Is my tank cycling? Problems with test strips.

We have decided to get a single male betta. We have a 10 gallon tank with two sponge filters. 3.5 weeks ago, I put water in the tank (with prime and everything else- except the fish) and began the process of 1)dropping 2 pellets of betta fish food and 2)checking for ammonia. According to the article I read, it said to do this every other day. Now I'm reading more articles that say to do this more frequently. Unfortunately, I bought the strips for testing for ammonia instead of the master kit, which I now realize was probably a bad move. We have ordered the master kit and that should come today or tomorrow. The strips have shown anywhere from 0 ammonia to 1.0ppm at the most... But there have been days where it's been darker around the edges (somewhere between 3.0-6.0ppm) and completely yellow in the center. I wasn't sure what to do with that reading and I sort of assumed the level would go up and show a completely green pad, not realizing that it might be a problem with the strips...

At the moment, the ammonia read is 0. Once 2-2.5 weeks had passed, I began to wonder why the ammonia wasn't going up and realized that the dark green edges might mean something. So I began testing for nitrite/nitrate every other day. The nitrite levels have always been 0. The nitrate was at 20ppm the first day and now is now probably between 0 and 20.

So my questions are:
1)Should I be dropping pellets in more often than every other day?
2)Is it possible I somehow missed nitrite levels rising, declining, and then nitrate levels rising? Or does nitrate sometimes naturally occur in tap water?
3)I've been topping of the tank because it's winter (dry). We have the tank heater on and a mesh top, so there's a lot of evaporation happening. I always add prime. Is that ok?
4)Other readings are GH- 0, KH- 240, pH- 8.0. Are these okay for a betta?
5)Is there anything else I should be doing to help this process along? My youngest, who is a lover of animals of all kinds, has been patiently waiting for a pet for 2 years!

 

I have honestly never heard of that method for cycling a tank. I have always heard of getting the bacteria for the tank and allowing it to cycle on its own after putting all of the components in the tank. Maybe someone with more knowledge will speak up. You need to get a real test kit with the glass tubes and separate parameter testing pieces if you want to keep a fish though and you’re serious about it. They’re not super expensive and will last a couple years. Much more accurate than the testing strips. also, cycling can take 4 to 6 weeks, but the bacteria helps to speed it up. once again, I don’t know anything about dropping fish food in there, if there’s no bacteria to help facilitate breaking the fish food down then you’re just dropping junk in there and it doesn’t have anything to eat it/ break it down.

 

The problem with attempting a fishless cycle using fish food as your ammonia source is that you really can't control your ammonia level, since you never know how much ammonia a fish food will create.

You really do need a liquid based test kit, such as the API Master Test Kit for Freshwater. So I highly recommend you follow through on getting one.

Okay, new here's how I would cycle a tank for a betta. I would fill the tank with conditioned water, wait 24 hours, then add the fish and an entire well shaken, appropriate size bottle of Tetra SafeStart. Then do nothing for the next 24 days other than feed your betta. On day 14 test your water and if everything works like it should, you'll have a cycled tank.

My other method is a little more controversial, but here gors. You're going to most likely be buying a betta from a local fish store, that keeps the betta's in those little cups. Of course, those cups aren't cycled and being so small ammonia builds up pretty quickly. So the fish store needs to change the water in the cups at least daily (but do they?...I tend to doubt it, but either way)...why not just do a large water change then add a betta. Then test your water daily. If ammonia+nitrite is less than 1ppm add enough Prime to treat all 10 gallons. If ammonia+nitrite is greater than or equal to 1ppm, do a 50% water change with enough Prime to treat all 10 gallons. Keep this up until the tank finishes cycling. The Prime will keep the Betta safe from ammonia and/or nitrite exposure and the Betta will have a much better life than being stuck in that death cup.

Best of luck!

 

We have decided to get a single male betta. We have a 10 gallon tank with two sponge filters. 3.5 weeks ago, I put water in the tank (with prime and everything else- except the fish) and began the process of 1)dropping 2 pellets of betta fish food and 2)checking for ammonia. According to the article I read, it said to do this every other day. Now I'm reading more articles that say to do this more frequently. Unfortunately, I bought the strips for testing for ammonia instead of the master kit, which I now realize was probably a bad move. We have ordered the master kit and that should come today or tomorrow. The strips have shown anywhere from 0 ammonia to 1.0ppm at the most... But there have been days where it's been darker around the edges (somewhere between 3.0-6.0ppm) and completely yellow in the center. I wasn't sure what to do with that reading and I sort of assumed the level would go up and show a completely green pad, not realizing that it might be a problem with the strips...

