Help me setup my Betta fish tank

[Slaphppy7]

Rescuing A Fish In Cycle Gone Wild - Part I

RESCUING A FISH IN CYCLE GONE WILD Part I If you are reading this it means you have tried to cycle your tank using fish and have run into problems and don’t know what to do. Before we begin to discuss the potential solutions, we would like to make it clear that we do not recommend to...

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[Sgooosh]

The Safe Start Plus says you can add fish instantly though. And I don't think my parents are willing to buy ammonia. Also, @PorshaF do I rinse sand/filter and other stuff with dechlorinated water or is tap water okay for rinsing?

You do not need to buy ammonia
2 weeks with safe start or whatever (i use api quick start and old filter media)
works
then do a big water change
tap water is ok because you are going to cycle for a few weeks anyway
also, never trust pet store employees unless you know they know what they are doing
just ask the neighborhood friendly forum members

 

[TankRank]

You do not need to buy ammonia
2 weeks with safe start or whatever (i use api quick start and old filter media)
works
then do a big water change
tap water is ok because you are going to cycle for a few weeks anyway
also, never trust pet store employees unless you know they know what they are doing
just ask the neighborhood friendly forum members

Well he was the owner and taking care of all the fish. All the tanks were in good condition, and he had a couple saltwater tanks.

 

[Sgooosh]

Well he was the owner and taking care of all the fish. All the tanks were in good condition, and he had a couple saltwater tanks.

still... even though this time you had a person you could trust,
you should be cautious, some stores just want money and give bogus info about fishkeeping
you are lucky the guy is nice and reccomends a 5g tank.
a lot of stores reccomend bowls ???

 

[TankRank]

still... even though this time you had a person you could trust,
you should be cautious, some stores just want money and give bogus info about fishkeeping
you are lucky the guy is nice and reccomends a 5g tank.
a lot of stores reccomend bowls ???

Lol that doesn't make sense. Don't they make more money selling me a 5 gal cuz they are more expensive?

 

[Sgooosh]

Lol that doesn't make sense. Don't they make more money selling me a 5 gal cuz they are more expensive?

no,
kids are less likely to have a 5g in their house then to have a bowl (so its targeted towards small kids )
plus, some bettas are like $10-20 so the tank is actually less important than the fish itself.
I do not have much info on this
and not just bettas,
any other fish also have this issue
but let's focus on the cycling thing.
there are 2 common types of setting up your tank
1. dry start:
put the deco in with a tiny bit of water just to hold the sand together and keep plants alive.
design the tank with plants (they should survive out of water for a while, but not a long time especially full aquatic plants)
fill it in and cycle
then stock
2. "wet?"start
put a bit of water in, so there is some above the sand
add sand and decos
put plants before or after

tbh it does not matter a ton because it's a small tank.
try to add less chemicals
another more dangerous way to add ammonia
is to put some fish food and let it rot

 

[Essjay]

There have been a lot of posts and information may have been missed. So to summarise:

In the first post, TankRank told us s/he has the following -
5 gallon tank
Stress coat (water conditioner/dechlorinator)
Fish food
Filter
Heater
Tetra Safe Start (bottled bacteria)
Sand
Master test kit
A betta.
S/he was not allowed to buy any decor.

Since s/he already has a fish, a fishless cycle is out of the question. And as s/he is not allowed any decor yet, a plant cycle is also out of the question.
We need to help TankRank cope with a fish-in cycle.


@TankRank sorry to refer to you as s/he but your user name doesn't give any clue to your gender

 

[Essjay]

The safe start plus is a 3.38 oz bottle for a 5 gal tank. The bottle says add entire bottle for up to 20 gal. Is 3.28 oz too much for my 5 gal tank?

You may as well use all the bottle, it won't do any harm. If possible, open the filter and pour it in there rather than just into the water.

The important thing is testing the water every day from now on. The only safe level for ammonia and nitrite is zero, so whenever either are above zero, a water change needs to be done to get the level down. At this stage, nitrate is not important.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

I agree, dump the whole bottle in. No such thing as too much beneficial bacteria ?? and well done on working hard to achieve your good grades, especially during pandemic times! Keep it up! You may be rewarded with another fishtank ?

 

[Sgooosh]

I agree, dump the whole bottle in. No such thing as too much beneficial bacteria ?? and well done on working hard to achieve your good grades, especially during pandemic times! Keep it up! You may be rewarded with another fishtank ?

but don't go too high...
once i got the 75g
i couldnt get any more tanks LOL
but i can still get 2 outdoor mini ponds

 

[TankRank]

There have been a lot of posts and information may have been missed. So to summarise:

In the first post, TankRank told us s/he has the following -
5 gallon tank
Stress coat (water conditioner/dechlorinator)
Fish food
Filter
Heater
Tetra Safe Start (bottled bacteria)
Sand
Master test kit
A betta.
S/he was not allowed to buy any decor.

Since s/he already has a fish, a fishless cycle is out of the question. And as s/he is not allowed any decor yet, a plant cycle is also out of the question.
We need to help TankRank cope with a fish-in cycle.


@TankRank sorry to refer to you as s/he but your user name doesn't give any clue to your gender

Thanks @Essjay! I put the betta in a plastic 1 gallon tank yesterday because I felt bad for leaving it in the cup. (Got the 1 gal tank and a goldfish from a School Carnival and the goldfish died in a week) What do I do to proceed?

 

[Sgooosh]

Thanks @Essjay! I put the betta in a plastic 1 gallon tank yesterday because I felt bad for leaving it in the cup. (Got the 1 gal tank and a goldfish from a School Carnival and the goldfish died in a week) What do I do to proceed?

fill the tank up and add water conditioning, wait like 30 mins and add the ben bac in the filter, and run the filter.

leave like this for a week, do regular waterchanges, and once it stabilizes the params (test using the master test)
add your fish!
please tell us your ph and gh. bettas need it lower. (i mightve missed it if u told us earlier)

 

[Essjay]

I would set up the 5 gallon asap and put the betta in there. The more water there is, the more dilute the ammonia, and later nitrite, and they will build up less between water changes.

 

[TankRank]

I would set up the 5 gallon asap and put the betta in there. The more water there is, the more dilute the ammonia, and later nitrite, and they will build up less between water changes.

Oh ok, how do I transfer the betta from the 1 gal to the 5 gal? And do I add the Tetra safe start plus before or after the fish goes in? (Sorry in advance for the many questions I have)

 

[Sgooosh]

I would set up the 5 gallon asap and put the betta in there. The more water there is, the more dilute the ammonia, and later nitrite, and they will build up less between water changes.

yes, bigger tanks=better because more stable.
not sure if you already know, but most comet goldies do well in 125+
but they need buddies so 175 probably for 2