New betta tank by Addie

[addieandleothecat]

hi all I used to post here a lot several years ago but now I am new again and finally back at it.
I am here to document the progress of my brank new fluval tank- I just put some plant substrate in it. The tank is bran bran new and this is 1 hour in- I am hoping to have great results.
I am welcoming myself back to the hobby

 

[StarGirl]

Welcome back! I love my Flex tanks. I have a 9 and 15 and really want a 32....lol.....Cant wait to see how it comes around.

If you remember your old username they can probably reconnect you.

 

[Fishfur]

hi all I used to post here a lot several years ago but now I am new again and finally back at it.
I am here to document the progress of my brank new fluval tank- I just put some plant substrate in it. The tank is bran bran new and this is 1 hour in- I am hoping to have great results.
I am welcoming myself back to the hobby

Starting over is both fun and frustrating - here’s hoping there isn’t much of the frustration.

I do love the stand your tank is on. I get a kick out of using older furniture to hold aquariums myself.

 

[addieandleothecat]

Starting over is both fun and frustrating - here’s hoping there isn’t much of the frustration.

I do love the stand your tank is on. I get a kick out of using older furniture to hold aquariums myself.

I’ve never used fluval stratum before so I keep staring at the tank LOL
Theres a lot I’ve seemed to forget so I’m excited to continue on fresh

It’s been about 10 hours since I’ve put the stratum and water in- it’s partially clear but not fully- hoping that it’ll clear more overnight. Read mixed things about whether or not to rinse the substrate
Thank you!!!!

 

[e_watson09]

How exciting! I love flex tanks! I have a 32 flex that I have as a small saltwater reef tank. I love how nice the fish always look from the bowed front glass

 

[3Fishnight]

I’ve never used fluval stratum before so I keep staring at the tank LOL
Theres a lot I’ve seemed to forget so I’m excited to continue on fresh

It’s been about 10 hours since I’ve put the stratum and water in- it’s partially clear but not fully- hoping that it’ll clear more overnight. Read mixed things about whether or not to rinse the substrate
Thank you!!!!

Dont rinse stratum

 

[addieandleothecat]

i got some plants, rocks and a piece of driftwood from my LFS-
Day 2 of aquarium I am very excited to see how the plants adapt and how much they melt

3 hours post plant installation - so excited watching the water get less murky.
Any advice for how long it takes to fishless cycle? I was reading other posts that suggest fish food and ammonia -

 

[Fishfur]

Fish food produces some ammonia once it breaks down but how much ammonia you get is unpredictable.

Pure ammonia or ammonium (Dr. Tim’s, Fritz) can be dosed directly and provides predictable & controllable results.

 

[addieandleothecat]

Fish food produces some ammonia once it breaks down but how much ammonia you get is unpredictable.

Pure ammonia or ammonium (Dr. Tim’s, Fritz) can be dosed directly and provides predictable & controllable results.

I’m kind of wondering how much it matters to have predictable results vs sustainable results
After browsing some other threads it looks like there’s a kind of in between way where you can dose ammonia and also use fish flakes to prevent spikes when fish are introduced
I can kind of imagine this being more sustainable because of a more diverse bacteria colony? Like an eco system doesn’t occur from just one decomposition reaction

I do notoriously like to overcomplicate things but am very interested in creating a system thats almost self sustaining

Thread 'PSA: Something I am seeing more and more often, fishless cycling....'

Nov 4, 2020

I am seeing more and more folks having problems when adding fish after fishless cycling their tank. I have thought about this for a while.

I am beginning to think something is missing when we cycle our tanks with only liquid ammonia. I am beginning to think the bacteria we grow isn't exactly the same bacteria needed to process the ammonia formed when we add fish and start feeding them. We start seeing an ammonia and/or nitrite spike in what we thought was a fully cycled tank. The ammonia we add goes down to 0 within 24 hours, we have gone through the nitrite spike and are seeing nitrates...

• mattgirl
• Replies: 142
• Forum: Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle

• 
• 
• 

This is the thread I found- I think that this person has a good thought process mattgirl

 

[3Fishnight]

I have always done fish in cycles. Never had problems.

 

[Fishfur]

There is a good argument to be made for cycling with fish for such reasons.

In most cases, if you are the type to pay attention and not let things slide, fish won’t be harmed.

 

[addieandleothecat]

There is a good argument to be made for cycling with fish for such reasons.

