Somewhat Overwhelmed Newby

Are you showing any nitrite levels?

Nope. Here's a picture of the test strip after a dip in the water. The nitrate is very confusing, because they show pinks, with white being the safest. But my strip comes out this shade of orange? I am looking to buy the API master kit when I can get the funds.

What is your ammonia level?
What kind of filter do you have?

Here is a good write up on the nitrogen cycle.

Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle

Your fish is producing ammonia and the fish food adds ammonia if there is any not eaten. Your tank can take 6 weeks or more to build up enough nitrifying bacteria to process the ammonia.
Since you have fish, we can try to guide you with a fish in cycle. Just make a note to research fishless cycle if you set up another tank in the future.
My recommendation is to:
1. Get liquid test kits for nitrites and nitrates. PH is pretty important too. The API master test kit has all 4. The strips can give you an indication something is off, but are not always accurate.
2. Get stability which is a bacteria starter and start adding ASAP.
3. Use prime during water changes as well as daily to help to keep the water safe. It will detoxify ammonia and nitrites up to 1ppm. Anything over that needs a water change.
4. As long as your ammonia and nitrites are high, do daily 50% water changes using prime. If that does not get you down to less than 1ppm, do back to back until it does. If levels are below 1ppm, just dose prime every 24 hours.
Don’t worry about overdosing with prime. It will not hurt to be a little over. I always round up to the next 10 so you can dose for a 10g.
5. Do not change or wash any filter media in tap water. Use a bucket and tank water or prepare some dechlorinated in the bucket.
6. Breathe. We have all been there. It is overwhelming, but you will get there. If you use the stability, maybe in about 2 weeks or less if the cycle has already started.

I hope I covered the important points. Others that have been there can chime in with advice. We all have our own methods for cycling, but all are based on understanding the nitrogen cycle and feeding the nitrifying bacteria to build a good colony.

Let us know what questions you have.

what is 1ppm and how do I measure that? I have the Prime so that's good. It doesn't seem to be lowering the ammonia though. Can I put a few squirts in the tank or should I only do it during changes? The level seems to be staying at 0.25 if I can judge by the slight green tint in the yellow in the tube after I test. That's not terrible, but I guess we really want zero. I will get some Stability. I see one thing I did wrong twice. I took the filter media out and rinsed it twice in the tap water. Well, hopefully she is a tough little gal. She sure seems happy. She even swam through a hair tie loop I dipped in there! She likes to bump things and wiggle through plants. Very interesting. Keeps my mind off my cat that's for sure. She's not as affectionate as a cat, but I find myself engaged with her activity. In between jobs... time on my hands... LOL Thanks for everyone's help and kindness.

 

I recommend some snails! Maybe a trio or pair of nerites will help keep the BB alive and cycle. I love how you care so much about your betta! Sorry for your cat

 

Are you showing any nitrite levels?

no. You can see on the test strip I posted. But like I said, I am not confident in these strips.

 

In a smaller tank, especially one with only a betta, it wouldn't cycle unless you feed like crazy. You need waste to keep beneficial bacteria alive

 

In a smaller tank, especially one with only a betta, it wouldn't cycle unless you feed like crazy. You need waste to keep beneficial bacteria alive

And yet... I am supposed to clean out any left over food regularly. head spinning.

 

If your tank is cycled, and has a steady source of ammonia, do that. If it is in the process of cycling, no.

 

It looks like you have nitrates if the test strip is accurate. Your ammonia at 0.25 is ppm. That is good. Prime doesn’t lower ammonia and nitrate, just detoxifies it so you will still see the same reading, but it is safe. Just do a 10 gallon dose every day in between water changes until you see ammonia and nitrites at 0 and nitrates present. If ammonia gets over 1 do a water change. I don’t know how to read ppm on the strips, sorry.
You may not need stability after all, but it is always good to keep on hand just in case.

 

I was hoping to avoid the whole "soak the pellet first" thing. But I like the ease of knowing how much she is eating.

What's with the film that has formed at the surface of the water? And I can't seem to get my ammonia down to zero again ACK worried.

I never soak my pellets first, I just know how much they grown when they have soaked. (I soaked a few before starting to feed them.)

 

I never soak my pellets first, I just know how much they grown when they have soaked. (I soaked a few before starting to feed them.)

I put one in there, and she ate it, spit it out, 6 times! It floated around, disintegrated, sank, and she went over and looked at it, then at me. It was hilarious. Fish. Who knew???
I think she's bloated. I'm going to hold off everything until tomorrow.