At the moment, the ammonia read is 0. Once 2-2.5 weeks had passed, I began to wonder why the ammonia wasn't going up and realized that the dark green edges might mean something. So I began testing for nitrite/nitrate every other day. The nitrite levels have always been 0. The nitrate was at 20ppm the first day and now is now probably between 0 and 20.

So my questions are:
1)Should I be dropping pellets in more often than every other day?
2)Is it possible I somehow missed nitrite levels rising, declining, and then nitrate levels rising? Or does nitrate sometimes naturally occur in tap water?
3)I've been topping of the tank because it's winter (dry). We have the tank heater on and a mesh top, so there's a lot of evaporation happening. I always add prime. Is that ok?
4)Other readings are GH- 0, KH- 240, pH- 8.0. Are these okay for a betta?
5)Is there anything else I should be doing to help this process along? My youngest, who is a lover of animals of all kinds, has been patiently waiting for a pet for 2 years!

Your test strips seem like they may have been compromised somehow being 2 different colors. I would wait for your test kit to show up before doing anything else like adding more food.

You could do a fish in cycle like jdhef mentioned and watch parameters closely and do the appropriate water changes or try the Tetra Safe Start. With one fish and no other tank mates it should be fairly easy with a 10g tank.

 

Thank you! That's helpful. I topped of our tank with treated water this morning and we'll get the tetra safe start + the fish tomorrow afternoon.

What about evaporating water during that 14 day period while I wait for the tank to cycle? Can I add treated water (at the right temperature) to the tank to top it off? We've been losing a lot of water because of the heater.... maybe about a gallon a week.

The test kit arrived and showed no nitrite/nitrates.

 

Hi, agree with the above, very easy to take care of a betta in a 10g tank. Some might wonder if a 10g tank with a betta actually cycles with the bio load being so small, especially if you have any plants.
Yes its ok to top off the tank. Its 2 drops prime per gallon. My 20g long tank loses almost 1/2g a day during this time of year.

 

Thank you! That's helpful. I topped of our tank with treated water this morning and we'll get the tetra safe start + the fish tomorrow afternoon.

What about evaporating water during that 14 day period while I wait for the tank to cycle? Can I add treated water (at the right temperature) to the tank to top it off? We've been losing a lot of water because of the heater.... maybe about a gallon a week.

The test kit arrived and showed no nitrite/nitrates.

With just one fish in a 10g I personally would just keep an eye parameters and change water. I would skip the TSS.

 

My other method is a little more controversial, but here gors. You're going to most likely be buying a betta from a local fish store, that keeps the betta's in those little cups. Of course, those cups aren't cycled and being so small ammonia builds up pretty quickly. So the fish store needs to change the water in the cups at least daily (but do they?...I tend to doubt it, but either way)...why not just do a large water change then add a betta. Then test your water daily. If ammonia+nitrite is less than 1ppm add enough Prime to treat all 10 gallons. If ammonia+nitrite is greater than or equal to 1ppm, do a 50% water change with enough Prime to treat all 10 gallons. Keep this up until the tank finishes cycling. The Prime will keep the Betta safe from ammonia and/or nitrite exposure and the Betta will have a much better life than being stuck in that death cup.

Best of luck!

As someone who worked at a pet store chain when they were younger I can confirm that they don't change the water every day. Only 3 times per week. They also only get fed 3 times per week but that's another story.

 

Thanks, everyone! We have had our little guy for 4 days and so far so good. He's very active and eats the pellets we give him immediately.

Just one more question, though. We got him from a pet store. His water was absolutely filthy and I know they aren't taken care of very well... Does anyone know what the white spots are on the top of his head and under his mouth? Is it a fungus? Ich? I don't see tiny white spots everywhere, just gathered in one place... This is the best pic I could get (trying not too scare him too much... my son is the one who feeds him and he seems to be pretty territorial with the rest of us).