general cycle question

[HobieDude16]

allright, so i had my mollies in my 5gal, they died, got puffers for it, after i cleaned it and restarted it, they died, so now, im kinda mad.... i want to get something to get the cycle going, so i put my betta in my 5 gal (and my other betta in my 2.5 gal) instead of their little betta tank..... will these guys be able to start the cycle one in each tank? or should i get osme other fish to start the cycle with? i want to get the tanks going well, so that i can get some real fish (and not have them die)...... also, i cant get any other fish right now, cause i lost my wallet friday, and am waiting for my new debit card, so are the bettas fine for this? its sad how many of my fish died (4 mollies, 2 puffers, a clown loach, and 3 tetras) but i guess thats how you learn. i think the betta might be a better idea due to how well they can resist stuff..... ok, enough rambling
thanks in advance for any advice
John

[Fish Heads]

O.K. Let's cover the basics: You are using conditioned or treated water to remove the clourine (spelling) and heavy metals. Bettas like to be warm. They like above 70 but do best in 76-82 degree range. You have changed the water since the other fish have died. You do not clean out your filter but instead rinse the media or sponge with room tempurature treated water. You change water weekly - 25% or so. You have live plants in the tank (this is my pet peave.)

Then, the betta can start your aquarium cycling. During a fish cycle as opposed to a fishless cycle, it takes more time. 25% of water needs to be changed weekly. When bettas are being housed in 1 gallon or less, I usually recommend to my neighbor kids to change half of the water 2 times per week. They then do it about once a week and the fish stay alive. I would monitor ammonia nitrite levels and wait until they fall before adding more fish. Instead of buying testing stuff with glass testtubes that easily break, I use one of those Ammonia alerts stuck to the side of the glas.

I have used several seeding products to start my tanks: I especially like plants so I use EcoComplete plant substrate without any problems - it contains Black Water Extract. Also some of Mark Weiss' products are fun to use - are they usefull? I don't know because I supplement my fishless cycling with all sorts of stuff.

I also love algae growing in my tanks at first. Not the pea soup kind but the stuff on the back glass. Algae absorbes waste materials. Other hobbiests with more experience than I bleach the heck out of everything to avoid algae.

Any else???

Good luck!!

[Fish Heads]

Ooops I forgot. A 5 gallon can only hold about 5 inches of fish (just bodies, not fins) this doesn't count if any of the fish are goldfish.

I can get away with more because my tank is seasoned, I have a bigger filter than I need, and my tank is heavily planted, or I've just been lucky and the fish gods are smiling on me at this moment.

[HobieDude16]

well, everything you asked if i had done, yes is the answer, except for live plants, i havent attempted that one yet..... i was going to try to do it without those.... both tanks are clean, the 5 gal is an eclipse system, so its pretty good for the filter and stuff, the 2.5 gal is a bottom filtered one, so ill be changing its water a LOT more.... and this fishless cycle? can you get the whole cycle going without fish? and its faster? if so, i might just do that, put my bettas back where they were, and let the tanks get prepped so i can start the fish off right.... but i thought you had to have fish to get the whole cycle going. bah, being a noob sucks, but im trying.... my 10 gal i guess ive taken better care of or its just easier... ive had it longer than any of my other fish, and all but one of them are still alive, and the one that died was a clown loach, which gets hurt easily.... so i guess for now im good with how i have it set up? we shall see i guess.... im going to stay away from live plants for now though

[Joel]

If I where you I would put the bettas back and go out and get a common pleco they are very hardy and cheap. Something would have to be very wrong with your water for them to die. Good luck.

[Damon]

You cannot put a common pleco in a 5 gallon tank. They don't fit in anything less than 55 gallons. They are notorious poop machines and grow very large. Stick with the bettas. Though I'm not sure you are cycling the tanks.

[Joel]

You can put a common pleco in a five gallon. If he got a one or two inch pleco it would be fine. Besides I just meant to start the tank out not to leave it in there. Different strokes for different folks. It would be better to lose the pleco then the betta and cheaper.

They don't fit in anything less than 55 gallons

. LOL why is that?

[soccermouth]

I'd say do the no fish cycle. It basically involves using ammonia drops in your tank. I don't have time to write more now but if you look on these boards you can find the information you need on how to do a fishless cycle.

[judya]

Also I wouldn't recommend puffers in that size tank. As I understand it, they are very aggressive, and also maybe more delicate than some other fish. Cute, but not an easy fish.

Cycling is an ongoing process. A betta, or any other fish, will help to cycle a tank, but it will be cycled with only enough bacteria to handle that one fish's waste products. As you add more fish, the numbers of bacteria will need to grow as well, and will, because the fish are providing them more food, but it takes time for the bacteria to grow and reproduce enough new bacteria to handle the new total waste.

Fishless cycling gives you a jumpstart in providing ammonia to feed a large quantity of bacteria, so more fish can be added once the bacteria colony is going, but still takes some time. There are also products that are supposed to add bacteria, such as Cycle and other products, but there's mixed opinion on how well they work.

Using hardy, hard-to-kill fish for cycling is only because they are less likely to die in the process. Some fish are very sensitive to ammonia and nitrite, and should wait til the tank's well established.

[Lexus]

Also clown loaches to be in groups of three or more and are sensitive as they are scaleless fish. Another thing is they get too big for a 5G.
If you want to cycle with fish use something cheap but you have to remember if they survive then wat will you do with them since you can only keep 5 inches of fish (ie 5-1 inch fish, 2-2inch fish ect...)

[HobieDude16]

the clown loach was in my 10gal, the 5 gal only had my mollies till they went, then the 2 puffers..... now one betta.... my 2.5 gallon is basically a "quarantine tank" but for now, my betta is in it till i need it for medicine..... my 10 gal is still doing fine, thankfully