Nitrogen cycle-Betta specific

[Bettanewbie60]

Originally Posted by Perseusmom

Yeah it sure is ! I think your right though about not playing around with the tank he is with your new guy till he starts eating and get more at ease with his new home. You might want to do a search here for how to baffle a filter, that might help with the vibration issue. Good luck and best wishes for you and the new little guy !

Thanks..I decided against the filter all together...it's way too big anyway. I just put a bubble stone in there for some air flow. I need to calm down about them. I feel like I did when I had my first child lol!

[Freyja]

Wonderful post OFL! It answered what I suspected; I am activley and slowly cycling my 2.5 g tank. I should get more live plants to add to my tank today from my LFS and will be getting an ammonia test kit to check water prams.

[Oldfishlady]

Since the non-filtered tanks without live plants will lack the oxygen needed for a healthy colony of BB-you don't get a stable nitrogen cycle.

With unfiltered tanks more water changes are often needed...

On 5gal unfiltered without live plants-50% weekly with 100% monthly should maintain water quality for a single Betta.

Yes, bio-wheels can help with the nitrogen cycle since this provides more surface area for the BB and when used on smaller tanks-this can sometime help with stability of the nitrogen cycle.

In unfiltered tanks with enough of the right species of live plants-they can produce the oxygen needed to support the BB colony in a Betta tank.

Unless you want to use carbon (not needed) you don't need to change out the filter media until it is falling apart-just a swish/rinse is all that is needed a couple of times a month.
If you do want to use carbon-change this per package direction since it is a short lived product that can't be recharged.

[finnfinnfriend]

So, for a 5gal unfiltered without live plants... Is that three consecutive weeks of 50% water changes and then 100% on the fourth week?

[Oldfishlady]

More or less...either way....3 weeks of 50% then 100% on the 4th week or 4 weeks of 50% with the 5th week 100%...depending on how dirty and if you over feed or if you have shrimp and/or snails...etc.....Kind of a judgement call on your part....really not a wrong way and personally I don't even feel the 100% are really needed in the sense of emptying the tank totally out-Especially, in 5gal and if you have a vacuum and can vacuum the mulm/debris out on a weekly basis...you could just do a couple of back to back 50% every 4th-5th week so you wouldn't have to remove the Betta or worry about any other livestock if you had them too.....Its just easier to explain/write on the internet 100%.....
Even in unfiltered tanks with a Betta-too clean can be as hard on them as too dirty in some regards....A Betta doesn't produce as much byproduct as you think-most of the byproduct and water quality issues are related to poor quality food and/or over feeding.....

[finnfinnfriend]

Oh okay, so if I have a five gallon tank(filtered or not) and I only feed like 4-5 high quality pellets once a day and have no shrimp or snails or anything....than it's more than likely that from the moment I get the fish, that weekly maitenance is perfectly sufficient. Am I correct?

[dramaqueen]

Excellent information.

[Perseusmom]

Thank you very much MSG and OFL...this helps so much !!!! This is my first fish and tank ever so everything I can find out sure helps put me more at ease !

[DiiQue]

Fantastic guide! Breaks everything down real nicely. From reading other websites, they make it seem like rocket science almost.

[Bettanewbie60]

Originally Posted by Oldfishlady

Since the non-filtered tanks without live plants will lack the oxygen needed for a healthy colony of BB-you don't get a stable nitrogen cycle.

With unfiltered tanks more water changes are often needed...

On 5gal unfiltered without live plants-50% weekly with 100% monthly should maintain water quality for a single Betta.

Yes, bio-wheels can help with the nitrogen cycle since this provides more surface area for the BB and when used on smaller tanks-this can sometime help with stability of the nitrogen cycle.

In unfiltered tanks with enough of the right species of live plants-they can produce the oxygen needed to support the BB colony in a Betta tank.



Unless you want to use carbon (not needed) you don't need to change out the filter media until it is falling apart-just a swish/rinse is all that is needed a couple of times a month.
If you do want to use carbon-change this per package direction since it is a short lived product that can't be recharged.

Does a bubble stone add the needed oxygen?