In most cases, if you are the type to pay attention and not let things slide, fish won’t be harmed.

So I have had 3 aquariums before (years ago)
I actually found this from 2019 but I was 19/20 years old when I made it- it was 7gallons or so

I think for my personality type fishless cycling is the best way or at least letting things get mostly cycled- I really was/still am influenced by the foo the flowerhorn videos
I don’t have any aquariums anymore however- I stopped keeping fish in 2020/2021 and just finally restarted after years
I just am really excited to do thing hopefully patiently and as properly as possible

 

[addieandleothecat]

Kitty says where the fish @

 

[addieandleothecat]

just waiting

 

[addieandleothecat]

Decided to get another plant and test my luck with a couple snails to move the cycle along a bit

Day 10 of aquarium

 

[addieandleothecat]

ok so it looks like
Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0/5

* Day 11 *

 

[addieandleothecat]

Pretty cool to see a plant I thought would melt completely to have a little offshoot already

Day 16

 

[addieandleothecat]

Day 17- I decided to do weekly water changes so I just finished one - some people say don’t do water changes but now that I kind of have a fish in cycle I think I will- my plants have been doing super well

The “fish in” being 3 ramshorn snails and one nerite
I just put a heater in the tank a couple days ago- my apartment was pretty warm but when the water dropped to 60s I decided it was time- temp is now 79/80F- now that the tank is a bit warmer I’ve noticed the nerites ramshorns in breeding position

Also I only bought 3 of these big floater plants and now I have like 9 of them )) each multiplied in the time they’ve been in the tank (Aug 27- Sept 12)

throwing away my first fistful of duck weed

 

[Fishfur]

Day 17- I decided to do weekly water changes so I just finished one - some people say don’t do water changes but now that I kind of have a fish in cycle I think I will- my plants have been doing super well

That ‘don’t do water changes in a cycle’ applies to cycles without living animals and but imo it is very silly advice.

A weekly water change replenishes various substances that are consumed by cycling - principally that’s the carbonates - bicarbonates but also calcium, etc.

It can’t do any harm to change water but it can cause problems if you don’t do them.

 

[addieandleothecat]

Plants seem to be doing well

is it looking like 0/0/0?
Or 0/0/5 ?
Let me know what you think

Day 18

maybe 0.25/0/0 still? Wondering if I’m barely along in my cycle

 

[StarGirl]

0/0/0 or .25/0/0 hard to tell ammonia. Have you had any nitrites yet?

 

[addieandleothecat]

0/0/0 or .25/0/0 hard to tell ammonia. Have you had any nitrites yet?

Nope none that I’ve seen yet! Wondering how its possible to not have nitrites/ nitrates but my plants are doing so well

the floating roots have like doubled in size

 

[KiwiWillow]

It does look like it’s doing great! What did you decide to use as the ammonia source? I would have thought if there is definitely ammonia going in, but none showing up, and nitrites not increasing, that the cycle is working? (But I’m no expert compared to others here)

 

[addieandleothecat]

It does look like it’s doing great! What did you decide to use as the ammonia source? I would have thought if there is definitely ammonia going in, but none showing up, and nitrites not increasing, that the cycle is working? (But I’m no expert compared to others here)

I’ve just been using fish flakes- for the 10 days and then fish flakes + 4 snails from day 10-17
I’m in canada and wasn’t sure what ammonia source to buy if it’s liquid - I ended up buying one off amazon for fish tanks (I did this tonight) so at least I can chemically dose tomorrow

I’m nervous that 1. My tank hasn’t had enough ammonia to start the cycle
But 2. Not sure how 4 snails could live in the tank and then have plants do well without the cycle starting?
I guess I’ll get more answers when I dose with a more measurable ammonia and see what happens

Because until I see some actual nitrites/ nitrates it’s kind of fair to say the cycle probably hasn’t started :/ or at least isn’t very far along

 

[Fishfur]

I’ve just been using fish flakes- for the 10 days and then fish flakes + 4 snails from day 10-17
I’m in canada and wasn’t sure what ammonia source to buy if it’s liquid - I ended up buying one off amazon for fish tanks (I did this tonight) so at least I can chemically dose tomorrow

I’m nervous that 1. My tank hasn’t had enough ammonia to start the cycle
But 2. Not sure how 4 snails could live in the tank and then have plants do well without the cycle starting?
I guess I’ll get more answers when I dose with a more measurable ammonia and see what happens

Because until I see some actual nitrites/ nitrates it’s kind of fair to say the cycle probably hasn’t started :/ or at least isn’t very far along

Sometimes you never do get detectable nitrite - it’ll skip from ammonia to nitrate and never register any nitrite.

