i got a betta from the swapmeet about a week ago and it died the next morning.
i think it was because i didnt know anything about fishes at that time and i just put him right into tap water and he probably died from shock or the chemicals.
after looking around on the internet i decided to get another one but this time i want to make sure he has a good life.
I will get a new betta after i buy and setup an Eclipse hex 5 kit as well as a heater but i want to know what i have to do in order to make sure its ready for a betta
i basically need to know what cycling is and how to maintain water instead of just using water right out the foucit
You need water conditioner, which can be bought in numerous places. I use AquaSafe, but there are other brands, just as long as it takes out chlorine and other stuff it will be okay.
After you cycle it, you would only need to do a partial water change, making weekly cleanups easy.
As far as what you need, this is a good list.
Tank
Heater
Filter
Silk plants, or live if you feel up to keeping them alive
Caves or hiding places
Thermometer
Water testing kit
Food: Pellets, blood worms, etc
Net
Water conditioner
You'll also need to acclimate him to the water and temperature of the water. Just float the cup or bag in the water for some time before you release him. This will reduce shock and stress.
Any other questions feel free to ask.
Last edited by SaylorKennedy; 11-23-2009 at 07:48 PM.
You need water conditioner, which can be bought in numerous places. I use AquaSafe, but there are other brands, just as long as it takes out chlorine and other stuff it will be okay.
After you cycle it, you would only need to do a partial water change, making weekly cleanups easy.
As far as what you need, this is a good list.
Tank
Heater
Filter
Silk plants, or live if you feel up to keeping them alive
Caves or hiding places
Thermometer
Water testing kit
Food: Pellets, blood worms, etc
Net
Water conditioner
You'll also need to acclimate him to the water and temperature of the water. Just float the cup or bag in the water for some time before you release him. This will reduce shock and stress.
Any other questions feel free to ask.
okay thank you ill read it now to know what Cycling means and how to do it. i thought it was just changing some water.
also is 1 gallon water change good for a 5 gallon tank?
i heard that the less your tank is the more % you have to change
yeah i use a siphon and it really keeps the water alot cleaner, even in you have a filter it doesnt always get everything out, especially in the rocks.
You need water conditioner, which can be bought in numerous places. I use AquaSafe, but there are other brands, just as long as it takes out chlorine and other stuff it will be okay.
After you cycle it, you would only need to do a partial water change, making weekly cleanups easy.
As far as what you need, this is a good list.
Tank
Heater
Filter
Silk plants, or live if you feel up to keeping them alive
Caves or hiding places
Thermometer
Water testing kit
Food: Pellets, blood worms, etc
Net
Water conditioner
You'll also need to acclimate him to the water and temperature of the water. Just float the cup or bag in the water for some time before you release him. This will reduce shock and stress.
Any other questions feel free to ask.
i read it and still dont know how to cycle, i just have a general idea of what it does.
the filter turns bad chemicals to harmless ones that i have to manually get rid of with weekly water changes.
since the filter would be automatically be doing that wont that mean i dont have to worry about "Cycling" since its automatic as long as i change water once a week?
Rotting food and fish waste produces a toxin called ammonia. This is usually what kills fish when the tank isn't cleaned often enough. Given enough ammonia, bacteria called Nitrosomonas start living off it and starting a colony in the tank. They live on all the surfaces, primarily the filter because it contains the most surface area. They eat the ammonia and produce a less-harmful waste product called nitrIte.
When nitrIte builds up, it attracts another kind of bug called Nitrobacter bacteria. They do all the same stuff as Nitrosomonas, only with the nitrIte instead of ammonia. What comes out the other end is a chemical called nitrAte. It's only harmless in big amounts. You then vacuum the nitrAte out of the tank when you do the water change. It doesn't take alot of vacuuming to remove.
In an uncycled tank, you skip the bacteria by sucking all the ammonia up yourself. Since you are cleaning out all the ammonia before the bacteria get a chance to dig in, they never really colonise the tank. So you take care of all the ammonia yourself, which requires bigger water changes to eliminate.
Rotting food and fish waste produces a toxin called ammonia. This is usually what kills fish when the tank isn't cleaned often enough. Given enough ammonia, bacteria called Nitrosomonas start living off it and starting a colony in the tank. They live on all the surfaces, primarily the filter because it contains the most surface area. They eat the ammonia and produce a less-harmful waste product called nitrIte.
When nitrIte builds up, it attracts another kind of bug called Nitrobacter bacteria. They do all the same stuff as Nitrosomonas, only with the nitrIte instead of ammonia. What comes out the other end is a chemical called nitrAte. It's only harmless in big amounts. You then vacuum the nitrAte out of the tank when you do the water change. It doesn't take alot of vacuuming to remove.
In an uncycled tank, you skip the bacteria by sucking all the ammonia up yourself. Since you are cleaning out all the ammonia before the bacteria get a chance to dig in, they never really colonise the tank. So you take care of all the ammonia yourself, which requires bigger water changes to eliminate.
okat ty, how long should i not vacuum the gravel for? and do i do water change while it cycles?
and also how do i know when the cycle is over?
i plan on getting 5g eclipse Hex, it says it comes with some sort of BIO-wheel (dont know what it does) and im going to keep my beta fish alone for while
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