New Fish New Hobby

[runningeagleruns]

Hey.

I just bought my pretty much first pet - a male betta, about 2 days ago. I have him in a very small plastic "tank", and want to move him to a 10 gallon tank I've been scoping out. Would that be okay for him? I was also thinking to eventually mix him with other fish or get a divider and put a female betta in with him, on the other side. Is that safe? I want to make it good for them.

How can I make it good for my betta? And how do I know when he's happy? I sort of get hes happy when he swims around and fishes his fins.

See you, thanks

Woops, sorry for posting twice. My bad.

Oh, his name is Paul, by the way. After the Apostle in the Bible.

 

[SensesFail]

Hey.

I just bought my first pet - a male betta, about 2 days ago. I have him in a very small plastic "tank", and want to move him to a 10 gallon tank I've been scoping out. Would that be okay for him? I was also thinking to eventually mix him with other fish or get a divider and put a female betta in with him, on the other side. Is that safe? I want to make it good for them.

How can I make it good for my betta? And how do I know when he's happy? I sort of get hes happy when he swims around and fishes his fins.

See you, thanks

Woops, sorry for posting twice. My bad.

Hi exciting times! Welcome to the forum!

Always nice getting fish! Are you completely new to the hobby? Tank wise have you cycled it and things first before adding the fish to it? And you have filtration etc in the tank he or she is in?

 

[runningeagleruns]

Hey.

I just bought my first pet - a male betta, about 2 days ago. I have him in a very small plastic "tank", and want to move him to a 10 gallon tank I've been scoping out. Would that be okay for him? I was also thinking to eventually mix him with other fish or get a divider and put a female betta in with him, on the other side. Is that safe? I want to make it good for them.

How can I make it good for my betta? And how do I know when he's happy? I sort of get hes happy when he swims around and fishes his fins.

See you, thanks

Woops, sorry for posting twice. My bad.

Hi exciting times! Welcome to the forum!

Always nice getting fish! Are you completely new to the hobby? Tank wise have you cycled it and things first before adding the fish to it? And you have filtration etc in the tank he or she is in?

Well... Yes I am completing new to the hobby, besides my mom recently having a female betta. And I was just about to ask a question about "tank cycling". Nope, no filtration in my plastic bowl tank. All I have is the fish and some rocks from the store. What is this tank cycling hub bub? Thanks for the response, by the way.

 

[SensesFail]

I'd say if you can purchase a test kit which contains ammonia tests, nitrite tests and nitrate tests. API make a master test kit which has everything and off eBay it is reasonably priced. Liquid test kits are the best and will give you the most accurate results.

Cycling a tank: well to do this you will need a filter either an external cannister or an internal filter which sits in your tank. Within the filter there are various aspects which the water passes through and it will remove debris from the tank and this is where the bacteria live who clean the water removing the ammonia the fish produce.

When fish poo and things they produce ammonia which is toxic to them and if exposed for long periods of time could harm or prove fatal. So talking about the nitrogen cycle when the fish poos ammonia is produced which with a filter that has been cycled, will quickly convert to nitrite (which is also harmful to fish) and then to nitrogen which is the end product of the cycle and is not harmful to fish in small doses. In high doses nitrate can be harmful but you simply carry out water changes to clear this and lower it.

The point of cycling the filter/ tank is to build up the bacteria colony in the filter so that when fish waste is produced the filter will quickly take the ammonia and process it so it's nitrate and the toxic matter is swifty removed.

To cycle a tank you can either carry out a fish less cycle which is when you dose the tank with a certain amount of household ammonia so that there is 5ppm of ammonia in the tank (the ammonia liquid test kit will show this and their is a calculator at the top of the forum to work out how much ammonia you need to add) you then leave the tank with 5ppm of ammonia and eventually it will start to drop and you will eventually see nitrite appearing in the water. You start off testing the tank for ammonia every 24hrs and eventually when you test and the ammonia is around 1ppm or below you would then dose the tank again getting it back to 5ppm and testing again on the 24th hr. When you eventually get a reading of 0 ammonia after 24hrs you then start testing every 12hrs only dosing the tank on the 24th hr if the ammonia is either 0-1ppm. Eventually the ammonia will be 0ppm after 12 hrs and if this is constant for 1 week then the tank is cycled you can carry out a massive water change and then add you stock to the tank!

