Cycling With Fish In Tank

Cycling with fish in tank...

I have had my tank for 2 last weeks now, going on my third. I was using testing strips but realized they don’t test ammonia which seems to be the most important. I finally got the master kit tonight in the mail and tested.

My numbers came out like this:
PH 7.2
Ammonia ~.75 ppm
Nitrtite 0
Nitrate 0

I have used biological booster and have been doing small water changes, but been a little in the dark without having ammonia readings on the strips.

If I keep up water changes, feeding my fish, and keep testing, my tank will eventually cycle right?

 

Yes, it should eventually cycle. Since you're cycling with a fish, you of course want it to go as quickly as possible without any huge spikes in ammonia or nitrites, and you want to try and keep your cycle from stalling. So, one thing you want to do is don't overfeed! It is one thing you have complete control over that plays into your ammonia level.

So, I have a few questions for you. What biological booster did you use? How long after your water change did you add it? How long did you wait to do the next water change?

 

What did you add? Was it TSS or sr Tim’s one and only... I personally find these are the only 2 that work for fish in cycling....
But you have to watch the water changes... and you also have to becareful not to add any ammonia remover or detoxifiers (unless in an emergency) this is right from Dr Tim... the biggest problem with these products is people are a bit mislead.... they think they can dump the bottle in and then add a tank full of fish which is not how it works....
You need to add the bottle... then add a “few” small to medium sized fish... you should then see an ammonia spike no more than .25-.75ppm which will disappear in a day or 2 max... (do not do water changes...) then after the ammonia spike is over you will see a small shirt nitrite spike... (sometimes this part is so quick you don’t even see it, other times it’s a day or 2) only AFTER both of these have happened and gone away for a min of 3 days should you add your next couple fish (again 3 or 4 small- medium fish) Also, if you don’t plan on adding a bunch of baby or smaller fish and are going for bigger fish... add one at a time especially if they are high bioload producers....and you keep repeating this process until you are fully stocked... I have used the Dr Tim’s numerous times and have never had an ammonia or nitrite spike last more then about 1.5 days and it has never gone over .5ppm
It sounds to me like your tank is just beginning to cycle so keep a close eye on it... if you haven’t added either of those products I would add one or the other now.... if you do add the TSS you CAN NOT do water changes... it’s very specific about that.... when using these products you must follow it exactly to the letter and your fish will never be in harms way... but if you add too many fish too quickly it’s basically pointless... it will “help” but it will not preform the way it’s supposed to... or if you add a couple of fish with a high bioload... same thing.. it won’t work....
These products contain the good BB you are trying to establish during a cycle and they jump start it... by adding a couple fish at a time and I mean only a couple.... then it will work perfectly every time... hope that made sense I’m half asleep... but mostly the bad reviews with this product are because they didn’t follow the steps properly... if you have any questions about them or how to properly use them feel free to ask.... and always add the whole bottle... I always buy a way bigger size then I need and I dump 1/2-3/4 into the tank and the rest right into my filter right on the main bio media if it’s easy to access... but if your levels get too high you have done something wrong and will be forced to do water changes... but becareful of doing too big of one at one time... when people tell you to do 50% or more... personally I wouldn’t... it can cause more harm then good as you can shock the fish... it’s better to do smaller and more water changes then bigger ones... less of shock to the fish in the tank...
Also when you are doing a fish in cycle you need to limit your feeding to every other day or every other 3rd day even... they can live a lot longer than you think without food... and certainly do not feed them more than once a day

 

Cycling with fish in tank...

I have had my tank for 2 last weeks now, going on my third. I was using testing strips but realized they don’t test ammonia which seems to be the most important. I finally got the master kit tonight in the mail and tested.

My numbers came out like this:
PH 7.2
Ammonia ~.75 ppm
Nitrtite 0
Nitrate 0

I have used biological booster and have been doing small water changes, but been a little in the dark without having ammonia readings on the strips.

If I keep up water changes, feeding my fish, and keep testing, my tank will eventually cycle right?

Hello coco...

