New beginner w/5 gal freshwater betta aquarium Help

???OK here's my story...im new to fishlore, bettas, and aquariums lol...I was given a betta b/c he had no home and naturally just put him in a 1 gal tank(no filter, etc). Then i started looking things up and realized it was way more than i expected. But i developed a new passion. So i have purchased a 5 gallon tank, which currently has just gravel, a whisper internal filter, a 50 watt heater(and the temp is stable at 78), a hideaway cave for him, and i filled the tank with room temp bottled water(will convert to tap) and conditioned it w/aquasafe(switching to prime). I put a live java fern in the 1 gal he is in now b/c i have no filter in that(doing 100% water changes every 3 or so days)..now i did like 9 hours of research and have been weighing out my options on this whole cycling thing. I let the guy at the petstore convince me into cycling with the help of 3 zebra danios(which i wont be keeping all 4 fish in that 5 gal-too crowded) and established bacteria from his existing tank(gravel or some sort). My 5 gal has been set up for 3-4 days now and the danios are going on their 2nd day. My amm is still at 0, my nitrates and nitrites are at 0, but my ph is 7.6. Im debating on pulling the danios out and doing the fishless, and i dont want to put my betta in until i know it is completely safe for him. Please help me. Im a lost newbie lol. Sorry this thread is so long. I just wanted to paint a better picture.

 

welcome to fishlore!!

I second lucy's suggestion...rather than doing water changes in the smaller tank without a heater and such, just do them in the 5g once you get an ammonia/nitrite reading....with your prime of course..but bettas are low waste producers so it could be some time before you see any...no need to use the danios and the betta can have a nice warm comfy tank we would love to see pics sometime!

 

Welcome to Fishlore!
I 3rd what they said LOL when you have seeded media from another tank its basically an instant cycle it, but keep an eye on the paramters. I would love to see some pics!

:;hi1

 

lol you guys are great. second, third, lol...i'd love to put my betta in, i just wanted the tank to be safe. No, i have not had any nitrates or nitrites readings..all are 0..but what about the ph level? it's currently 7.6? and what should i do with the danios? i dont think my pet store will take them back and my 1 gal wont be sufficent for all 3??

 

fourthded? bettas do better on their own and are much happier, return the danios and all should be well if they wont take them back try a different lfs, they should give you store credit if nothing else.

 

Welcome to Fishlore, Lee115! Great advice above.

 

Ok sounds great..but what about the ph level? why is it even high? i used bottled water and not tap?

 

what test kit are you using? and is there salt in the betta tank? they do NOT handle salt well at all and if there is some in there, id do a complete water change to get it out....ph will change often with products you use, and while cycling....fish can adapt to all kinds of ph's as long as they are stable..you will just have to take longer to acclimate him to the new tank..but if theres salt in there, doing 100% water change will lower that...but you have to find a place for the danios see if your LFS will take them back for free

 

i was going to get another tank for them? or give them to my grandfather who has a 20g with just a few mollies...i personally only want to have my betta and a cory catfish in the 5g

i am using the API kits...oh my yes i did put salt, i used aquarium salt from API because it said it relieves stress and i thought it would be easier when he was put into his new home.

 

moving the danios to grampas tank would be awesome..then do a complete 100% water change with your prime...get it filtering and heater all hooked up and add your betta baby...you want no salt for him..you can use stress coat+ instead and its more fish friendly...salt is more of an old school way and just makes a fish overproduce slime coat and stresses them ...good luck!

 

thank you shawnie! thank you all! im going to do that now lol

 

after you change out all your water, do another test on the ph..and compare it to your 1g that the betta is in ...if theres a huge difference still, make sure you acclimate him slowly .... heres a link on that with some great advice https://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/freshwater-beginners/32810-can-someone-explain.html goodluck and your welcome!

 

oops i missed the stability..ty lucy!!!!

 

OK so i did a 100% water change, i skipped the stability and the aquarium salt. The ph level is awesome now..7.2! the betta is now in, now i have another major problem. The filter is too strong for him!!! OMG...pecifically purchased the tetra whisper internal filter due to its reviews on the quietness and low current for bettas but he is clearly struggling with it!

 

do you have any extra filter floss? you can hang some of it out of the filter outtake ..heres a pic of my betta tank filter

 

If you don't have filter floss at your lfs, you can also use that stuffing material you find in the craft stores. It pretty much looks just like the stuff in Shawnie's picture. Just make certain that it's not dyed and not scented; if they have organic, that's even better.

(One of the mods suggested this for me when I couldn't find filter floss - it works great! And it's only a couple dollars for a huge bag of stuffing! )

 

thats exactly whats in my filter pillow stuffing 100% polyester...great suggestion