But remember when the tank is empty ŵish no fish you need to keep the ammonia present otherwise the bacteria will die off. So adding ammonia every 24hra will keep them fed until you buy fish but then carry aout a water change the day you put the fish in. Fish less cycle wise is similar but you have to add the fish and monitor the water every 12hrs and if ammonia appears or nitrite you need t carry out a big enough water change to get rid of this and that could mean up 2 water changes a day! Again like the fish less you ill eventually test and the readings will be 0 and that's it done but you have to carry out more water changes and things!

At the moment with your betta being in a tank with no filter I'd strongly suggest getting the test kit monitoring the water and carrying out water changes when you see ammonia to get rid of it. If the ammonia builds up it will harm the fish so water changes are crucial! If you are willing to carry out water changes all ofthe time you could do the fish less cycling in another tank and then transferit over when complete. By carrying out the fish less cycle you can pritty much add all of your fish at once and the filter will be fine.


That was it in a nut shell there is a link in my signature called the beginners resource centre this explains everything in alot more detail. Check it out!

 

[runningeagleruns]

I'd say if you can purchase a test kit which contains ammonia tests, nitrite tests and nitrate tests. API make a master test kit which has everything and off eBay it is reasonably priced. Liquid test kits are the best and will give you the most accurate results.

Cycling a tank: well to do this you will need a filter either an external cannister or an internal filter which sits in your tank. Within the filter there are various aspects which the water passes through and it will remove debris from the tank and this is where the bacteria live who clean the water removing the ammonia the fish produce.

When fish poo and things they produce ammonia which is toxic to them and if exposed for long periods of time could harm or prove fatal. So talking about the nitrogen cycle when the fish poos ammonia is produced which with a filter that has been cycled, will quickly convert to nitrite (which is also harmful to fish) and then to nitrogen which is the end product of the cycle and is not harmful to fish in small doses. In high doses nitrate can be harmful but you simply carry out water changes to clear this and lower it.

The point of cycling the filter/ tank is to build up the bacteria colony in the filter so that when fish waste is produced the filter will quickly take the ammonia and process it so it's nitrate and the toxic matter is swifty removed.

To cycle a tank you can either carry out a fish less cycle which is when you dose the tank with a certain amount of household ammonia so that there is 5ppm of ammonia in the tank (the ammonia liquid test kit will show this and their is a calculator at the top of the forum to work out how much ammonia you need to add) you then leave the tank with 5ppm of ammonia and eventually it will start to drop and you will eventually see nitrite appearing in the water. You start off testing the tank for ammonia every 24hrs and eventually when you test and the ammonia is around 1ppm or below you would then dose the tank again getting it back to 5ppm and testing again on the 24th hr. When you eventually get a reading of 0 ammonia after 24hrs you then start testing every 12hrs only dosing the tank on the 24th hr if the ammonia is either 0-1ppm. Eventually the ammonia will be 0ppm after 12 hrs and if this is constant for 1 week then the tank is cycled you can carry out a massive water change and then add you stock to the tank!

But remember when the tank is empty ŵish no fish you need to keep the ammonia present otherwise the bacteria will die off. So adding ammonia every 24hra will keep them fed until you buy fish but then carry aout a water change the day you put the fish in. Fish less cycle wise is similar but you have to add the fish and monitor the water every 12hrs and if ammonia appears or nitrite you need t carry out a big enough water change to get rid of this and that could mean up 2 water changes a day! Again like the fish less you ill eventually test and the readings will be 0 and that's it done but you have to carry out more water changes and things!