You need 3 to 4 small fish for every 10 gallons of water. Guppies or White Cloud minnows work well. They'll easily survive the process. Feed the fish a little every day or two to maintain a steady source of ammonia. Test for ammonia and nitrite every day and remove and replace 25 percent of the tank water if you get a positive test. Don't change out more water. You'll starve the bacteria and delay the cycle. Test and change one-quarter of the water if needed. In roughly a month, you'll have several tests with no traces of ammonia or nitrite. The tank is cycled. Then, change half the water weekly to maintain good water conditions.

That's it. You don't have to add anything or do anything else.

Old

 

Hello coco...

You need 3 to 4 small fish for every 10 gallons of water. Guppies or White Cloud minnows work well. They'll easily survive the process. Feed the fish a little every day or two to maintain a steady source of ammonia. Test for ammonia and nitrite every day and remove and replace 25 percent of the tank water if you get a positive test. Don't change out more water. You'll starve the bacteria and delay the cycle. Test and change one-quarter of the water if needed. In roughly a month, you'll have several tests with no traces of ammonia or nitrite. The tank is cycled. Then, change half the water weekly to maintain good water conditions.

That's it. You don't have to add anything or do anything else.

Old

That could be good advice or bad advice... if he used TSS as his bacteria it it sticktly stated NOT to do ANY water changes for at least 10-14 days I believe... I don’t use that one or haven’t in. While but I know that part is crucial to the way it works.... even when I spoke with Dr TI'm he was strongly against doing water changes while his product is working unless it becomes an emergency situation... and even if you have to they must be very small ones... and not frequent.... and as a person who regularly does fish in cycling with great success I would not recommend feeding everyday... the fish alone will produce plenty of ammonia from feeding once every other day... and a small amount... these instructions are all right from dr tI'm himself and the problem is people don’t follow them correctly and then those are the people that claim the bottled bacteria doesn’t work...now this depends on what they used... most of it is either useless or has to be added every time a water change is done (such as stability and cycle for example) but we should wait before giving too much advice until we find out what he added for “his bacteria starter”
But for the most part I agree... I started my last Tank with 4 dwarf neon tetras and my levels never went above .25 ammonia and .25 nitrite... and those levels only lasted a day or less.. then added fish slowly... afterwards and barely even had a spike... and if I did it was again .25 and was often gone by that night or the next day... especially if this person is a beginner it is soooo easy to over feed which will send him into crazy high levels but again for the most part I agree with what you said.... we are just lacking a bit of information

 

That could be good advice or bad advice... if he used TSS as his bacteria it it sticktly stated NOT to do ANY water changes for at least 10-14 days I believe... I don’t use that one or haven’t in. While but I know that part is crucial to the way it works.... even when I spoke with Dr TI'm he was strongly against doing water changes while his product is working unless it becomes an emergency situation... and even if you have to they must be very small ones... and not frequent.... and as a person who regularly does fish in cycling with great success I would not recommend feeding everyday... the fish alone will produce plenty of ammonia from feeding once every other day... and a small amount... these instructions are all right from dr tI'm himself and the problem is people don’t follow them correctly and then those are the people that claim the bottled bacteria doesn’t work...now this depends on what they used... most of it is either useless or has to be added every time a water change is done (such as stability and cycle for example) but we should wait before giving too much advice until we find out what he added for “his bacteria starter”
But for the most part I agree... I started my last Tank with 4 dwarf neon tetras and my levels never went above .25 ammonia and .25 nitrite... and those levels only lasted a day or less.. then added fish slowly... afterwards and barely even had a spike... and if I did it was again .25 and was often gone by that night or the next day... especially if this person is a beginner it is soooo easy to over feed which will send him into crazy high levels but again for the most part I agree with what you said.... we are just lacking a bit of information

Hello Fran...

The first mistake most new tank cyclers make, is using a bacteria booster. These can cycle a tank in a day or a year. What they generally end with is unstable water. The advice I gave is old school, but this simple process works and if you use a hardy fish species as the ammonia source and pay attention to the water chemistry, you'll likely have fry by the time the tank cycles in a month. I did.