But if you get nitrate, it’s all good whether nitrite appears on a test or not.

Incidentally, the simple fact that the plants are growing in all probability means they are taking up ammonium, which is not a bad thing.

If there are enough plants, sometimes you get what may be termed a ‘silent’ cycle, where tests show very little but the tank ends up cycled anyway.

Cycles are individual processes - no two are ever exactly alike even on tanks that are side by side and apparently treated identically.

 

[addieandleothecat]

Sometimes you never do get detectable nitrite - it’ll skip from ammonia to nitrate and never register any nitrite.

But if you get nitrate, it’s all good whether nitrite appears on a test or not.

Incidentally, the simple fact that the plants are growing in all probability means they are taking up ammonium, which is not a bad thing.

If there are enough plants, sometimes you get what may be termed a ‘silent’ cycle, where tests show very little but the tank ends up cycled anyway.

Cycles are individual processes - no two are ever exactly alike even on tanks that are side by side and apparently treated identically.

Thank you! This is a really good & thoughtful answer - I appreciate your presence with me on this thread

 

[StarGirl]

I wouldnt dose ammonia with inhabitants in tank. Just let it go.

 

[addieandleothecat]

Ugh yeah I dosed 30 drops ammonia and it went to 4.0ppm so I changed half the water in my tank I felt bad for the snails

From 4.0 to 2.0 - I think the snails should be fine in this amount yeah?

 

[StarGirl]

Really not sure. I would do another one to be safe myself.

 

[addieandleothecat]

This is 24 hours later
Looks to be 0.5, 0, 0

Either the cycle is starting or duckweed is really good at eating ammonia

 

[addieandleothecat]

Day 25
okay ! Finally getting nitrite and nitrate values - looks like 0, 0.25, 5.0

I got a sword plant as well! Plants are doing super well- outgrowing the waterline at the back

 

[addieandleothecat]

Noticing tiny baby snails that hatched - kind of cute
Doing a water change and another test-

Looking like
0 ammonia
0.25 nitrite
5.0-10 nitrate (darkest nitrate colour I’ve seen so far so I am kind of excited )

 

[addieandleothecat]

Anybody with a fluval flex 9 have any advice to making the tank more betta friendly? Is the filter too fast?

Not the most accurate graph but I made this little thing for the trends in my tank so far- I only started testing at day 11

 

[addieandleothecat]

Saw this dude at the petstore - too soon to get him but feeling excited

 

[addieandleothecat]

Anybody know if I can put Cherry shrimp in the fluval flex 9? Anybody here has done it ? Did you have to modify your filter?

 

[doriori]

i don't have experience with that tank but there's an intake cover that i've seen on etsy [link leads to Etsy listing]!

my betta was very interested in my cherry shrimp. too interested... i thought she was just curious, but she was apparently just hungry. i've seen people successfully keep shrimp with peaceful bettas and thought i could be one of them, but it's hit or miss it seems!

also, i've been really enjoying following your tank thread. beautiful tank, very excited to see the cycle move and for you to get your betta baby :^)

 

[addieandleothecat]

my betta was very interested in my cherry shrimp. too interested... i thought she was just curious, but she was apparently just hungry. i've seen people successfully keep shrimp with peaceful bettas and thought i could be one of them, but it's hit or miss it seems!

also, i've been really enjoying following your tank thread. beautiful tank, very excited to see the cycle move and for you to get your betta baby :^)

thank you!!!!
I am wondering if the shrimp colonize the tank before the betta it might go better? Like the betta respects them slightly more because they were there first& the shrimp will colonize the tank and know the hiding spots first

some pics from today:

I have baby snails, the leaves on one plant is growing in differently than it was before, I have way more duckweed +
way more pretty floating plants, and my cuttlebone for the snails finally sank lol and it’s right smack in the centre

Just water changed yesterday and moved a bunch of the plants around in the tank- a lot of the plants have outgrown the water line so I’ve pinched and propagated some

put a handful more of the substrate


(The background is an aquarium video)
0.50, 0, 0/5 - feeling like this test isn’t the most accurate to how my cycle is going because I just stirred a bunch of substrate around but I will re-test tomorrow and see how the numbers change

I got the intake filter off etsy like doriori recommended- thanks!

