cycling help

[asukabetta]

I need help with a fish in cycle, I am going a bit about blindly, I have 1 axolotl in the tank for almost 20days, and I was recommended to keep doing daily 20% water changes, I don't know if that is a lot or fine for a 20 gallon tank.

Also I got a test kit but I don't have it for ammonia atm so these are my waters:

Ammonia : unknown
PH: 7
NO3: 15 mg/l
NO2: 0

I understand I need an ammonia kit but I bought one that didn't include ammonia and had KH instead. >_< So i can't afford one till mid January.

Please help me know where my cycle is at :) I know it's not betta related but I asked in a certain anphibian forum and they just pointed out "fish in cycle being bad etcetc" and didn't offer me any advice >_> (I know fish in cycle is bad for the fish, but I had no choice since the axie came in before the tank was ready.)

[Bluewind]

Newbies do it all the time. I did myself before I knew better!

The most important thing is to be careful not to overfeed. If by chance the baby doesn't slurp it all up, scoop out what's left. Get the pwc water as close to the temp of the tank as you can. I pour mine in the back of the filter (after turning it off of corse) to keep from stressing my fish (no crazy hard current). Adding a few plants will help suck up any Amonia. Having it decorated will also increase surface area and thus your benificial backteria. Also, you can get a complete API test kit that has everything you could possibly need for $20 on Amazon, so when you go shopping for tests in January, you might want to look there. Best of luck
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[DiiQue]

Not sure if anyone can pinpoint exactly how far along you are in your cycle without the Ammonia results but you may be cycled since you only have Nitrates with 0 Nitrites -- but I'd defer to the more experienced gurus on the site.

Can you take your water to a local LFS and have them test for ammonia? Fish-in cycle is fine with a betta according to OFL and I've done it a couple of times and have seen no harmful affects to the 'lil guy. Having the proper water params is key though...


You've probably already read these, but if not, I found these stickies helpful.

By OFL: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=107771
By Olympia: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=111960

Good luck!