However, if the poster would like to figure out a better way, than that's their choice.

Old

 

Dr tims one and only has actually been published in scientific research studies... (I can’t say for certain about TSS) but in order to get published in the sorts of things his products have been published in you have to prove it works 100% of the time and it has for me... people usually say it doesn’t work because 1- they don’t follow the directions and use ammonia binding dechlorinators (which you are not supposed to do - like prime, it’s fine to use these after the tank is cycled but it prolongs the process during cycling) or 2- they add a whack load of fish all at once thinking that’s what it’s made for...
Really the only thing I disagreed with is the feeding part... because I can guarantee if this person is a beginner then they are going to over feed... (and most likely aren’t using quality foods yet) that’s why I suggested once a day and every other day... or else they will get a huge spike for no reason when the fish can live safely by cutting the feeding... people read those bottles and they all usually say feed 2-3 times a day! So beginners think that feeding every other day will be bad for their fish...
I was simply trying to provide them with imformation to cycle their tank safely while still stocking the type of fish they want (yes the ones you mentioned are hardy fish but maybe he doesn’t want those kind) the same process can easily be done with MOST fish that a beginner would be getting like a platy or mollies or something.... I have successfully done this many times and haven’t had to do water changes until the cycle was completed... we also don’t know a lot of things... he listed his PH of 7.2.... has he tested this out of the tap, out of the aquarium or de gassed... makes a big difference on how fast and well your cycle will work... or when are they doing their testing? Is it before the water change or after a water change...what kind of substrate are they using... do they have driftwood.... the person needs to answer some more questions before we should be giving anything more then basic advice... and again the only reason why I wanted to know what they used is to give proper instructions... because if they did use TSS it won’t help at all if he’s been doing water changes... that’s all... there is just too much missing info to advise them... maybe that 0.75 ammonia is right out of the tap... we have no idea I wasn’t disagreeing with your method... just the feeding seemed a bit heavy and that we don’t know how he got those parameters... not trying to argue I just don’t want them to be fighting an uphill battle if they don’t need too

 

HI Francine and oldsalt777
Thanks for the input!
I should have added I have a 3.5 gallon tank. I have one Betta and one nerite. I have 3 small Marimo balls and one live plant. I have gravel, a filter, and I use de chlorinating water primer.
Much of the information that was shared I didn’t know. Like if you’re trying to cycle a tank the old school way which is what I wanted to do, you shouldn’t use bacteria booster.
I need to read through all the posts more thoroughly and decide what way to do it, but I think I’ve been doing it multiple ways at the same time which sounds like it will set me back.
Oh also just FYI I’m a she not a he. Lol. It doesn’t matter much to me but just thought I would clarify.

Last time I had a fish I fed the fish too much and he got sick. This fish I think I started out underfeeding. Now I think I’ve found a balance. 2 times a day. 2 pellets. Sometimes I will feed tubifex worms or bloodworms instead. One day out of the week I will fast my Betta. I’m always checking to see if her stomach is bulging or concave. I’m very careful.
I tested the water from my aquarium before doing a water change. I do not have driftwood.
Francine

 

There is nothing saying that you can’t use bacteria booster to do it the “old fashioned way” it’s the exact same thing... except less harmful to your fish....
Just don’t feed them everyday is my opinion... I’ve used the bacteria booster and had 65 gallon tanks cycled in days... also it depends on what kind of filter you have? This is crucial... do you have those prepackaged things you slide into your filter or is it all separated... this part is very very important... especially if your filter uses the prepackaged cartridges... if it does I can help you out on what to do if you’d like... but whatever you do in the meantime deciding do NOT replace or throw that out... the package and instructions will tell you to replace it every couple weeks... with a tank that small you will just basically throw away your whole cycle every time you do that
Also have you tested your tap water?
That is still quite a bit... I would honestly feed it that much a couple pellets every couple days is fine... trust me in the long run it will save you... most fish can go a week or longer without eating (** with exceptions )
Once your tank is cycled you can feed him or her a bit everyday but it’s to get to that point without killing it

 

Welcome to FishLore!

