First Betta ever: Fish-in cycling question

[Shark Tale]

Hi all- new to the forum here!  This is my first ever betta tank.  I have some questions on cycling.  Stupidly on my part, I bought everything before researching so now doing a fish in cycle and here we are.  (Petsmart wasn't much help and told me to not even use water conditioner and just run the filter for an hour before adding my fish, but thats another story.)

Tank- 3.5g
Stock- 1 betta
Plants- 1 Java Fern, 2 Anubias

After one night of research I realized there was a lot I needed to do so next day I went to a local shop.  The gentleman told me to dose Prime and Stability the first day, then Stability for the next 7 days.  

One thing I have trying to find information on is, during this first week, am I supposed to be doing water changes at all?  He didn't mention I had to and I couldn't find anything that said I needed to during this first week. 

Today (day 3) I tested my water. My ammonia test strips might be broken (they arrived damaged) but seemed to give a reading somewhere 1-2ppm, Nitrites actually started to appear and no Nitrates.  Also, my tank was a little cloudy and had a slight odor so I panicked and did a 50% water change and dosed Prime and Stability.  (was reading it could be bacterial bloom but not positive)

Should I have done the water change or should I have just listened to the guy and just have kept dosing Stability?  Should I do anymore water changes this week?

Sorry if this has been answered before but I did try to use the search function!  Thanks!!

 

TDLR: Should I water change during the first week of a fish in Prime & Stability cycle or just keep dosing Stability?

 

 

[FLFishChik]

Aquarium Co Op has an article on how to do a Fish In Cycle. You might find this helpful

 

Cloudy water is common in brand new aquarium set ups and is usually due to a bacterial bloom (sudden rise in nitrifying bacteria). 

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/fish-tank-cycling

Edited April 18 by FLFishChik

[Tony s]

you need to change the water whenever your ammonia is above .25 parts per million. probably by half. this is strictly to keep your fish safe. or when your nitrites get above 0. then re dose with prime and stability. you will lose some bacteria. but it should be fine. bacteria are not in the water column. they're on your plant, decor, substrate and filter media. 

[Galabar]

For a fish-in cycle, I would highly recommend water changes, probably daily to keep ammonia under 0.25.

 

[bryanisag]

Go back to your local fish shop and buy plants that are in a cycled tank. That should get some bacteria going quickly for you. You could also ask for any cycled media they could give you or sell you. Even a bit of gravel would do the job. The amount of ammonia that one betta produces is quite small so by getting some bacteria in your tank you should be able to have a cycled tank quite fast. But after it's cycled do research on "seasoned aquarium" 

[TOtrees]

water changes. 

water changes.

water changes. 

It all comes back to water changes. When your tank is "cycled", you will still need to do them but not as much. Until then, water changes will 100% protect your fish's health, if done the right way and in sufficient volume. With a such a small tank, you can very efficiently do modest water changes with a pitcher or large mug. I use a 1/2 gallon pitcher for this (get 2 or 3 if you want to make life really easy, yay dollar store). Fill the pitcher with water from the tap, same temp as the tank. Add 1-2 drops of prime and stir/swirls/swish (2 drops per gallon is the normal rate). Meanwhile, use an empty pitcher to remove the same amount of water from the tank. Pour it on your house plants or in your garden. Then gently add the pitcher of new water back to the tank. If the pitcher is 0.5 gallons, and the tank is 3.5, you just did a 1/7 or 15% water change. Do this every day and you have a bit under 100% water change for the week, and I promise any nitrite or ammonia will be negligible and harmless (wc% for the week is actually less bc when you change 15% on day 7, a lot of that water will be water you added over days 1-6, but for these amounts/scenario that's not really relevant). 

The other REALLY important thing is to not feed too heavily. Every new fish keeper does it, and it places a greater burden on the water parameters, fish, and tank. For a new fish keeper, feed a quarter of what your heart wants to. Or less even. If using betta pellets, 2-4 per day is enough. And sometimes skip a day. 

[Yoshi]

I did EXACTLY the same thing when I got my first five gallon aquarium. Jumped right in, and soooo many of us who are just starting out do it!  So I know what you're dealing with!

I completely agree with what everyone has said here regarding water changes.  Another reason to keep up with your water changes is that bacterial bloom.  While it's unsightly it also sucks up a lot of oxygen.  By doing those regular incremental water changes you'll help re-oxygenate your water.