 

I put one in there, and she ate it, spit it out, 6 times! It floated around, disintegrated, sank, and she went over and looked at it, then at me. It was hilarious. Fish. Who knew???
I think she's bloated. I'm going to hold off everything until tomorrow.

It took all of my fish a little while to get used to pellets when I first got them, especially my girls. But now they prefer them to flakes (though live food always trumps anything processed)

 

It took all of my fish a little while to get used to pellets when I first got them, especially my girls. But now they prefer them to flakes (though live food always trumps anything processed)

You mean live live? A live creature? Like what?

 

You mean live live? A live creature? Like what?

You can use live creatures. I often feed fruitflies, (I keep them for my water striders, but all of my fish love them, too...makes it hard to make sure the water striders get any...), Copepods, and vinegar eels as far as LIVING live foods go. Copepods are great because they can actually colonize in your tank given they have enough plant matter to hide in and eat. I only use vinegar eels for my fry, because adults wouldn't benefit from them (they're TINY). What I mean by live foods, though, is that their bodies are mostly intact, and there's nothing added to the (dead) creatures. I mix in freeze-dried bloodworms and brine shrimp to my bettas' diets, but there's lots more out there to choose from.

 

You mean live live? A live creature? Like what?

Live black worms, meal worms, baby brine shrimp, ghost shrimp, feeder guppies, etc.

Depends on the fish as far as what live foods you would feed. Large cichlids would eat feeder guppies or rosy reds. Fry of all kinds will eat baby brine shrimp. I hatch baby brine shrimp when I have fry.

I occasionally give my ctenopomas earth worms from the yard. That equivalent to a big cheeseburger for us so it’s an occasional treat.

My go to is frozen blood worms that I soak in garlic guard and feed once a week. All my fish love them.

I have feeder guppies and ghost shrimp as pets though, lol. Two male feeder guppies in my frog tank to give it some activity in the top half of the tank and they are really pretty. Ghost shrimp where they don’t get eaten because they eat pest snail eggs as well as graze on algae. They are also prettier and neater than most give them credit.

 

You are doing good! A 5 gallon is good for a betta . I dunno but you could have a nerite snail in there if you wished. They are fun to watch. Live plants are awesome! Totally suggest Anubias!

Just keep testing the water, doing water change and use Prime. You and Zuzu will get through this!

 

Hello I am very sorry about your cat.

There is tons of great help here but there is a learning curve and you will get through it.

As many have probably said, it is a matter of reaching a balance and everything you do taked a little tile to have impact...and all of us make mistakes. But I think Zuzu has a good parent.

My old cat died. I have been missing her so much, and my friend said, "get a fish. you need something to love." Well, I went to the pet store and the guy talked me into a betta fish. He said they don't need much space, or equipment, and they can live on dried worms (very cheap.)
hmmm.
As you know, not much of what he told me was very accurate. Sure, they can live in a little jar. But can they LIVE in a little jar? My little Betta, a velvety blue female named Zuzu, let me know right away that she was at least as depressed as myself, going round and round in that murky 2 gallon pickle jar. I bought a heater and thermometer, scoop, syphon, flake and pellet food, water testers and treatment and a live plant and a fake plant and a tiny pagota and more water treatment and changed the water regularly. She darted around like crazy, rested on her leave hammock, but mostly just hung out in the very center at the top, barely moving her fins at all. Ammonia tested low, but not zero, every time. All other tests were good except hard water.
I guess you have all been there.
I tried to find a used 10 gallon tank, used filter and all, but after a week gave up. I purchased, for $20 a 5 gallon tank with a filter and thermometer and light. I moved her in, and created a baffle with a water bottle and plastic plant material, because the current was too much for her.
I have been testing regularly, and so far so good! Ammonia = Zero. All others good too. It's been two days.
Now I find this forum, and I am feeling overwhelmed. The cycling thing. That just boggles my mind. I understand how to partially change the water, and that with a filter total water changes won't be necessary as often. But the whole process of knowing where we are at in a nitrogen cycle is scary to me. I don't want to kill her. I want to really care for her. So I will be reading and re-reading the cycling info and hoping I can figure it out.
I came here today because I was wondering if I could just squirt in a few drops of conditioner if the water tested high in nitrates or nitrites. I found a whole world of information and questions.
Thanks for being here. I hope we make it!
I am going to try to upload a picture of her current setup. The filter I have is a Top Fin Silenstream 10 Power FilterView attachment 389356