Okay, so if you want to cycle "old school" there are some things you can do which will protect your fish during the process. There are also some things you can do to speed it up also. But do note that "old school" cycling can take 6-8 weeks to complete.

So I would recommend that you test your water daily. If your ammonia+nitrite level is less than 1ppm, add enough SeaChem Prime to treat the entire tank. If ammonia+nitrite is greater than or equal to 1ppm perform a 50% water change with enough Prime to treat the entire tank volume.

In case you are not familiar with it, SeaChem Prime is a water conditioner. It will remove chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metals. But unlike most other water conditioners Prime will also detox up to 1ppm of ammonia and/or nitrites for 24 hours, keeping your fish safe from toxin exposure. So using the above mentioned method, your fish will not suffer while the tank is cycling.

While I've never used it myself (I'm a big fan of Tetra SafeStart, cycles a tank in 14 days, with no work what-so-ever) many people here claim that using SeaChem Stability helps speed up the cycling process. It is a bacteria booster. It works differently than Tetra SafeStart and Dr Tim's One & Only (side note, Dr TI'm actually invented Tetra SafeStart) in that it is not the bacteria that will develop in your filter media naturally over time. But what it supposedly is, is a kind of stop gap bacteria that will start converting ammonia and nitrite until the naturally occurring bacteria finally gets a foothold.

 

The only issue with stability is that you have to continue to use it... and it isn’t cheap... although he would need very little in such a small tank... (this was even admitted by seachem!) if you don’t use it every water change until you are cycled (and it won’t happen in 7 days usually like the bottle says) you have to add it every water change... I found it just slowed the whole process down... I pretty much have tried every way of cycling and experimented a lot and dr Tim’s has by far given me the best results when followed precisely

Welcome to FishLore!

Okay, so if you want to cycle "old school" there are some things you can do which will protect your fish during the process. There are also some things you can do to speed it up also. But do note that "old school" cycling can take 6-8 weeks to complete.

So I would recommend that you test your water daily. If your ammonia+nitrite level is less than 1ppm, add enough SeaChem Prime to treat the entire tank. If ammonia+nitrite is greater than or equal to 1ppm perform a 50% water change with enough Prime to treat the entire tank volume.

In case you are not familiar with it, SeaChem Prime is a water conditioner. It will remove chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metals. But unlike most other water conditioners Prime will also detox up to 1ppm of ammonia and/or nitrites for 24 hours, keeping your fish safe from toxin exposure. So using the above mentioned method, your fish will not suffer while the tank is cycling.

While I've never used it myself (I'm a big fan of Tetra SafeStart, cycles a tank in 14 days, with no work what-so-ever) many people here claim that using SeaChem Stability helps speed up the cycling process. It is a bacteria booster. It works differently than Tetra SafeStart and Dr Tim's One & Only (side note, Dr TI'm actually invented Tetra SafeStart) in that it is not the bacteria that will develop in your filter media naturally over time. But what it supposedly is, is a kind of stop gap bacteria that will start converting ammonia and nitrite until the naturally occurring bacteria finally gets a foothold.

Also please when advising people to use prime let them know that, yes it detoxes your ammonia and nitrites. However you will NOT see this in your apI test... so don’t put prime in and expect the tube to turn yellow for the ammonia test... many many people with small tanks kill their fish this way... they waaaaay overdose it waiting for the color to change and it never will... basically the apI test, tests for both free ammonia (bad!) and ammonium (less toxic) and it can’t tell the difference... so your test won’t change to yellow even though your fish is safe... the reason this is a problem in small tanks is because the more prime you add leads to o2 depletion.... which can not take much in a tiny tank... that’s why people think “oh I’ll start with a small tank when I’m fact usually they are harder to look after lol” Bigger tanks are more forgiving of mistakes

And yes that’s what stability does... it spores rather than the dr Tim’s and TSS which is the actual nitrifying bacteria that you are trying to grow...

 

And yes that’s what stability does... it spores rather than the dr Tim’s and which is the actual nitrifying bacteria that you are trying to grow...