Thinking I will get some blue cherry shrimp once the parameters stabilize a bit so I can have some shrimp before I get my betta

 

[Fishfur]

Just water changed yesterday and moved a bunch of the plants around in the tank- a lot of the plants have outgrown the water line so I’ve pinched and propagated some

put a handful more of the substrate


(The background is an aquarium video)
0.50, 0, 0/5 - feeling like this test isn’t the most accurate to how my cycle is going because I just stirred a bunch of substrate around but I will re-test tomorrow and see how the numbers change

I got the intake filter off etsy like doriori recommended- thanks!

Thinking I will get some blue cherry shrimp once the parameters stabilize a bit so I can have some shrimp before I get my betta

Just fyi, adding shrimp to a tank that hasn’t been running for at least six months generally doesn’t work out well for the shrimp. Chances are too high that none will survive for long.

For shrimp as well as a number of species of fish, tanks that are not mature enough can be a death sentence. I would try to be patient and wait until your tank has been running without any problems for at least six months and longer is even better.

 

[DwarfGouramiGoblin]

Just fyi, adding shrimp to a tank that hasn’t been running for at least six months generally doesn’t work out well for the shrimp. Chances are too high that none will survive for long.

For shrimp as well as a number of species of fish, tanks that are not mature enough can be a death sentence. I would try to be patient and wait until your tank has been running without any problems for at least six months and longer is even better.

I was able to add shrimp to a tank a week after cycling. But, they need a lot of biofilm and bacteria to eat, I cut up four catappa leaves so that they could cover the substrate entirely, boiled them so that they would sink, and poured that in while my tank cycled, they made a nice ammonia source for the cycle, and provided a home for bacterial biofilms that my shrimp would eat when they eventually moved in. The day it cycled I did it again with just one leaf, to add fresher material, and a week later when my neocaridina shrimp arrived, I added a dry leaf as well. They're already breeding after being in there for only a month. The tank is planted, and gets 20% water changes weekly. That said, Don't do this if you don't like tinted water and botanival tanks. Carbon can only do so much to clear the tannins out when you have botanicals actively leeching tannins into your water. The shrimp eat the botanicals, and the bacteria that is also eating the botanicals, but if you want them in clear water it can take months to get that much biofilm for them.

 

[addieandleothecat]

Just fyi, adding shrimp to a tank that hasn’t been running for at least six months generally doesn’t work out well for the shrimp. Chances are too high that none will survive for long.

For shrimp as well as a number of species of fish, tanks that are not mature enough can be a death sentence. I would try to be patient and wait until your tank has been running without any problems for at least six months and longer is even better.

I have have RCS breed in tanks that weren’t as well planted as this& w/o the fluval shrimp substrate
It looks like the substrate is a good buffer for them + I have driftwood and - am planning to add cholla wood + leaf litter

I’m not saying that I can (or should) do it just because I’ve done it before under worse conditions - -but I do think it should be possible to do in less than 6 months in a sustainable way- because I want the shrimp to colonize before the betta is there

It also does feel comforting that I have a fish store down the block from me so I know the shrimp have similarish water parameters (unless they do weird distilled water which I doubt) so I don’t have to worry about having shrimp be extra sensitive

 

[StarGirl]

I have cherry shrimp in my 9g flex. I just put a sponge along the side of the inside filter inlet. So in the back left opening all the way on the right side. I have the normal outlets and baby shrimp do go in the back. Its a most excellent hiding place. Just gotta be careful when cleaning the back area.

 

[addieandleothecat]

Today is my 25th birthday (yay)

Day 39 of the tank
I got another rock to support the pointy looking rock and glued java fern on both (I think this is one of my last plant purchases)

I also got catappa leaves from my LFS and cut one in half -

I attached a pic of my baby ramshorn snails eating spinach I gave them- Their shells are *glossy*

LOL
He thinks its a cat treat

 

[StarGirl]

Today is my 25th birthday (yay)

Day 39 of the tank
I got another rock to support the pointy looking rock and glued java fern on both (I think this is one of my last plant purchases)

I also got catappa leaves from my LFS and cut one in half -

I attached a pic of my baby ramshorn snails eating spinach I gave them- Their shells are *glossy*

Looks great so far! Happy Birthday!

