Used Eheim 6 gallon tank

[fuhombrechu]

I bought a used 6 gallon eheim tank and it still has the old grime and algae on the glass and filter.

How should I clean it and would the old grime be harmful to a fish if I missed a spot while cleaning the filter?

I then want to start the cycle process (which I have no experience doing) so I can transfer a betta fish from a 1 gallon bowl into the tank.

[Twilight Storm]

I will let other people answer the cleaning question. I am not familiar with your filter.

There is a sticky somewhere on here on the nitrogen cycle.

Almost everyone in the forum just about is for fishless cycling. If you choose to do a fishless cycle in your 6 gallon and use the ammonia method, make SURE you get ammonia without surfactants. There was a post recently where someone bought a bottle of "pure ammonia" from a dollar store and found out it wasn't pure by seeing a bubble bath that would make the Calgon man cry, in his tank. I think it was Ace Hardware that actually had truly pure ammonia. :)

Grats on your new tank though!!! and welcome to the forum :)

[Twilight Storm]

Here is the nitrogen cycle sticky
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=47838

[thekoimaiden]

Welcome to the forum! TS has given you the link for cycling. You'll want to bookmark it as you will read it over and over.

For cleaning, a mixture of hot water and vinegar works very well. Let the tank soak for a bit in that and most of the grime should come off. If not. Rinse it down very well and then use baking soda paste as an abrasive to scrub the remaining grime away. Don't use soap of any kind. And when you are done: rinse, rinse, and rinse again.

I almost forgot: for getting in tight places in the filter, you can use a never-used toothbrush. I have one that used to come in the travel kits the airlines once gave you on overnight flights. It works great!

[fuhombrechu]

Thanks for the replies.

I have another question. If I decide to just use fake plants and glass pebbles to cover the base, would I have to cycle the water still?

[SweetNightmare]

You would have to cycle even more than if you used sand/gravel and real plants. Real plants, or at least some of them, suck up harmful bacteria so a cycle is not necessary. My tank was nearly instantly cycled with live plants. I just set up a naturally planted tank and a water test in a few days will tell if I have the same situation.

[thekoimaiden]

Originally Posted by SweetNightmare

You would have to cycle even more than if you used sand/gravel and real plants. Real plants, or at least some of them, suck up harmful bacteria so a cycle is not necessary. My tank was nearly instantly cycled with live plants. I just set up a naturally planted tank and a water test in a few days will tell if I have the same situation.

Actually the plants will out-compete the bacteria (not eat them) in taking in ammonia and that is why most heavily planted tanks don't have a cycle.

In a 6 gal tank it is possible to maintain a tank without a cycle, but you'll have to work at it. Tanks larger than 5 gallons that have a filter will cycle. It's not really something you can control. The bacteria are just always there.

[SweetNightmare]

Originally Posted by thekoimaiden

Actually the plants will out-compete the bacteria (not eat them) in taking in ammonia and that is why most heavily planted tanks don't have a cycle.

In a 6 gal tank it is possible to maintain a tank without a cycle, but you'll have to work at it. Tanks larger than 5 gallons that have a filter will cycle. It's not really something you can control. The bacteria are just always there.

That's what I meant. Just didn't know how to put it.