There's a lot of debate about Seachem Stability.

The only thing we know for certain about it is what little information Seachem has made available: it's a blend of "aerobic, anaerobic and facultative nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria".

There's been posts made here and in other fora about it being "different than your usual beneficial bacteria" and the bacteria composition being "non-sustainable".

I'm not sure if it's possible to reach these conclusions given that we know so little about the genera/species/strains of bacteria in Stability, and insofar as I know, this information isn't available for either TSS or Dr Tim's One & Only.

Down to it, I think the effectiveness of any given particular bottled bacteria product is more a function of whether the bacteria species/strains in that product are competitive in your water parameters, and we know that there can be a lot of things wrong with water parameters to stall/prolong a cycle.

 

I used to be under the impression that both Stability and Cycle needed to be used forever. But many members here who have used Stability claim that is dose not need to be used forever (although Cycle does apparently). But as stated, I have never used Stability so I can only go on the claims of other members.

Many people claim Prime converts ammonia into ammonium, but I've never seen SeaChem claim this, so I don't know it Prime converts ammonia into ammonium. But I do fully agree that no matter what Prime turns ammonia into, it still reads as ammonia on the API Test Kit.

But in my opinion, that is a good thing. If "detoxed" ammonia didn't test positive, you would never know when your bacteria colony was converting all of your ammonia.

 

Welcome to FishLore!

Okay, so if you want to cycle "old school" there are some things you can do which will protect your fish during the process. There are also some things you can do to speed it up also. But do note that "old school" cycling can take 6-8 weeks to complete.

So I would recommend that you test your water daily. If your ammonia+nitrite level is less than 1ppm, add enough SeaChem Prime to treat the entire tank. If ammonia+nitrite is greater than or equal to 1ppm perform a 50% water change with enough Prime to treat the entire tank volume.

In case you are not familiar with it, SeaChem Prime is a water conditioner. It will remove chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metals. But unlike most other water conditioners Prime will also detox up to 1ppm of ammonia and/or nitrites for 24 hours, keeping your fish safe from toxin exposure. So using the above mentioned method, your fish will not suffer while the tank is cycling.

While I've never used it myself (I'm a big fan of Tetra SafeStart, cycles a tank in 14 days, with no work what-so-ever) many people here claim that using SeaChem Stability helps speed up the cycling process. It is a bacteria booster. It works differently than Tetra SafeStart and Dr Tim's One & Only (side note, Dr TI'm actually invented Tetra SafeStart) in that it is not the bacteria that will develop in your filter media naturally over time. But what it supposedly is, is a kind of stop gap bacteria that will start converting ammonia and nitrite until the naturally occurring bacteria finally gets a foothold.

Hello jd...

You don't need to protect a hardy fish. They'll do fine in water with just a trace of ammonia or nitrite. Success is based on two things: First, you have to carefully monitor the water chemistry by testing daily for traces of ammonia and nitrite. No excuses. If you have a positive test, you remove and replace 25 percent of the tank water. This is all that's needed to get the chemistry back into the safe zone for the fish and to grow the bacteria colony. That's it. The second piece is, selecting a hardy species. There are several: Guppies, White Clouds, Platies, Rasboras, Danios and even feeder Goldfish. These will all easily survive the cycling process as long as the water chemistry is checked daily. This means of cycling a tank has been done for decades. It typically takes 30 days.

This is really too easy.

Old

 

Just because a fish can tolerate slightly elevated ammonia/nitrite levels, doesn't mean it's not suffering. It does do damage, that's why your recommending hardy fish. For example, if I were locked in a room full of smokers, I would be suffering, and having damage done to my lungs, even though I am hardy enough to survive the experience. But take someone with OPCD or some other respiratory disorder and they may not survive.

When I got back into fish keeping after a long hiatus, I was not aware of the nitrogen cycle. So on the advice of the salesgirl at PetSmart I put 4 "hardy" danio's in my tank and just waited for the tank to cycle (no water changes). It took 6 weeks for the tank to cycle. Two of the danio's died during the cycle, and the other two died a couple weeks later.

