Quick cycle ideas?

[greenween]

I suddenly have lots of snail babies in a one gallon tank with a betta! I will elaborate when I have more time, but I got the betta a new 5 gal. because he's feeling crowded. Anyone have ideas on quick cycling? Can I add water or rocks from one of my other two tanks maybe? Its kind of an emergency, please help. Thank you guys!

[Dabaers]

Yep you can add some gravel, filter media, anything from your other tank that you know is cycled and is healthy!
(Im sure others have great ideas too but im trying to post this quickly for you)

Kath

[greenween]

Thanks for responding so quickly! I put some of the rocks from my puffer tank this morning, so far registering no no2 (its only been a few hours)
Did I mention I put a few pieces of betta food in there too? Anyway, any other ideas are welcome. I would like to make it as safe as possible, as quickly as possible so I can get bloo out of that small, crowded tank. I would just get rid of the snails, but I can feed them to the puffer, so I hope to keep them as well. Gotta run.
Thanks,

[Dabaers]

There is some great info around here on fishless cycling.
Put cycling in the search engine and you'll find them.
But yes, do keep "Feeding" the cycle with some form of ammonia, fish food, etc. and keep testing.

Kath

[Ringo]

Do you have a filter from an established tank you could put on the 5G? that would speed up the process quite a bit.
also any Substrate you can put in there from an established tank would help.
and I think thats all I know about that one....

[fish_doc]

If you dont mind spending a bit of money. You can try bio-spira. Its the only cycle chemical I would use.

[girth vader]

it's a Betta, dechlorinate the water and put him in. You definitely don't need to cycle a tank and filter for a Betta, just make sure chlorine and chloramines are removed. So its not the emergency you may think it is

[Gourami Swami]

Why would you say that? Bettas are the same as any fish and will be harmed from an uncycled tank.

Anyway, take the fikter for the 5 gallon and run it in a well established tank fr a couple weeks, then puit it in the 5 gallon and put the betta in at the same time. The bacteria in the filter will still be there, making th tank already cycled.

[girth vader]

Originally Posted by Gourami Swami

Why would you say that? Bettas are the same as any fish and will be harmed from an uncycled tank.

Anyway, take the fikter for the 5 gallon and run it in a well established tank fr a couple weeks, then puit it in the 5 gallon and put the betta in at the same time. The bacteria in the filter will still be there, making th tank already cycled.

its fact.

are u worried about NH3? I would think the NH3 levels flare up in the puddles they live in in the wild. NitrAte and NitrIte is the same thing. These guys are built to be comfy in a completely different environment then tropicals or cichlids. however courteous it may be, its just not needed, thats all.

[mr.dark-saint]

I kind a wonder what kind of snails (them Malaysian Trumpet Snail?)? If so moving gravel from old tank to new will just transfer them.

I'd be more concerned with bettas getting atmo. O2's. So dechlore the water and get it to temp and it's good to go. Just deal with the snails if this is your main problem Green Ween.

[GoodMike]

nitrate and nitrite arent the same, and it would harm a betta. in the wild they are constantly getting fresh water from rains. i dont cycle betta tanks, i just do frequent water changes. but dont think that a betta can just handle all the ammonia and nitrites, cause it can harm them like any other fish.

[girth vader]

Originally Posted by GoodMike

nitrate and nitrite arent the same, and it would harm a betta. in the wild they are constantly getting fresh water from rains. i dont cycle betta tanks, i just do frequent water changes. but dont think that a betta can just handle all the ammonia and nitrites, cause it can harm them like any other fish.

I meant that the Nitrate and the nitirte buildup would be the same as the NH3, the betta could handle fresh water as opposed to cycled water. which is my point, its not neccessary, just courteous.

[Dr_House]

It may have been easily assumed from your post that a betta could be thrown in a tank and the water left to do what it would. Clarification that more frequent water changes would be required is always helpful. There are a lot of misconceptions about bettas that are easily fueled by incomplete advice.

[girth vader]

true. I guess the problem is that they generally only life brief lives. Had they lived to 10-20 yrs we would have a better outlook as to what keeps them healthiest. but since they all die young, whether its in a teacup or a tank (10g) filtered we will never truly know what they exact needs are. dont get me wrong, I have my betta in a cycled tank, however on moving day, he gets dechlorinated water and the filter starts. But beeing a more tropical man, I prefer to get a fish in a cycled tank, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and i'm just glad that a betta can handle what most fish cant

[Dr_House]

Well said, Mr. Vader.

[girth vader]

Originally Posted by Dr_House

Well said, Mr. Vader.

cheers. sometimes i try to keep post short cause I am a 2 finger typist

[Dr_House]

Nothin' wrong with that my friend. I'm a little touchy on bettas because I see lots of people saying, basically, that bettas do well in any conditions because they live in mud puddles, which is wrong in every possible way. Anyway, keep up the good work, girth. I enjoy reading your posts. Always short but very informative.

[dolifisis]

Originally Posted by fish_doc

If you dont mind spending a bit of money. You can try bio-spira. Its the only cycle chemical I would use.

For those familiar with this product did you have to jump through hoops to find it? I've called about 8 stores on their dealer list (all between 50-75 miles from me) and all but one has been disconnected and the one I finally reached didn't have anyone there at the moment that could help me. I was hoping they wouldn't have to ship it. Does it come UPS or Fed Ex? If it's UPS I can forget it. I keep complaining about the guy because he refuses to ring my doorbell and I never get my packages on time.

[Damon]

It can be rather expensive to ship as it has to stay refrigerated. You can order it on-line though. Most lfs do not carry it due to the short lifespan and matainence required to keep it (constantly checking dates and refrigeration needed.)

[dolifisis]

Originally Posted by Damon

It can be rather expensive to ship as it has to stay refrigerated. You can order it on-line though. Most lfs do not carry it due to the short lifespan and matainence required to keep it (constantly checking dates and refrigeration needed.)

I was able to reach the one store with a working phone number. My plan was to drive up there with a mini car refrigerator but they don't regularly stock Bio Spira and would have to order it anyway. Looks like I'll be purchasing it online.

Ok, I decided to cycle with pure ammonia and yesterday was my first day but I need to know exactly what a "spike" in nitrites means. The ammonia is at 5 and showing nitrites at 1. I'm really confused now because I hadn't expected to see nitrites yet.