 

[Fishfur]

LOL
He thinks its a cat treat

Happy Birthday and I love the fluffy kitty - is he Himalayan? My own furry trio think anything in a pouch is a treat and have devoured a couple pouches of fish food I was careless enough to leave where they could find a way to get their claws on them. I’m much more careful now.

The snails are cool and the tank is looking good.

 

[addieandleothecat]

Happy Birthday and I love the fluffy kitty - is he Himalayan? My own furry trio think anything in a pouch is a treat and have devoured a couple pouches of fish food I was careless enough to leave where they could find a way to get their claws on them. I’m much more careful now.

The snails are cool and the tank is looking good.

Thanks!!! I usually say he’s a ragdoll but tbh his mama was a tabby cat so it’s hard to say what his genetics are- I brought him home from a kid at school when I was 17 - free kitten situation (free kitten= lots of vet bills, would recommend adopting)

 

[Fishfur]

Thanks!!! I usually say he’s a ragdoll but tbh his mama was a tabby cat so it’s hard to say what his genetics are- I brought him home from a kid at school when I was 17 - free kitten situation (free kitten= lots of vet bills, would recommend adopting)

Even adopting is no guarantee of fewer vet bills . My big ginger fluffball is on gabapentin because he has Hyperesthesia & chronic anxiety but he’s been worth the expense of the blood testing. Gabapentin can be hard on the liver so we need to keep an eye on his liver enzymes.

 

[addieandleothecat]

Even adopting is no guarantee of fewer vet bills . My big ginger fluffball is on gabapentin because he has Hyperesthesia & chronic anxiety but he’s been worth the expense of the blood testing. Gabapentin can be hard on the liver so we need to keep an eye on his liver enzymes.

Super true! I meant initial vet bills

Have you tried pet CBD or feliway ? Feliway less helpful if he has kitty siblings already (furry trio? i think you have 3?)

 

[Fishfur]

Super true! I meant initial vet bills

Have you tried pet CBD or feliway ? Feliway less helpful if he has kitty siblings already (furry trio? i think you have 3?)

I have 3. The big anxious guy is 6 and the kittens are 2 ( they’ll always be the kittens no matter how old they get). He seems to have been very traumatized before I got him when the kittens were only 3 months old. He’s taken a lot of time to settle in but he’s very affectionate and sweet despite his problems. I have thought about trying Feliway but not CBD. Might think about it - definitely would be easier on his liver.

He has good days when you’d never know he’s got troubles and some bad ones where it’s like he’s trying to jump out of his own skin all day, but overall he’s doing pretty well.

One of the kittens, my other fluffball, is a fish eater and dying to find a way to go fishing. She caught & ate all the fish in one small tank when I removed a barrier without considering the potential consequences. Next morning, no fish in that tank but there was a very satisfied cat!

 

[addieandleothecat]

I have 3. The big anxious guy is 6 and the kittens are 2 ( they’ll always be the kittens no matter how old they get). He seems to have been very traumatized before I got him when the kittens were only 3 months old. He’s taken a lot of time to settle in but he’s very affectionate and sweet despite his problems. I have thought about trying Feliway but not CBD. Might think about it - definitely would be easier on his liver.

He has good days when you’d never know he’s got troubles and some bad ones where it’s like he’s trying to jump out of his own skin all day, but overall he’s doing pretty well.

One of the kittens, my other fluffball, is a fish eater and dying to find a way to go fishing. She caught & ate all the fish in one small tank when I removed a barrier without considering the potential consequences. Next morning, no fish in that tank but there was a very satisfied cat!

My ragdoll has some wild anxiety especially when I moved and he got separated from his brother (breakups ugh- my ex was his brothers owner) and CBD helped a lot- I work 12 hour shift work and in the beginning of the moving process he would wake me up every few hours with howling
—-

Day 41
- looking like 0,0, 5 - I think I am completed the cycle since I’ve had 0 water changes since the 0.5 ammonia reading post stratum substrate top up

 

[addieandleothecat]

Yesterday i introduced 9 cherry shrimp to the tank -
I tested the water they came from and it has 0.25 ammonia (I walked 2 blocks down the street with them)
Hard to keep track of them but no obvious casualties

It is a bit soon to have shrimp but I really wanted to have shrimp before i introduce the betta