Betta Ammonia Level Help

[jaywings19]

I have an Eclipse System 3 just for my male betta. I ran my tank for a few days before introducing my betta. I brought my betta home on 7/24. Since then, I have been monitoring my ammonia level in the tank.

Basically, the ammonia level was at 0.25 for the first 5-7 days ("safe" according to my dipstick tester). Then, the next week it was up to 0.5 level ("stress" according to my dipstick tester).

I was only doing a 20-25% water change every 5 days since this is a one-fish tank with a filter and bio-wheel. However, I started doing 25% water changes every three days now since the ammonia level went up.

My question is should I keep doing more frequent water changes to keep the ammonia level down until the cycle is completed? Or am I preventing the ammonia level from spiking, thus slowing down the cycle?

From what I understand, the ammonia level should be stable at 0 once the tank is fully cycled.

Any help you can offer is appreciated. I sure don't want to harm Dexter... the only tank resident.

 

[wuvmybetta]

I've been going through the same thing with a bunch of 1 gallon tanks...I was doing too many water changes & too much water....slowing down the cycle, I finally just said enough and I'm going to let them spike, I guess that's what you should do, maybe keep doing itty bitty changes every other day just to ease your mind (and your bettas). But I think your almost there...it's been awhile but it seems like it took about that long to cycle my 2 gallon tanks (12-15 days) but it could have been a little longer

you can always suction out the extra waste with a baster just to help with the load & possibly the excess ammonia

 

[Tanked]

when the tank is fully cycled the ammonia will be stable at 0ppm. cycle usually takes 4-6 weeks unless you use already cultured gravel, filter media etc...these things can dramaticly speed the process up.

I'll agree with wuv. the ammonia and then nitrite need to spike. mine spaiked at 6ppm I was terrified but my betta made it through just fine. if you can get it try bio-spira by marineland!!!. it is fantastic stuff. I used it when setting up my 55 and never saw ammonia go past .5 ppm and nitrite past 1 ppm. all is stable at 0 now and the tank has been setup going on 3 months!!!


hth

richard

 

[jaywings19]

Wuv - I am already using a baster to suck out the visible waste particles every day. That was a great tip that I saw mentioned several times on this board before I set up my tank.

I guess I am just really concerned about not making my Betta sick during the cycling process. According to the chart, anything above 0.5 ammonia is treading into the danger zone. So naturally, I'm trying to keep everything as clean as possible without halting the cycle process. I'm just anxious to get the tank fully cycled, I suppose. I'll maintain the every-other-day small changes to keep ammonia in manageable levels and hopefully the tank will cycle in the next week or two.

I have noticed that Dexter is eating a little less the past few days. I'll keep my eye on that... though I don't want to seem paranoid.

PS: I've only been testing for ammonia so far... Guess I should take out the nitrate/nitrite testing kit sooner or later, eh?

 

[bluefrog]

I know for bigger tanks, you should do 20-30% water changes daily. I do that on my two 10 gals. You need the nitrite and nitrate testers, because you may need to continue with frequent water changes those spike as well. If you're only checking for ammonia, you will not know when the nitrites are at a dangerous high. Your betta may get through it just fine. If you see anything unhealthy going on besides low appetite, you may want to keep him in a 1 gal. bowl until the cycle is completed. Good luck!

 

[jaywings19]

Okay... the complete water test results are in...

pH = 7.2
Ammonia = 0.5 - 1.0ppm
Nitrite = 0.0ppm

Mind you that these results were based on the color charts of my testing kit.

It has now been 13 days since I introduced my betta to the new tank. Do these look like normal results for that amount of time?

Is there anything else that I should be testing the water for?

 

[bluefrog]

I have no experience cycling a betta tank. But, for goldfish tank, you should be seeing nitrites by now, unless you use salt. Salt is good for the fish, but it slows down the bacteria process. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it just causes nitrites to remain lower longer. If you're using salt, then this might be normal, but you should be seeing nitrites soon. If you're not using salt, then this might also be normal for a betta tank, I'm not sure! But either way, I'm sure you'll be seeing nitrites pretty soon. Just keep monitoring the parameters, changing small amounts of water, and keep an eye on your fish. I know it's hard to be patient during the cycling process!