Now I do realize you are advocating water changes to keep ammonia/nitrite low and a hardy fish should survive that. But I still think the fish will be feeling discomfort if you do not use Prime to fully detox those low levels of ammonia and nitrite. And since you're doing water changes with a water conditioner everyday to keep those levels down, why not use Prime as your water conditioner and keep the fish safe?

 

Many people claim converts into , but I've never seen SeaChem claim this, so I don't know it Prime converts ammonia into ammonium.

This is an excellent point. I'm guilty of repeating the "Prime converts ammonia into ammonium".

From a quick Google search, it seems that there's a lot of uncertainty about (1) what free ammonia is converted into and (2) how this is achieved. Patents and details are probably sequestered under "proprietary information", but some enterprising aquarists have surmised that Prime contains complexed hydrosulfide salt that binds ammonia ions into iminium salt.

Now, I haven't a clue what "complexed hydrosulfide salt" or "iminium salt" means, so I'll stop repeating that Prime "converts ammonia into ammonium" nonsense and stick with "it detoxifies ammonia through magic".

 

But I do fully agree that no matter what Prime turns ammonia into, it still reads as ammonia on the API Test Kit.

But in my opinion, that is a good thing. If "detoxed" ammonia didn't test positive, you would never know when your bacteria colony was converting all of your ammonia.

If this is true that prime detoxifies the ammonia while still keeping it and letting it continue the beginning of a cycle, then prime is something I would like to use. I don’t want to be using things that will only artificially maintain the cycle. I want to properly start it without hurting my fish.

There is nothing saying that you can’t use bacteria booster to do it the “old fashioned way” it’s the exact same thing... except less harmful to your fish....
Just don’t feed them everyday is my opinion... I’ve used the bacteria booster and had 65 gallon tanks cycled in days... also it depends on what kind of filter you have? This is crucial... do you have those prepackaged things you slide into your filter or is it all separated... this part is very very important... especially if your filter uses the prepackaged cartridges... if it does I can help you out on what to do if you’d like... but whatever you do in the meantime deciding do NOT replace or throw that out... the package and instructions will tell you to replace it every couple weeks... with a tank that small you will just basically throw away your whole cycle every time you do that
Also have you tested your tap water?
That is still quite a bit... I would honestly feed it that much a couple pellets every couple days is fine... trust me in the long run it will save you... most fish can go a week or longer without eating (** with exceptions )
Once your tank is cycled you can feed him or her a bit everyday but it’s to get to that point without killing it

Okay I have 2 prepackaged filters the tank came with. And I haven’t changed them since I have seen information on how that harms the cycle and tank. If the prepackaged filters hold your good bacteria well, then what are the benefits of DIY or other filters? I’m new to this and I thought “normal” filters were fine. I’m curious to hear your opinion.

I haven’t tested the tap water separately.

Okay I would rather not overfeed than underfeed. I just don’t want to torture my fish, whether it’s with bad water quality or not a nice balanced diet.





These are the products I have used.
Francine
Sorry I didn’t see the first post replies on here somehow!
I probably did overkill on the perfect start, the water dechlorinator, and the biological booster.

 

If this is true that prime detoxifies the ammonia while still keeping it and letting it continue the beginning of a cycle, then prime is something I would like to use. I don’t want to be using things that will only artificially maintain the cycle. I want to properly start it without hurting my fish.

I agree about products that artificially maintain a cycle, that's why I like Tetra SafeStart or Dr Tim's One & Only so much for cycling a tank. Those two products are actually bottles of the bacteria that will develop naturally in your tank over the course of several weeks. So it almost like taking filter media from an established tank and putting it in your tank (which is how a lot of people with an existing established tank, cycle any additional tanks they may set up)

 

I

There's a lot of debate about Seachem Stability.

The only thing we know for certain about it is what little information Seachem has made available: it's a blend of "aerobic, anaerobic and facultative nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria".

There's been posts made here and in other fora about it being "different than your usual beneficial bacteria" and the bacteria composition being "non-sustainable".

