So I am very new to this whole fish owning world but I have been reading about cycling a tank. My new betta, Pinku is currently in a 1.5 gallon and he is battling fin rot. I have been feeding my new tank every day and today I noticed white furry stuff on the pellets, so I removed them. I cant find pure ammonia anywhere and I am about to just give up and let the tank cycle itself when I put my fish in it. My question is, should I move Pinku to his new tank now? Or should I keep him in his smaller tank until he gets better? any sugestions about the tank cycling would be helpful as well. Is that white furry stuff just a part of the cycling?
Usually cycling a tank under 5 gallons isn't necessary. If you keep him in the 1.5 or move him to the 2.5, I don't think you're going to need to bother cycling it.
I also wouldn't recommend putting pure ammonia into the tank with the fish in it. Even though it's possible to do a "fish in" tank cycle, I really would advise against doing that in your case ESPECIALLY since he's already battling fin rot.
Making sure you do 100% water changes every few days is necessary to keep the water in good condition and keep the bio-load low.
Also, are you treating the water you're putting into his tank with water conditioner?
IMO, I would buy a cheap 5 gallon tank and start doing a fishless cycle with that now so that by the time Pinku is better, he'll have a nice cycled to move into.
Oh no I was not planning on putting ammonia in with my fish lol. He is in a separate tank for now and yes I do use water conditioner. I just switched to prime because I found out that my tap water has ammonia in it. I would absolutely love to get him a 5 gal but my roommate was not happy with the 2.5 that I insisted on lol. Is it safe to put him in the 2.5 since he is sick? or should I wait until he gets better?
OK! I was worried when you mentioned looking for pure ammonia.
Neither of your 1.5 or 2.5's are probably going to end up getting cycled because they're a little too small and require too many water changes to keep the bio-load down.
As long as the water quality is fine in the 2.5, then the size of the tank really won't make a difference in terms of Pinku getting worse. He'd probably appreciate the room.
Out of curiosity, are you using any medications or anything for the fin rot?
I did aquarium salts for 10 days and that did not work. I have started adding stress coat. I have been changing about 30% of his water every day and doing one 100% a week. I would like to do more 100%'s but he absolutely flips when I put him in a cup! He really worries me with his banging against the sides of it. I have been thinking about getting stronger meds but he is my first fish and I am not sure what would be best.
I know the common wisdom is that 2.5g tanks won't hold a cycle, but mine does. I have only had it set up for a few months, but it has never registered ammonia/nitrite. It is a very heavily planted NPT, and I think that is why it is so stable.
I still test, because if the cycle does go off the rails I need to know. But it is really on a once weekly water change schedule at this point.
I love the new tank look ^^^ id love to be that fish! haha!
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