I'm sorry if this question has already been asked, I will admit I did not read this entire thread. I am cycling a 5 gallon tank that was set up on Sunday. I just did a 30% water change today - water only. My question is, should I wait to vacuum the gravel until my tank is fully cycled or is it okay to go ahead and do that with every water change?
I'm also not sure if I should wait until I am getting ammonia/nitrite/nitrate readings to do water changes? I used the strips to test today (that's all I have) and everything came back 0...but I did a water change anyway because I figured the fish would like it.
Edit:
Nevermind, I just read the original posting and all of my questions were answered. LOL. Sorry, and thanks OFL for the info :)
Last edited by carbonxxkidd; 11-21-2012 at 07:47 PM.
It's always best to do a fishless cycle when possible - ANY detectable amount of ammonia is harmful. I realize that sometimes people get in a situation where they have no choice but to do a cycle using fish, but I see no reason to encourage this outdated practice, especially with a betta.
No matter what you have your Betta in....It will produce byproducts and water changes will be needed. The hobby grade test products only test at a PPM level and so you will always have some level of Ammonia in the system.
Fish in general have natural protection from the slime coat and can tolerate much higher levels of ammonia than given credit.
The amount of ammonia exposed during the cycling process shouldn't be anymore than what they are exposed to on a regular bases between water changes and/or the time line of the BB consuming it.
The only difference in cycling and not...is the bacteria you are colonizing. Its a natural process that occurs in a tank when the bacteria needs are met. These bacteria are self limiting to the-food source, oxygen and surface area. By understanding the bacteria involved in the cycling process-will help you understand how cycling with a Betta can be safe.
With that said, it is best to fish-less cycle for community tanks-due to the limiting factors of the BB
You can use a water conditioner like Seachem Prime, which will detoxify the ammonia. If your tank is cycled, your bacteria should be able to use the now detoxified ammonia.
I'm not sure what you would do if not, as I believe Seachem only binds ammonia for around a 24-48 hour or so period. After that I don't know what happens as to whether you would then have toxic ammonia floating around in your tank.
Depending on the ammonia level of the source water-Prime will neutralize the ammonia and then the BB will take care of the ammonium just like it will ammonia. Depending on the starting ammonia level, how mature the tank...etc.... you may need to add the ammonia neutralizer to the tank every 48h until the BB can take care of it.
I have heard of bettas living years in ammonia. Would not surprise me if they can survive using fish for cycling. I have done it twice but never want to do it again.
No matter what you have your Betta in....It will produce byproducts and water changes will be needed. The hobby grade test products only test at a PPM level and so you will always have some level of Ammonia in the system.
Fish in general have natural protection from the slime coat and can tolerate much higher levels of ammonia than given credit.
The amount of ammonia exposed during the cycling process shouldn't be anymore than what they are exposed to on a regular bases between water changes and/or the time line of the BB consuming it.
The only difference in cycling and not...is the bacteria you are colonizing. Its a natural process that occurs in a tank when the bacteria needs are met. These bacteria are self limiting to the-food source, oxygen and surface area. By understanding the bacteria involved in the cycling process-will help you understand how cycling with a Betta can be safe.
With that said, it is best to fish-less cycle for community tanks-due to the limiting factors of the BB
I understand exactly how the nitrogen cycle works - I've cycled quite a few tanks over my lifetime, both large and small. And I agree with you that there will always be trace amounts of ammonia in the tank. But I stand by what I said regarding exposing the fish, especially a betta, to the amount of ammonia that can be detected by a standard Nessler test AND exposing it to nitrite. Using Prime helps, but unless a more sophisticated test system is used (and they are available for around the same price as a Nessler test), there is no way for the average hobbyist doing a cycle for the first time to understand how much of that total ammonia reading is harmful and how much isn't, especially when you throw Ph into the mix. And as far as I know, all nitrite is harmful.
It's well established that exposure to toxic ammonia as well as nitrite can cause stress and both short term and long term health issues in fish. And with their long, flowing fins, bettas are especially susceptible to problems such as fin rot which is often a direct result of poor water quality and stress. For this reason I just don't see a reason to encourage fish-in cycles when fishless cycles are so easy to do (especially these days when there are products available that contain the correct species of bacteria to get the job done quickly) during which time the betta can be safely housed in another container getting frequent water changes to keep the ammonia at 0 and keep nitrite completely out of the equation.
I understand exactly how the nitrogen cycle works - I've cycled quite a few tanks over my lifetime, both large and small. And I agree with you that there will always be trace amounts of ammonia in the tank. But I stand by what I said regarding exposing the fish, especially a betta, to the amount of ammonia that can be detected by a standard Nessler test AND exposing it to nitrite. Using Prime helps, but unless a more sophisticated test system is used (and they are available for around the same price as a Nessler test), there is no way for the average hobbyist doing a cycle for the first time to understand how much of that total ammonia reading is harmful and how much isn't, especially when you throw Ph into the mix. And as far as I know, all nitrite is harmful.
It's well established that exposure to toxic ammonia as well as nitrite can cause stress and both short term and long term health issues in fish. And with their long, flowing fins, bettas are especially susceptible to problems such as fin rot which is often a direct result of poor water quality and stress. For this reason I just don't see a reason to encourage fish-in cycles when fishless cycles are so easy to do (especially these days when there are products available that contain the correct species of bacteria to get the job done quickly) during which time the betta can be safely housed in another container getting frequent water changes to keep the ammonia at 0 and keep nitrite completely out of the equation.
But in very tiny amounts it is safe. Nitrate is toxic to fish in large amounts.
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
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