I'm not sure if it's possible to reach these conclusions given that we know so little about the genera/species/strains of bacteria in Stability, and insofar as I know, this information isn't available for either TSS or Dr Tim's One & Only.

Down to it, I think the effectiveness of any given particular bottled bacteria product is more a function of whether the bacteria species/strains in that product are competitive in your water parameters, and we know that there can be a lot of things wrong with water parameters to stall/prolong a cycle.

I agree about the TSS however as far as what I have read and heard dr tI'm has has his stuff published in scientific journals that require it to be proven to work... meaning if you put his product in 100 times and only 99 times it works ... then you have to explain AND prove why that 1 time it did not work... I’ve had nothing but success with it.. the tank still needs to cycle yes but it allows you to add SOME fish right away without the super high ammonia and the sometimes weeks of the long awaited nitrite drop.... as I mentioned before I have had tanks cycled so quickly I see the ammonia go up to very little (I think 0.75 was the highest mine ever got and it was for a day) and the nitrites you don’t even often see... the tube will change from that beautiful bright blue color to a fuller blue color... still indicating as “0” on the chart but you will know what I mean by the “different blues”. .. meaning there is some nitrites in there but so little it is measuring at 0 on the chart... and the next day or even that night it’s back to the bright blue color... and then I always feed once a day a normal amount (for three days in a row) and if my levels stay at 0 after feeding everyday I add a couple more fish and repeat.. but I have also done the fishless cycling and the time comparison is unreal... if it’s done correctly dr Tim’s definitely allows you to start off with stocking what you want as long as it’s done slowly and properly.. I also find it useful for when you have to do maintenance... just add in the minimum amount (especially for beginners that tend to want to clean everything at once) it makes sure it doesn’t completely crash your cycle... I know it’s proper to cycle a tank but if your just keeping a Betta in a 3.5 gallon I would just change the water every week and add a tiny shot of prime... I’m not sure I’d have the patience to cycle a tank that small lol and Betta’s are usually fairly hardy...I’ve seen a ton of people with no filter and have them live in those vases with a plant on top for years lol

 

If this is true that prime detoxifies the ammonia while still keeping it and letting it continue the beginning of a cycle, then prime is something I would like to use. I don’t want to be using things that will only artificially maintain the cycle. I want to properly start it without hurting my fish.



Okay I have 2 prepackaged filters the tank came with. And I haven’t changed them since I have seen information on how that harms the cycle and tank. If the prepackaged filters hold your good bacteria well, then what are the benefits of DIY or other filters? I’m new to this and I thought “normal” filters were fine. I’m curious to hear your opinion.

I haven’t tested the tap water separately.

Okay I would rather not overfeed than underfeed. I just don’t want to torture my fish, whether it’s with bad water quality or not a nice balanced diet.

View attachment 467255View attachment 467256View attachment 467257
These are the products I have used.
Francine
Sorry I didn’t see the first post replies on here somehow!
I probably did overkill on the perfect start, the water dechlorinator, and the biological booster.

Ya none of those will work fantastically... not for establishing a bio filter and the right bacteria... I would go grab a 2oz bottle of dr Tim’s and dump the whole thing in the bowl and then don’t touch a thing (other then test once a day) don’t do any water changes unless things get out of control and don’t be alarmed... when you dump in the bottle (make sure to shake the heck out of it) the water will be completely cloudy... don’t panic lol it’s supposes to do that and it will clear and it will not bother your fish
Watch some of dr tins videos on you tube

 

Also I can’t remeber what you told me you had for a filter... or if you did... this is one of THE most important things I need to know... that way I can give you my opinion on what do do with it.... I need to know the brand name or if it has prepackaged filter things that just slide in that have carbon in them or if it’s a filter that has all separate compartments for your media....
If you have the first type and you throw away the media bag you just threw out your whole cycle and will basically have to start again... especially in such a small tank
The BB lives mostly in your filter material and some one your substrate and some in decorations etc.... if you don’t handle that bag properly and do it right then the whole cycle is basically pointless