Question About Fishless Cycling

[Pennymom]

I've read all the pinned threads about this and didn't find answers to two questions. Maybe I missed them. I'm good at that. Anyway, I'm doing fishless cycling in my 5-gallon Betta tank. #1, do I keep the filter running? And #2, do I add the plants before or after the nitrates are in good shape? Thanks. This forum is a wealth of information and everybody is very friendly.

Edit: Never mind about the filter. I re-read and found out that you are really cycling the filter so that question is answered. I told you I was good at missing stuff.

 

[GoldLenny]

Yes, keep the filter running but take the carbon out. You are using the plain ammonia method or another method?

Do not add any plants until you have completed the fishless cycle. The plants would get burned by the high levels of ammonia used in fishless cycling. Remember that Nitrates are the final stage in the cycling process (ammonia>nitrite>nitrate) so you will not see high levels of nitrates until you are done. You could have low levels of nitrates from the start if your tap/source water has nitrates. Many do.

 

[Pennymom]

Yes, keep the filter running but take the carbon out. You are using the plain ammonia method or another method?

Do not add any plants until you have completed the fishless cycle. The plants would get burned by the high levels of ammonia used in fishless cycling. Remember that Nitrates are the final stage in the cycling process (ammonia>nitrite>nitrate) so you will not see high levels of nitrates until you are done. You could have low levels of nitrates from the start if your tap/source water has nitrates. Many do.

I'm using the Add and Wait Method from this forum. Thanks for the answer about plants.

 

[scorphonic]

Best of luck with it pennymom!!

Nice to hear you did some good research before starting

Bet your getting excited with the prospect of a betta!!

 

[rdd1952]

Definitely leave the filter running. Technically, the filter is what you are cycling since that is where the vast majority of the bacteria colonize. As mentioned, I would take he carbon out. There are much better biological filter media out than carbon which has to be changed every couple weeks. It is actually a chemical filter anyway. Very few of the members here actually use carbon on a day to day basis. It is mainly for removing medications after treating a tank. I only use the ceramic rings that came with the filter plus I've bought some other media called Matrix Bio-Max and added it too.

As for the plants, when I cycled my 75 gallon, I had the plants in from the start without any problems. It was mainly java ferns, snacharis,, anubias nana, amazon swords and hygrophilia. The easy to grow stem plants will be fine through a fishelss cycle but others may not. I liked having them in the tank since it at least gave me something to look at until the fish were in it.

 

[Pennymom]

It was easy to do research because of the wealth of information on this forum. I'd never heard of fishless cycling before. I'll have to get a different filter system since the charcoal is contained inside the filter and can't be removed. It's an inside filter, cheapie, and the filters slide into slots. A Wal-Mart find. Could I just put that polyester cottony stuff in there like you put inside stuffed animals? The water comes in from the bottom and would filter up through the polyester and then spill out. I'm about to go Google Matrix Bio-Max to see what that is. Thanks again for the answers.

It looks like that Matrix Bio-Max could just be put in the filter container. Am I wrong?

 

[rdd1952]

I would look into something like a Whisper 10 filter or an Aquaclear that's made for a 10 gallon tank. They would work fine for a 5 gallon. I run the Whisper on my 5 gallon betta tank. They have a flow adjuster too which will help with the betta as some of them don't like a lot of flow and current. As for the media, there may even be someone on here that lives near you that will give you a little media from their tank to help jumpstart your cycling.

 

[Pennymom]

OK. Whisper 10 it is. I like the flow control, too. If no one is near me I might be able to talk my LFS into parting with something.

 

[rdd1952]

I'd be happy to send you some but I doubt the bacteria would survive the trip. If you have a true fish store (not a Walmart, Petsmart, etc) near you, they may be able to help as a lot of them run individual tanks, each with it's own filter, rather than a large filtration syslem.

 

[Pennymom]

Thanks for the offer but I can probably contain myself until the water straightens itself out. We have a real aquarium store here in town, fresh and marine, and I really think they will help if I ask. Thanks again. This is so new and I'm really excited about getting started. Just need the ammonia and a new filter and I'm off!

 

[rdd1952]

Good luck!!

 

[GoldLenny]

Don't go with too much filtration since it's a Betta tank. They don't like too much water movement.

If you use a little inventiveness, you should be able to do some kind of surgery on your existing filter so you can dump out the charcoal while preserving the rest of the filter cartridge. I've done this to every type of filter cartridge I've ever used over the years. Some are easier than others but it can be done. Then all you have to do is rinse (swoosh/squeeze) the filter cartridge off in some removed tank water each time you do a PWC and your filter will not lose the good nitrifying bacteria that you are growing with your fishless cycle.

 

[Pennymom]

This is weird. I found the ammonia (not that easy to find non-sudsy), found the ammonia test kit. So far I have put 6 drops of ammonia in a 5-gallon, non-charcoal filtered, heated to 90 degree aquarium and the ammonia level is up to a big whopping 2ppm. I'll wait until tomorrow morning and test again. Is it possible my local water nitrates are high? Would that make a big difference in raising the ammonia level? Is this tropical/marine fish thing addictive or what?

 

[rdd1952]

It's quite possible you could have nitrates in your tap water. That's not uncommon, especially if you're on a well. It really shouldn't have any effect on raising the ammonia. Depending on the size of the drops, 6 could definitely raise it to about 2 ppm. With the ammonia I have, 1ml will raise 5 gallon to about 4 ppm. And yes, it is addictive. Tanks are like potato chips, one just isn't enough.

 

[Jozlyn]

Boy is it ever addictive, I am a severe suffer of MTS (multiple tank syndrome)! I started of with one 10lt tank for a Betta, I now have, that one plus 2 x 90lt tanks (1 Community & 1 Mum's and Fry) and 1 22lt tank (supposed to be for QT/Hospital, but it's full of guppies at the moment!) and have put in my Mother's Day order for a 5ft tank!