At the moment with your betta being in a tank with no filter I'd strongly suggest getting the test kit monitoring the water and carrying out water changes when you see ammonia to get rid of it. If the ammonia builds up it will harm the fish so water changes are crucial! If you are willing to carry out water changes all ofthe time you could do the fish less cycling in another tank and then transferit over when complete. By carrying out the fish less cycle you can pritty much add all of your fish at once and the filter will be fine.


That was it in a nut shell there is a link in my signature called the beginners resource centre this explains everything in alot more detail. Check it out!

I read most of "what cycling is".
Wow. I would do all that, and I may still do it, but I don't have the time really.. So... Is it possible to simply keep the tank clean? I don't want to harm Paul, but I simply can't do all that right now. But would Paul eventually die if I didnt cycle my tank? This could be why my moms betta is ill. Thanks

 

[Aqua Tom]

I read most of "what cycling is".
Wow. I would do all that, and I may still do it, but I don't have the time really.. So... Is it possible to simply keep the tank clean? I don't want to harm Paul, but I simply can't do all that right now. But would Paul eventually die if I didnt cycle my tank? This could be why my moms betta is ill. Thanks

The blunt answer is yes as you are not removing the toxins from the water. These toxins are what he excretes, fish waste being ammonia. So paul will eventualy be brething his own waste products.

Imagine if someone where to be sealed in an airtight room. They would eventualy die because they would be breathing their own waste (exhaled air).

 

[sXeLifer]

Make sure to cycle the tank before homing him in it. A male and female should be ok by the way. Its' just if you put two males together, they will eventually kill each other. Fish are normally happy when in a tank that they feel comfortable in i.e no predatory fish, well planted, nice spots to hide etc. He'll need a small water current and of course good water quality too.

 

[ZoddyZod]

I read most of "what cycling is".
Wow. I would do all that, and I may still do it, but I don't have the time really.. So... Is it possible to simply keep the tank clean? I don't want to harm Paul, but I simply can't do all that right now. But would Paul eventually die if I didnt cycle my tank? This could be why my moms betta is ill. Thanks

you could keep a betta in a tank with no filter, but you would need to perform water changes almost daily to keep the harmful toxins at a safe level.

And you dont cycle a tank, you cycle a filter. The filter is where bacteria grows that is capable of processing the ammonia and nitrite that is associated with fish waste and harmful to them at high enough levels.

 

[SensesFail]

I read most of "what cycling is".
Wow. I would do all that, and I may still do it, but I don't have the time really.. So... Is it possible to simply keep the tank clean? I don't want to harm Paul, but I simply can't do all that right now. But would Paul eventually die if I didnt cycle my tank? This could be why my moms betta is ill. Thanks

you could keep a betta in a tank with no filter, but you would need to perform water changes almost daily to keep the harmful toxins at a safe level.

And you dont cycle a tank, you cycle a filter. The filter is where bacteria grows that is capable of processing the ammonia and nitrite that is associated with fish waste and harmful to them at high enough levels.

I must try and get into saying "cycle a filter". cycle a tank rolls off the Tongue but im really meaning the filter

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, nice writeup by SensesFail. Welcome to the forum runningeagleruns! It's great that you are thinking enough of your betta to want to set up a 10G for him! That's a great idea. But I think you should have more confidence in yourself. Its not that hard or time-consuming to set up and cycle a filter, the members here are great at helping people do it. And it's an important and natural extension of the feeling you expressed when you felt your betta should have more tank room and be treated well! In fact, if anything, the cycling and understanding about filters is even more important than the tank!

My own thought is that you should simply perform daily water changes on the current little fish bowl/box. The replacement tap water needs to be treated with a good conditioner to remove chlorine/chloramine and you need to roughly temperature match it to the water you took out (your hand is good enough for this with several comparisons.) Then you can focus on obtaining, setting up and cycling the larger tank (it could be a 5.5G, an 8G, a 10G, whatever. We have a betta sub-forum where they have lots of experience.

~~waterdrop~~