[sock]

Hi, Recently my cousin came over and fell and broke my tank, Quick i grabbed a cup and saved my betta and I've got him in a cheap half gallon, Which he's really upset about but I had no money. I just bought him today a 10 Gallon with all new stuff, but the problem is I have to wait so long for the 10 Gallon to cycle and I'm not sure if it's fine for him to be in his half gallon for the new 1-2months. Is there anything I can do to speed the process or do something for him? I'm scared he'll get something bad in his little tank...

 

[SarahandOscar]

Can't you buy liquid bacteria to cycle a tank in 24 hours? PLEASE FORGIVE me if i'm wrong but i have a friend who was advised to do this and a few fish places have agreed it's fine once all the ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and ph levels are fine? She has not added fish yet as this was last weekend so i don't have solid experience BUT we tested the water last night and everything was perfect water wise?

 

[LinkLover]

You can always do a fish-in cycle. I know it's probably more work and less recommended, but that's what I'm doing with my ten gallon and it's working out just fine. It does require testing the water and doing changes when the ammonia/nitrite spikes, but you can do it without hurting the fish as long as you don't let the readings get above .50 ppm at max (.25 is better).

 

[sock]

Can't you buy liquid bacteria to cycle a tank in 24 hours? PLEASE FORGIVE me if i'm wrong but i have a friend who was advised to do this and a few fish places have agreed it's fine once all the ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and ph levels are fine? She has not added fish yet as this was last weekend so i don't have solid experience BUT we tested the water last night and everything was perfect water wise?

I'm sorry, I'm new to the fish world but is liquid bacteria the same as water conditioner? I'm pretty sure its not though.

Is it's something else, I'll try it. Is there any huge risk?

 

[wystearya]

You can always do a fish-in cycle. I know it's probably more work and less recommended, but that's what I'm doing with my ten gallon and it's working out just fine. It does require testing the water and doing changes when the ammonia/nitrite spikes, but you can do it without hurting the fish as long as you don't let the readings get above .50 ppm at max (.25 is better).

Yes, you can do a 'fish-in' cycle and do so safely if you closely monitor the water parameters (Ammonia, Nitrite, & Nitrate) and do the needed water changes.

If you do this, you need to get a good test kit. The API Freshwater kit is great, well worth the money. Test strips are often not accurate and you only get a few for a big price.

>>Also, if you do the fish-in method you do NOT want to add ammonia. As your fish will be making the ammonia.

----

I've heard that most of the time, the bacteria in a bottle stuff does NOT work. So, I personally wouldn't bother with it.

 

[SarahandOscar]

No we had to buy it separately, like i said we haven't put fish in yet but the water levels are perfect, we're gonna test it again tonight then take a sample to the petstore for a triple check before we buy the fish but if the whole purpose of cycling is to obtain the perfect water conditions we got it in a day..... it's just like obtaining some healthy gravel and water from a cycled tank to speed the process (so i've read) but i need to clarify we have had basic success (water only) there have been no fish involved and only advice from aquarium stores... maybe look into it a bit or wait till you get advice from senior members of the forum. My friend is setting up a tropical tank, not specifically for Betta's and i'm still too new to offer proper advice for Betta specific tank set ups

 

[sock]

Does anybody know about any liquid bacteria? I like that idea vs the "Fish In" one.

 

[SarahandOscar]

Does anybody know about any liquid bacteria? I like that idea vs the "Fish In" one.

I can check my brand and specs when i get home tonight (it's 10am here in Australia) but i am in Australia..... so u may be able to find something over where u are

 

[LinkLover]

There is a sticky in this section about different methods of cycling, which may have something that works better for you (including using pure ammonia). Here is the link: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=47838

 

[SweetNightmare]

If you have some anacharis available from a store(petsmart sells them and most fish places) they can help lower the levels to ease the stress of a fish in cycle. I planted my tank, put in some bottled bacteria and conditioner, and a few days later my tank was stable and ready for fish!

 

[Micho]

Can't you buy liquid bacteria to cycle a tank in 24 hours? PLEASE FORGIVE me if i'm wrong but i have a friend who was advised to do this and a few fish places have agreed it's fine once all the ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and ph levels are fine? She has not added fish yet as this was last weekend so i don't have solid experience BUT we tested the water last night and everything was perfect water wise?

