Tank cycling and tank upgrade

[xxamyxx85]

Hi, I need some advice,
I have a Betta in a 20l tank, I thought my tank was cycled and clearly it wasn’t! I had been running it for around a month, my readings are
Ammonia 0.25 ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 20ppm
The nitrate in my tap water is around 20ppm anyway
I have been dosing with prime, my question is when should I be doing water changes? How often?
I have also just bought a 45l tank to upgrade the Betta to, should I wait for 20l tank to cycle first? How do I transfer everything over? Your advice is much appreciated.

 

[Essjay]

I would move the filter and the betta over to the new tank. Or move the filter media into the new tank's filter. With a bigger water volume, it will take longer for ammonia to build up and you can finish cycling the filter/media in the new tank.

How long has the betta been in the tank? I know you said it was running for about a month but was that with or without fish?
What are you using to test for ammonia, strips or a liquid tester?
What is the pH of the tank water? At pH below 7.0 most of the ammonia in your reading with be in the non-toxic ammonium form. It's only at pH over 7.0 that there may be toxic ammonia. (Note: testers read total ammonia, that's ammonia and ammonium combined.)

When you say you've been dosing Prime, do you mean you've been adding it to the tank between water changes? If you are, this is not advisable; Prime should only be used to treat new tap water during a water change.

 

[xxamyxx85]

I would move the filter and the betta over to the new tank. Or move the filter media into the new tank's filter. With a bigger water volume, it will take longer for ammonia to build up and you can finish cycling the filter/media in the new tank.

How long has the betta been in the tank? I know you said it was running for about a month but was that with or without fish?
What are you using to test for ammonia, strips or a liquid tester?
What is the pH of the tank water? At pH below 7.0 most of the ammonia in your reading with be in the non-toxic ammonium form. It's only at pH over 7.0 that there may be toxic ammonia. (Note: testers read total ammonia, that's ammonia and ammonium combined.)

When you say you've been dosing Prime, do you mean you've been adding it to the tank between water changes? If you are, this is not advisable; Prime should only be used to treat new tap water during a water change.

The new tank comes on Thursday , Betta been in a week, I was running the tank without fish and using fish food, I didn’t start dosing with prime until I added Betta but used aqua safe before that. I read that if tank was still cycling to dose with prime every 24-48 hours to keep everything locked and safe for fish, I’ve only done it twice so I really hope no harm done! I’m using the api liquid tester, and my ph is 7.6 on normal ph and 7.4 on high range ph. Thank you for you reply.

 

[Essjay]

In that case, I would do daily water changes and use Prime in the new water. That will keep the fish safe until the next water change. When the new tank arrives, set it up and move the betta into it and at the same time move either the whole old filter into the new tank or persuade the all the old media into the new filter. Keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrite after the move as well.

The zero colour of the API ammonia tester can be tricky. Fluorescent lights can make the liquid look greener than it really is; and some people never see the yellow of zero and the only explanation anyone can come up with is that different eyes see colours differently. Try testing your tap water - if that shows yellow, then there really is a small amount of ammonia in the tank water.
The present level of ammonia is OK at your pH but if it goes higher there will be too much in the toxic form. And there's no safe level of nitrite if that shows up later.


You could get some floating plants. They will help to remove ammonia, and they'll give the betta some shade in the tank.

 

[xxamyxx85]

Should I add the old tank water to the new tank and just top with tap water and prime? I was going to add live plants and driftwood to new tank, I have floating log and almond leaves also. I will get floating plants as well, thank you!

I tested tap water and the tank water is definitely light green compared.

thank you so much for your help!

 

[xxamyxx85]

Also I was thinking of keeping the 20l tank going and possibly growling live bait for the Betta? Is this a good idea? And could I put the old filter in the new tank and just get an airstone for the 20l tank whilst the old filter is gone?

 

[xxamyxx85]

And how long should I have old filter in new tank for?

 

[Essjay]

No, don't bother with old water, just use all new water, treated with the recommended dose of Prime.

What live bait were you thinking of? A single betta won't eat much live food, and it is usually recommended to feed these only once a week as a treat. Feeding the same live food every day won't give him all the nutrition he needs.
You could always turn it into a shrimp tank

As for the filter, sponge filter powered by an air pump is fine for a small tank as they don't create too much flow. Live food or baby shrimps (if you were to do that) could easily get sucked into a standard filter. I don't know if live food (brine shrimps? daphnia?) would even need a filter or just an air stone.

I would leave the old filter in there for at least a month and until you are sure the plants are growing well. putting some media into the new filter would help to seed the new filter faster. Once the plants really start to grow, you won't need many bacteria.




So tap water and tank water show the same colour in the ammonia test? it is possible to have ammonia in tap water where the water company uses chloramine rather than chlorine. Do you have any bottled water on hand? The label should say if that contains any ammonia.

 

[xxamyxx85]

I wasn’t really sure, I was just hoping for a use of the 20l tank. I think I’ll just get the Betta settled and worry about the 20 l later, thank you so much for the advice.

No tap water is yellow and tank water light green.

what would you suggest for substrate in new tank? Soil then gravel or just gravel? Sorry to be a pain

 

[xxamyxx85]

Or sand?

 

[Essjay]

Sorry, misunderstood about the ammonia tests. In that case there is a bit of ammonia in the tank water, it's not your eyesight


Soil in a tank does come with problems according to what I read on here. If there's just a betta in the tank then gravel or sand is fine, whichever you prefer. If you decide on sand, look at play sand; B&Q and Argos sell it. Play sand tends to be dusty so make sure you wash it.

 

[Retired Viking]

As far as plants are concerned, good ammonia absorbing plants are moneywort, hornwort, anacharis, frog bite and water sprite. They are easy to take care for and absorb what they need from the water and they will improve your tanks water quality.

 

[xxamyxx85]

Thank you