Moving in a fish

[nemolover]

Hi all,

I have ordered my first Betta! He should be here Wednesday and I was wondering what the best way to move him into his new tank is. I know I float him in the tank but for how long? I have everything (filter/heater) set up and I have been cycling the tank for the last week.

Thank you for your help!

Nemo

[teeneythebetta]

Originally Posted by nemolover

Hi all,

I have ordered my first Betta! He should be here Wednesday and I was wondering what the best way to move him into his new tank is. I know I float him in the tank but for how long? I have everything (filter/heater) set up and I have been cycling the tank for the last week.

Thank you for your help!

Nemo

Hello, nemo and welcome to the forum!
First I'd like to say that I'm impressed, it sounds like you are really striving to provide the best for your first betta!

Dont forget to add water conditioner :) When you get him, you can float his cup/bag in the tank so it adjusts to the temperature of the tank. This typically takes about 15 minutes- more or less depending on the temperature difference. You can dip your finger in the cup and then in the tank- to see if it feels about the same, or use a thermometer. A good temp range to keep your tank at is 78-82 degrees F.
Once that is done, you may want to carefully pour out a small portion of the cup/bag's water and add a little bit of tank water in the bag. This will help him adjust to the change in water parameters and pH safely.

Shortly after, use a net to remove him from the bag, to make sure you try not to get any of the shipping water into his tank.

Cycling a tank will take anywhere from 4-8 weeks, 6 weeks being average. So your tank will not be cycled. Who told you about cycling?
Since your fish in already on the way, you will need to do a fish-in cycle. To do so you will need to have a test kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I reccomend the API liquid test kit- you can order it on amazon or Walmart.com.
When cycling and with a cycled tank- NEVER change your filter cartridge. Doing so will kill the beneficial bacteria (BB). The cartridge will look brown, thats good, that's the BB. You can rinse it off in USED tank water to get rid of any yuckies without harming the BB. You can read about fish in cycling here
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=107771

What size is your tank? I would love to see pics of your betta once he gets home!!

[nemolover]

Thank you for you help! I have added the water conditioner and I have been cycling by putting some fish food in my tank, my friend had told me that it takes a week or two.

I guess I will order the water testing kit. My tank is 2 gallons and I am so excited to get him!

[aokashi]

hi there! a 2gallon is very hard to cycle.buy you can give it a try never the less. even after it has cycled. a large weekly water change is recommended. just in case.

When you get your test kit, you can test to see how far you are in on the cycle. It i peeferrable that you you do a 100% water change and test the wate before the fish goes in