These bottled bacteria products will not work. Cycling must be done the old fashion way, like the other members have said, fish-in cycle with the poor guy is a better option than him being in a 1/2g tank.

Just get a good testing kit, preferably a liquid one, make sure it has ammonia, nitrItes and nitrAtes.

While doing a fish-in cycle, test the water everyday for ammonia, if ammonia is ever 0.25ppm do a quick water change, same thing with nitrItes, check nitrAtes once in awhile, once there's no ammonia and nitrItes, and around 20 ~ 40ppm of nitrAtes you're cycled.

 

[Tamyu]

Liquid bacteria doesn't really help your tank to cycle. It is a different variety of bacteria that floats in the water and processes ammonia and nitrites... It doesn't usually exist at levels high enough to support a tank.

What happens when you put the liquid bacteria in is a short term processing of waste. The variety of bacteria used doesn't survive well in a tank for very long - it will, however, survive well in a bottle until you use it. When you put it in the tank, it does it's thing and then dies away. The type of bacteria that you need to have living in your tank for it to be properly cycled cannot survive without a flow of "food" and oxygen. So it is impossible to bottle.

If you just put the water in and the liquid bacteria in, you are going to have perfect water. There is nothing to dirty it - the water is perfectly clean to begin with. "Perfect" water does not mean cycled. It just means that the water is clean. You could take a cup, plop a super dirty goldfish in it, test right away, and you would have perfect water. It wouldn't last long though. In the same way, you could have a tank set up for a year without any fish and "perfect" water, but it would not be cycled at all.

Liquid bacteria can be a useful tool to help when you are cycling, but it alone does not cycle the tank. It is sort of like a stop gap product. It will help keep the ammonia and nitrites a bit lower as long as you are dosing it... But it won't actually establish a colony in your tank. Hopefully a real cycle will happen before you empty the bottle... On the other hand, it could harm the cycle in the long run as it eats the waste too every time you dose the tank - so it reduces the amount of food available to the real cycling bacteria. That doesn't grow as much, so once you stop dosing the liquid there is a spike that could kill your fish.

Personally, I would just do a normal fish in cycle and spend the money on a testing kit instead of liquid bacteria. You are going to have to be testing and changing the water anyway - sure, the liquid might make the cycle "softer", but it won't actually make it faster or easier.

 

[SweetNightmare]

Mine had fish in it for a week before testing and the water was perfect still. Every test since has been perfect. Plants plus bottled bacteria was my magic cure.

 

[sock]

I guess i'll do a cycle with him in it, Does anybody know the chances of him getting sick?

 

[LinkLover]

As long as you keep the ammonia level down (as I said before, change the water if you get a .25 ppm or .50 (max) reading), your fish should be fine. My tank has been cycling for four weeks now, and my betta hasn't had any issues.

 

[SarahandOscar]

Liquid bacteria doesn't really help your tank to cycle. It is a different variety of bacteria that floats in the water and processes ammonia and nitrites... It doesn't usually exist at levels high enough to support a tank.

Thanks, that actually makes alot of sense, All the differing opinions and methods can be quite overwhelming sometimes, i guess we'll see how my friend goes and at least when i set up my tank i'll be a little more aware of what i'm doing. Thanks heaps

 

[LittleBettaFish]

If you have lots of healthy live plants that grow fast such as anacharis, a lot of the time these will consume some of the ammonia produced by your livestock, and assist in the cycling process. I cycled my sorority using live plants and did small, regular water changes for the first 3 weeks or so, and I never saw any trace of ammonia.

One betta in a 10 gallon is pretty light stocking. Honestly, the biggest ammonia spike you might see if you lax on water changes is .5-1ppm. I would much rather you put him in the 10 gallon and fish-in cycle it, than keep him in a 1/2 gallon bowl and expose him to temperature and parameter fluctuations for a month.

Bottled bacteria really doesn't work. For bacteria to remain alive in the bottle it needs to be kept constantly refrigerated and even then, it usually consists of the wrong sort of bacteria, which can stall your cycle or give you false readings.

Put your betta in the 10 gallon, buy liquid ammonia, nitrite and nitrate test kits, and check your water daily until you get readings consistent with a cycled tank. For a 10 gallon that means you should be able to go at least a week without a water change, and not see any trace of ammonia or nitrite.