[Shark Tale]

Thank you very much!!

It’s day 4 and my betta has barely eaten. He’s swimming completely fine and seems to have plenty of energy. He’s probably eaten 2 pellets since Sunday!  He swims right up to it, smells and checks it out for 10-30 seconds and swims away. I’m feeding Aqueon betta pellets. What’s the longest anyone’s seen their fish not eat yet still look healthy?

Edited April 18 by Shark Tale

[Tony s]

On 4/18/2024 at 7:02 PM, Shark Tale said:

What’s the longest anyone’s seen their fish not eat yet still look healthy

Most fish can go up to a week or more with no food. And have no ill effects. I do this for vacation. I tried using a sitter but ended up with messed up tanks.

you may have an issue though. Since you’re doing fish in cycle, you may need to recheck parameters. Something may be off, especially since he’s off his normal behavior 

[TOtrees]

On 4/18/2024 at 7:02 PM, Shark Tale said:

He swims right up to it, smells and checks it out for 10-30 seconds and swims away.

This isn't normal behavior for a betta, unfortunately. Try a different type of food, like frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp, or a different pellet. But my guess would be a health issue relating to water quality (not saying it's your fault, it might be the fish had issues/concerns before you got it). So in addition to new/different food, get on top of the water quality issue (water changes). Personally, I'd avoid going down the medication rabbit hole. It rarely ends well, especially when you aren't starting from a solid diagnosis. 

I look at it like possible causes, that you cross off after you're ensured it's no longer an issue. Right now, you have a lot of unchecked boxes: food preference? water quality? disease or infection? water temperature (we haven't raised that issue yet... bettas do better a few degrees above normal room temp. they can do okay at room temp if all other requirements are perfect, but when you're trying to find/eliminate possible problems, I'd get the water to 78 or 80F, so you can cross it off the list too). 

doing the water changes allows you do cross water quality off the list. new food(s) gets that crossed off. a heater gets temp crossed off. if you're able, add activated carbon to your filter, and you can cross off contaminants because water changes and carbon will help with those. And so on.

 

[Shark Tale]

This is great advice! I might try to order some bloodworms and see how that works. Tank is heated at 78 so that’s checked off. As mentioned above, I’m in the process of cycling so I’m hoping he is just still getting acclimated from water changes etc. as he’s only been in the tank 4-5 days.

[EricksonAquatics]

The Aqueon pellets are a little on the bigger side for betta pellets, so it could just be a preference issue. Some bettas will snarf down anything, some are picky. If he continues to not eat, you could try a new kind of pellet (I like Xtreme Betta Pellets, they’re fairly small and bettas seem to love them)!

[Shark Tale]

*Update on eating*
My betta has not eating much in the last 2-3 days. Ammonia and Nitrites look ok. Could it be from any of the other water parameters? He won’t eat Aqueon pellets as mentioned above. He ate Tetra freeze dried bloodworms on Saturday, but has denied them Sunday, Monday and today. Below are my parameters. 

[EricksonAquatics]

I would for sure keep on top of doing water changes because even a slight amount of ammonia and nitrite can set a fish off.

[Galabar]

From your reading, I'm seeing both nitrite and ammonia.  Keep up with those water changes.

Something else to note is that you have very low KH and pH.  You should consider something to raise these values.  You could use crushed coral or something like Seachem Alkaline Buffer.

[johnnyxxl]

I would opt for the coral as any liquid can cause swing's to the parameters you are trying to fix 

[Shrimp Doggy Dogg]

On 4/18/2024 at 4:02 PM, Shark Tale said:

Thank you very much!!

It’s day 4 and my betta has barely eaten. He’s swimming completely fine and seems to have plenty of energy. He’s probably eaten 2 pellets since Sunday!  He swims right up to it, smells and checks it out for 10-30 seconds and swims away. I’m feeding Aqueon betta pellets. What’s the longest anyone’s seen their fish not eat yet still look healthy?

Most fish in my experience will eat all day long when food is available.  I don't have a ton of experience with bettas though.  The only reason I'm chiming in is because my wife just bought a betta yesterday (and named him Oppenheimer, of course).  He showed no interest in the fluval bugbites that I offered, but he ate live baby brine shrimp continuously until they were all gone.

My point is, hed probably eat something that's more life like.  Frozen bloodworms, for example.  Maybe freeze dried tubifex worms.