master test kit. Is he better off in the 10 gallon even though it's not cycled yet?
 
Is he better off in the 10 gallon even though it's not cycled yet?
Yes.
The larger volume of water will help to dilute any ammonia and keep the levels lower. And if you have some live floating plants in the tank, they will use a lot of the ammonia too. The best plants for Bettas is Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta). It is a floating plant but can also be grown in the substrate.
 
I prefer fishless cycling. I donā€™t like exposing the fish to toxins. Read up on fishless cycling. If you have gravel in his bowl then move some of that over to the tank. It can carry the beneficial bacteria on it and help speed up the cycling process. I would also suggest getting a bottle Tetra Safe Start+. It is a beneficial bacteria in a bottle and does work. If you use Prime as your water conditioner, donā€™t use it for the first 24 hours after using the Safe Start as it will destroy it. Just use a different dechlorinator for that period. Then you can go back to the Prime. Add a couple of pellets of fish food every few days to make ammonia to feed the bacteria as it grows. That or pure ammonia if you have it. Be sure ammonia is detergent free. You can tell by shaking the bottle. If it makes suds then it has detergent. You never want to add more than a few drops of ammonia at a time. Hope this isnā€™t too much information. Ask questions if needed. Weā€™re here to help.
 
I prefer fishless cycling.
I do too, but in this case, the fish is either going to be in a small bowl cycling or a 40 litre tank cycling. The tank has more water so is a better choice considering the situation.
 
Thanks for the tips.
The 10 gallon has been going for about 4 days and I've been dropping food in it the whole time.
I just now did a 50% water change and got the old food out and put the old stuff from his bowl in there and now he's floating in his cup to get acclimated.
I also tested the water:
pH 7.6
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5.0

How often and how much should I do water changes until it cycles?
 
How often - every time you see a reading for ammonia and/or nitrite above zero.
How much - as much as it needs to get the reading(s) down to zero.

Ammonia will go up first as the fish, fish poo, uneaten food etc create ammonia. Then the ammonia-eating bacteria will start to grow and they'll start making nitrite. You will find that once nitrite appears, ammonia goes up more and more slowly until it stays at zero. But nitrite will rise faster and faster as more ammonia eaters grow. Then the nitrite eaters will start to multiply and nitrite will rise more and more slowly till that too stays at zero. Once both stay at zero for 24 hours without any water changes, the tank will be cycled and you can start doing weekly 50% water changes.
 
I'd also go for the 10G imediately. As Colin says get some floating plants in there. Keep testing daily for ammonia and nitrite and any time either of these is not 0 do a big water change.
 
I do too, but in this case, the fish is either going to be in a small bowl cycling or a 40 litre tank cycling. The tank has more water so is a better choice considering the situation.
But if OP is doing daily water changes in the bowl then it is safer. Especially if using Prime too. Another one to agree to disagree on but for the record, I wouldnā€™t do it. OP is going with your suggestion which is perfectly fine so Iā€™ll back out and see who else I can help. Good luck! :)
 
From post #2

You should do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding, and any day you have an ammonia or nitrite reading above 0. And do a 75% water change if your nitrate level goes above 20ppm.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.
 
Really the choice comes down to doing a fish-in cycle in the bowl and at the same time doing fishless cycle the 10 gallon tank, or do a fish-in cycle in the tank.
Either way, the fish will go through a fish-in cycle.
 
If you do a fishless cycle, once the ammonia and nitrites stay at 0, then do a 90% water to remove the built up nitrates.
 
I do understand what you and Colin are saying. Six of one and half a dozen of the other. However, I do still politely disagree. 1.) The fish in the bowl wonā€™t have to go through the toxicity issue as you will be doing the daily water changes to keep the levels down. Even better if Prime is used. In cycling the tank we donā€™t want to do water changes unless numbers creep up. Thus, some exposure to toxins. 2.) The fishless cycle can be faster as you can allow numbers to rise to a higher point without doing water changes. Only my opinion and we each have our own. Most important thing is that OP achieves success with a healthy fish. :)
 

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