Is my tank cycled ?

Emma and the angelfishes said:

Is this the right stuff if so when I add it in how long will I have to wait before adding fish or is it just until ammonia reaches 0 if so how long approximately will that take ?

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kwi said:

It's ammonia and nitrites that should get to zero, though the nitrites will peak at some point first.
You're waiting on an organism to grow and multiply to sufficient numbers so there's no fixed timescale.

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Emma and the angelfishes said:

Ok thank you if I at the Safe start what change will that make ?

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Deanasue said:

It will just introduce some beneficial bacteria to jump start the cycle. Adding your filter floss and substrate silk seed your tank and get it going in about 3-4 days if you use enough. You’ll want to leave it there for several weeks to let the bacteria continue to grow.

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kwi said:

It might speed things up by adding bacteria that you want into the tank. Or it might make no difference but it won't do any harm.

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Ch4rlie said:

To keep bb active for a longer duration of time before adding stocking, just dose 1ppm ammonia every 2 or 3 days, ammonia does not need to be fed every day.

Don’t forget you will need to do a large water change before you add the new livestock into the tank.

Edit - thought be helpful to include this quote from the fishless cycling article -

“If for any reason you are unable to stock the tank when it is cycled, you can continue adding ammonia to keep the tank cycled. For this you should add the 1/3 snack amount every 2-3 days. The bacteria do not need to be fed every day and will be fine. Don’t forget the water change before adding the fish.”

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

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Ch4rlie said:

Ammonia is what the all the livestock’s produces by simply breathing and pooping into the aquarium water column.

Ammonia is a toxic element for all livestock unfortunately so we need to create a beneficial bacteria that will deal with this ammonia to make the water safer to live in for your livestock.

So I would urge you to read the fishless cycling article I linked in my earlier post and read up on this so you have a better understanding of what is cycling is exactly and why we do this.

Using fish food or prawns being allowed to rot in a tank will produce ammonia.

However doing that will also make the water a much poorer quality and also using this method does not allow you to have any real control over how much ammonia is being made or when.

Would advise against using this to create ammonia in your tank, but in some countries it’s near impossible to get any sources of ammonia places like Ireland and Australia due to laws so sometimes doing that method is down to lack of sources of bottled ammonia.

But in UK and USA you can get some of Dr Tims ammonium chloride easily obtained online from source like Amazon, this bottled ammonia is fine to use for cycling purposes.

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Ch4rlie said:

“Bettas are soft water fish, and prefer a pH of neutral (7.0) or slightly acidic. They can adapt to a higher pH, as long as it is stable. It is inadvisable to use chemicals to alter the pH, which can cause dangerous fluctuations. A high pH or hard water will cause fins to curl, particularly in crowntails(this is purely cosmetic and not a health problem), which are particularly sensitive to inappropriate water parameters. Indian almond leaf (IAL) or blackwater extract (BWE) can help lower the pH naturally.”

Quote from -

Betta Splendens Caresheet

Marble Rosetail OHM Species: Betta (pronounced bet-uh), also known as the Siamese or Thai fighting fish. Scientific Name: Betta splendens (although the domesticated versions are a result of breeding wild betta splenden complex members together) Wild Betta Splendens Lifespan: 2 - 10 years...

www.fishforums.net

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Ch4rlie said:

You basically need to cycle the tank first before adding any fish as I mentioned already that ammonia is toxic to fish and would recommend you to read the fishless article to get an understanding what needs to be done and why.

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

I understand this is a big learning curve and a lot of information to take on, especially when the chap at the fish store gave you advice about putting fish in after x number of days and letting the tank run for a few days or whatever jumbo jumbo he spoke of.

If you add a betta before cycling the tank, and don’t watch the water parameters then chances are your betta will suffer and possibly develop illnesses and worst case but likely scenario, die.

The bottle of safe start is basically bottled bacteria but it’s not enough just to pour this in and then add fish.

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