New Tank

[OohFeeshy]

I have the 11 litre one. Its quite nice, the filters pretty good. I changed mine from the gravel to sand though.

 

[Betta_man]

See i thought if i add 1fish(betta) then that would help cycle??? or am i waaaaaaaay off there? I added some food to the empty tank just now though, will that help?

Thanks

 

[AlexsDaddy]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=73365
This explains fishless cycling. IMO it's the best way of cycling as it does not harm any fish in the process because it is just that, fishless. If you don't have any test kits (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) you will need some to keep track of the cycling process.

Edited to add: adding food to the tank doesn't really produce enough ammonia to effectivly cycle the tank.

 

[Betta_man]

I have read that over and i am still on the confused side of things.... Can some one just tell me in easy terms what to do please???

Do i just leave it for 2weeks or so and test i then or what???

Thanks

 

[Betta_man]

So is there anything to add that will build up the ammonia??

If i was to add him tomorow or something how many water changes weekly would be needed and how much water would need taken out??

Can i turn the filter off at night??

Thanks, lewis

 

[AlexsDaddy]

If you decide to cycle the tank with your betta in it, it will be exposed to high levels of ammonia and nitrite. To avoid these high levels you will have to have test kits that test for ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte (you should have these anyway as they are an essential part of keeping healthy fish). You are going to have to test the water every day for these to keep the levels as low as possible (no more than .25 ppms ammonia and .5 ppms nitrIte)and will end up having to do small (15-25%) daily water changes to keep these levels as low as possible to prevent as much harm happening to the fish as possible. Depending on the size of the tank, it may take a few days for any ammount of ammonia to show up with your tests. You should never turn the filter off for any reason. This is where most of the benificial bacteria hang out (they hang out everywhere in your tank though, on the gravel, any decorations, and even the tank walls), and without a constant supply of oxygenated water they will die and you will have to cycle the tank all over again.

Most grocery stores sell pure ammonia in their cleaning section, but make sure that there is no additives and it is non scented. Some may contain quality controll agents but these don't seem to be harmful to the fish. The ammonia I used had these quality controll agents, but I did not notice any harm to the fish if there was any. I don't know where you live, but wal-mart sells ammonia. The name brand I used was Sea Mist. I have read on posts in the begginner questions section that a place to get ammonia in the UK is Boots(?). I live in the US so I'm not sure about that.