 

[jaywings19]

I'm not using salt in the water. Also, I've read that bettas are relatively "clean" fish... especially when compared to goldfish. Not to mention I only have 1 fish in a 3 gallon tank... maybe that's what is slowing down the process too.

 

[jaywings19]

Well, it's 15 days and the results are still the same:

pH = 7.0 - 7.2
Ammonia = 0.5 - 1.0ppm
Nitrite = 0.0ppm

Beginning to think my cycle is going to take a year.

 

[jaywings19]

Glad to report that my betta (and I) survived the blackout. I did a large water change the day the lights went out just to make sure he had clean water.

As far as my cycling... it's 24 days and the results are still the same:

pH = 7.0
Ammonia = 0.5 - 1.0ppm
Nitrite = 0.0ppm

Am I doing anything wrong here? I realize it's a 3 gallon fliltered tank with only 1 fish, so that might be slowing the process down. But still seems like a year to me! Is it possible for a tank to never cycle completely?

 

[sandyd]

I was wondering if this is your only tank? If not you could take some gravel from another tank as well as the filter medium and it will help you speed things up. If you dont have another one, you may be able to get some gravel from your local fish store that has been in a cycled tank to help you speed it up. I think you said it is a 3 gallon tank? If you are still doing large water changes, It will just slow it down and may even make it restart. I would only do water changes if you notice your betta is having problems. Bettas are hardy fish, so you should not have a problem with him if the ammonia gets a little higher. Keep checking it, by the way great job in keeping track of it. Just try not to do water changes unless it is giving him a problem, or if you see it is really high. Good luck and keep us posted. Sandy

 

[jaywings19]

Yes, it's my only tank... so my betta has my undivided attention... which may or may not be a good thing.

I will curtail my water changes to once a week for a while. Would you consider 1.0 a high ammonia level? Lower/higher?

 

[wuvmybetta]

glad to hear that you guys made it through the blackout

your tank will cycle, I had given up on my 1 gallons cycling until the other day when I checked their nitrites and they were almost at zero, then two days later it was over, they cycled

just give it time, the 1 gallons took almost 10 weeks, but I have a 2.5 gallon that cycled in 4 weeks with two bettas in it (divided of course), I added "cycle" when the ammonia started to get high and I really think that helped rush it along (but it didn't help the 1 gallon tanks,mind boggling)

 

[sandyd]

To tell you the truth, my tanks have been up to 2 before i did a water change. If he is not showing any signs of distress, like laying on the bottom, refusing food and such, i would let it go up until you see him having trouble. I am not saying that you should not still test, as i think that is very important to know just how high it is going. If it goes over 1, i would do small water changes. Like 10% of just water, try not to disturb the gravel alot as this will also slow it down since that is one of the places the "good guys" are trying to grow. When you do vaccuum or use my favorite thing the turkey baster, try to not disturb the gravel. Hope this helps. I have also heard good things about Amquel, it is supposed to convert the bad ammonia into a les toxic form without interuprting the cycle process. I have not used it for myself, but have heard it works well. You may be able to check with you lfs and see what products are out there to make the ammonia less toxic to the fish. I am not big on using anything unless i have to, but i am sure there are other products that help. Sandy

 

[jaywings19]

Well, my tank is finally making some cycling progress! I didn't make any water changes for 5 days, since it appeared my water changes were preventing the cylce. Here's the info:

August 24th
Ammonia = 0.5 - 1.0ppm
Nitrite = 0.0ppm
Ph = 7.2

August 30th
Ammonia = 0.0ppm
Nitrite = 2.0ppm
Ph = 6.8

Is that a radical change for a 5 day period? I've noticed that he's been sluggish lately and refusing food too, so I did a 10-15% water change this morning after testing the water quality.

Any thoughts on how I can improve the water quality without compromising the cycle progress? I would like to prevent major stress on my betta, but not at the cost of starting the cycle all over again.