How Long Should I Cycle My Tanks For

[fish are cool]

how long should i cycle my tanks for its a 2 gallon

 

[smithrc]

until its cycled.

eg ammonia = 0
nitrites = 0
nitrates are rising.

 

[fish are cool]

until its cycled.

eg ammonia = 0
nitrites = 0
nitrates are rising.

what

 

[RoyalGrammaPrincessHannah]

Its not a matter of how long YOU should do anything, its just until youve monitored and seen an ammonia spike and decline, followed by a nitrite spike and decline, then a nitrate spike and decline. You can buy pure ammonia to do this, or add a little raw seafood to the tank every once in a while, or flake food, or buy a danio. There is also Biospria by marine labs, but if you dont have ammonia to start with, there might not be anything to keep the bacteria alive, and you wont actually know if it worked if there is nothing to monitor. What id do is put a little ammonia in there, or a danio, and add biospira and see if the ammonia went down. Sometimes it doesnt work though if it was shipped wrong, so thats why it should be montored. Mail me if you want more info and this sounds like something you might try.

 

[rdd1952]

You can buy pure ammonia to do this, or add a little raw seafood to the tank every once in a while, or flake food, or buy a danio.

It's only a 2 gallon tank so a danio wouldn't be a good idea as they need lots of swimming room. What fish do you plan to put in the tank? A 2 gallon really isn't big enough for anything other than a betta and maybe an african dwarf frog.

 

[fish are cool]

like you said a betta & african dwarf frog is the only thing i can put in & that what i am putting in the tanks ( i have two 2 g tank )

should i use a danio or not

 

[OohFeeshy]

No.

 

[fish are cool]

what should i do than ?

 

[Bloo]

Well, do you plan on having a filter of any kind in the 2 gallon? Many betta keepers don't on such a small volume as it creates too much current in such a small space and is not good for a betta.

And I take it you will probably do 100% water changes every few days ? If that's the case, there is no need to cycle your 2 gallon tank.

Ps: and "no" a danio is definitely out of the question - they require groups and need minimum of 15 gallons - you only have 2.

 

[fish are cool]

how will i do a 100% water charge if there a fish in there ) )
should i have a filter or not

 

[jungle king]

a 100% water change means you take the fish out of the tank your doing the change on and put it in a temp accom till you have done the waterchange and the temp is right the put the fish back

 

[fish are cool]

oh ok do i put the fish in a plastic bag
do i need a filter & heater

 

[fish are cool]

i am going to the shop in a few mins to get some stuff so i really need to know should i buy a heater & filter or not

 

[fish are cool]

any one

 

[rdd1952]

A filter and heater aren't necessary with a betta but it is ok to have them. As Bloozoo2 mentioned, a lot of people don't use filters on betta tanks because bettas don't like a lot of current. I have filters (and heaters) on all 3 of my betta tanks though. I just keep the flow rate adjusted down to the lowest setting.

If you get a heater, get the lowest wattage you can find. That will probably be a 25w. For the filter, get one that is rated for up to a 10 gallon tank but make sure it is adjustable.

You can keep bettas without filters, you will just have to do the 100% water changes daily (maybe every other day). To do that, you will need 2 small containers, on to put the betta in and one for the ADF. Fill the containers with tank water, catch the betta and frog and put them in the containers. Pour all the water out of the tank and replace with clean, dechlorinated water and try to match the temperature of the fresh water as close as you can to the temp of the old tank water so the fish don't get hit with a big temp change. If you aren't using a heater, you may want to just keep a bucket of water at room temperature so it is ready when you do your changes.

If you do decide to filter the tank, you will need to check the water parameters daily to make sure you don't have too much ammonia or nitrite (both should be 0 and both are toxic to fish). Since you already have the betta and ADF, a fishless cycle isn't possible so just check the parameters daily and do water 25% changes if you see ammonia or nitrite present.