Really Weird Cycle Process???

I've been trying to help my mom with her aquarium. She has a 15 gallon fluval flex that has been set up for 3 weeks with one male betta in it. She has a ton of live plants that are doing great. She has only changed the water once in that time period.

We've tested the water 3 times (once a week) with my API master kit. Every time we test it says there's 0ppm ammonia 0ppm nitrite and 0ppm nitrate. There's nothing showing up at all.

I know my test kit is ok because my 55 gallon and my betta tanks and my axolotl tank are all giving me readings.

What do we need to do to cycle her tank???

 

Plants use ammonia to make food(debatable) but from past experience, plants consume ammonia in my aquariums.

 

Plants will absorb ammonia. That's good and bad. First off, it's good because your fish aren't being harmed if plants are absorbing everything. When you say ton of live plants, how much are you talking? If there is really a lot, I would say that the ammonia being produced by one fish and the food is being counteracted by the plants. By the way - good job giving your mom's betta a proper home - I hate to see them in anything smaller then a 10 gallon.

The bad thing - with that many plants, it may be hard to properly cycle. I don't do fish in cycles any more, but anytime I cycling, I don't do it with plants either. It slows the process. I would definitely keep an eye on ammonia levels (don't bother testing nitrite/nitrate until you see ammonia on the rise). If you do see that happen, I would highly recommend a Seachem Stability/Prime regimen until the cycle completes. If you need more info on how to exactly do that, let me know and I can give you the proper method - I've done it several times now with good success - but I just prefer a fishless cycle now because even a good fish in regimen isn't problem free.

 

I'm in the same situation with my 10 gallon. Been running for over 2 months, loads of plants and parameters 0-0-0 the whole time.

 

It's very similar to having a Walstad tank, where you have a lightly stocked, but heavily planted tank and no filter, but maybe a powerhead to create water movement.

So long as your plants are keeping you ammonia level at 0ppm, there is no need to cycle the tank. The purpose of cycling is to get rid of ammonia by turning it into nitrites and then get rid of the nitrites by turning them into nitrates. But since there is no ammonia present due to the plants absorbing all of, there is no need for a cycle.

 

So my thoughts are both of these tanks have such a small bioload that the plants are taking up all of the nitrogen. This isn’t a bad thing since you are at 0, 0, 0.

Adding a snail or 2 may produce more ammonia than the plants can absorb and eventually lead to cycling.

I would alone and just test regularly.

 

She wouldn't worry about cycling so much except we are planning to drive 2hrs away to a super super amazing LFS in 3 weeks. I'm going to get some fish for my 55 and she wants to get 5 neon tetras to go in with her betta. I'm pretty sure adding more fish will be too much for the plants to filter out, but we don't want to end up having the tetra die from a tank that isn't cycled. Which is why we got everything set up 3 weeks ago, only to find nothing happening.

 

You could consolidate the fish into one tank now and start adding an ammonia source, preferably pure ammonia. But getting cycled in 3 weeks isn’t guaranteed.

Adding TetraSafeStart and ammonia to 2ppm may get you cycled in 3 weeks.

 

I do not think neon tetras and betta's are temperature compatible. Betta's like a temp between 79 and 81 degrees, while I believe neon tetras prefer an temp in the mid to low 70's.

 

Since you have a 55 gallon that is cycled why not use some of your media to instantly cycle your moms tank?

 

So my thoughts are both of these tanks have such a small bioload that the plants are taking up all of the nitrogen. This isn’t a bad thing since you are at 0, 0, 0.

Adding a snail or 2 may produce more ammonia than the plants can absorb and eventually lead to cycling.

I would alone and just test regularly.

My tank is actually overstocked, I have 4 nerite snails and 3 shrimps. Also have mollies which are supposedly messy.
Would be great to get cycled so I don't have to worry about weeks of fine parameters and then sudden spike.

 

She wouldn't worry about cycling so much except we are planning to drive 2hrs away to a super super amazing LFS in 3 weeks. I'm going to get some fish for my 55 and she wants to get 5 neon tetras to go in with her betta. I'm pretty sure adding more fish will be too much for the plants to filter out, but we don't want to end up having the tetra die from a tank that isn't cycled. Which is why we got everything set up 3 weeks ago, only to find nothing happening.

You may want to consider Cardinal Tetras instead of Neons since Neons and bettas aren't really temp compatible.

The new fish shouldn't die just because they are added to an uncycled tank. As long as either you or your mom keep up with the water changes to keep the ammonia down if in fact it shows up then the fish should be fine during the cycle.

If your tanks are fully cycled just run some extra media in them during the 3 weeks before you make the trip to the fish store. When you get the fish just add that well seeded media to your moms tank filter at the same time you add the fish and if you have moved enough media the tank will instantly cycle.

The reason I recommend waiting until she gets more fish is the bacteria you will be moving from your tank to hers will need food. (ammonia) Right now one little Betta isn't producing enough to feed and grow bacteria.

 

Thank for your help everyone. Shes taken out some of the bigger plants, I'm going to test the water again tomorrow, if we get an ammonia reading I'm going to giver her some sponge from my 55 gallon tank to get hers cycled.

I'm actually going to suggest she get some harlequin rasboras instead since they also get along with bettas better.