Re-Cycling After Water Change?

[Spitter33]

I'm kind of confused with water changes. 
 
I have 1 betta fish in a 2.5 gallon tank with no heater or filter. So I should be doing water changes quite frequently. 
 
I'm confused though because I know a tank should cycle (I never cycled my tank because I was completely unaware but I did add water conditioner). So now that it's been about 5 days since the last water change the tank is "cycled"? So, if I were to do a water change wouldn't I be back at square one again?
 
I'm confused because people say having a cycled tank is good yet water changes are also good. How can both be good? Soon as my tank finally cycles itself I just drain all that water out and start from step-one again with fresh water? 
 
Should I maybe only do 50% water changes? 

 

[Ninjouzata]

Your tank is not cycled. There is virtually no bacteria in the water column. Majority of it is in the filter media, substrate, and on hard surfaces like walls of the tank and decorations.
 
In your size tank you should be doing a 100% water change every 4-5 days, according to THIS.
But you need a heater ASAP unless your house is like 90F (bettas need a minimum of 78F and water temp is 5-10 degrees lower than room temp usually)
 
Have a read of THIS to understand more about cycling.

 

[Spitter33]

Your tank is not cycled. There is virtually no bacteria in the water column. Majority of it is in the filter media, substrate, and on hard surfaces like walls of the tank and decorations.
 
In your size tank you should be doing a 100% water change every 4-5 days, according to THIS.
But you need a heater ASAP unless your house is like 90F (bettas need a minimum of 78F and water temp is 5-10 degrees lower than room temp usually)
 
Have a read of THIS to understand more about cycling.

 
Thanks, I'll be sure to give that a read! 
 
So I guess this tank will never be cycled then, right? Since I will be adding new water every 4-5 days. And it's fine that it won't ever be cycled? I thought it HAD to be. 
 
I'm going to pick up a larger tank and a heater/filter tomorrow. Unfortunately when I bought this little guy I knew nothing about fish and assumed the people working at Petsmart knew, they told me Betta's didn't need a heater or filter and even tried selling me a 1 gallon tank for it. Luckily I was smart enough to get a 2.5 instead (which I still think is a little on the small side). 
 
My room is VERY hot though, especially this time of year. And the water always feels room temperature, so it should have been fine but I'll definitely pick up a heater regardless. 

 

[Ninjouzata]

As far as I know you can't really have a cycled tank without a filter.
 
Your tank should be cycled since if it's not the fish will be exposed to ammonia and nitrites.
These can permanently damage the fish and result in a shorter lifespan. Having no filter on the tank is like doing a fish-in cycle that will never end.
 
I'm glad to hear you'll be picking up a larger tank. He'll love it. Be sure to cycle it first by following that article. You'll need a liquid test kit (API is a popular brand) and ammonia which you can find sources for HERE.
 
Do you have a thermometer in the tank?
If not I would get one so you can check it and see if it is warm enough but I would have a heater regardless as at night temps drop and the heater will keep the temperature stable as fluctuations can stress out the fish.
 
Be sure that it is an adjustable heater. Btw what size tank are you getting?

 

[Alasse]

You can have a small tank never cycled, but you have to do large water changes on it frequently and religiously so as not to harm the occupant. The water regular water changes keep the ammonia and nitrites in safe levels. Its a lot more work to keep a tank this way.
 
Nice to see you are getting a larger filtered/heated tank for the little guy though, will make it easier on you once its cycled.
 
As you already have him in an uncycled tank, i personally would use him to cycle his new tank. You are going to have to continue the regular water changes on his small tank anyway, you may as well do it on the larger filtered/heated one instead.
 
Make sure you get yourself a test kit, you will need it. API Masterkit is generally considered the best choice

 

[Spitter33]

As far as I know you can't really have a cycled tank without a filter.
 
Your tank should be cycled since if it's not the fish will be exposed to ammonia and nitrites.
These can permanently damage the fish and result in a shorter lifespan. Having no filter on the tank is like doing a fish-in cycle that will never end.
 
I'm glad to hear you'll be picking up a larger tank. He'll love it. Be sure to cycle it first by following that article. You'll need a liquid test kit (API is a popular brand) and ammonia which you can find sources for HERE.
 
Do you have a thermometer in the tank?
If not I would get one so you can check it and see if it is warm enough but I would have a heater regardless as at night temps drop and the heater will keep the temperature stable as fluctuations can stress out the fish.
 
Be sure that it is an adjustable heater. Btw what size tank are you getting?

 
I don't have a thermometer but will pick one up today along with all the other stuff! 
 
And I plan on getting a 10 gallon tank with some live plants. I guess 10 gallons is still considered pretty small in general but it'll seem huge compared to my 2.5 gallon! 
 
And I'll definitely cycle this new tank before putting the Betta in it. 
 
It's funny because when I was at Petsmart, I was originally going to just buy a few Neon Tetras (with a larger tank of course) but then the lady working there said I had to cycle the tank first, and I wasn't sure what that meant, so she explained it to me. And she said all I had to do was bring the tank home, set it up with the heater, filter and water then let it sit for 1-2 days. Glad I came here because now I know that would have literally done nothing 

 
Edit: This might be a stupid question, but I don't have to cycle the tank before adding live plants do I...? I didn't think so, but now I'm wondering if they might die as well if I didn't... 

 

[fluttermoth]

No, you don't have to cycle before adding plants