5-gallon cistern cycling?
Hi,
I have a 5-gallon tank that I need to cycle. How do I cycle it (I own no idea), and I want to put in it my betta, how long to wait before adding together it to the tank. Finally can I put with my betta some other fishes (if yes what kind and how many) seeing that it is a small reservoir.
Thanks a lot
If you want to cycle it, you can go two methods. The first being fishless cycling. I am not going to explain it because it's involved, but many sites proposition explanations for it and step by step guides to achieve cycling without having a fish involved, which is far better for any fish contained by the long run.
The other method is by throwing your betta in the water and doing many wet changes to keep the ammonia and nitrites very low. Any amount can and will snuff fish. That's why I always suggest fishless cycling.
If it's just going to be a betta contained by a 5 gallon, then you could forego the cycling of a tank. You could just do 100 % dampen changes once a week and the betta would do fine.
But once again I recommend a fishless cycle. It works, I have done it with adjectives my tanks after I read about it.
In a 5 gallon I suggest single keeping the betta in it, many fish will get territorial surrounded by such a small tank. If you wanted to upgrade it to a 10 gallon tank later you could have some other fish in there. But a 5 gallon I would solely keep the betta in it.
Ok the following is only a guide and one and only by testing with a kit that does Ammonia,Nitrite and Nitrate you will know the true state of the tank progress.
Start by doing "no" water changes for about 2 weeks by which time the Ammonia height should be comming down with nitrite levels spiking. Then do about a 20% hose down change. Then after about another 2 weeks of no water change the nitrite should be declining with nitrates starting to rise. If all go well you should be able to start regular 20 to 30% water change. (During the cycle feed the fish sparingly to avoid a bio overload effect) A fully cycled tank will read Ammonia 0,Nitrite 0,nitrate under 40ppm and lower than 20ppm or lower is best. If your using fish that you want to keep and they start showing signs of severe stress you can do 5 to 10% weekly water changes (More surrounded by real bad cases) This will naturally make longer the time it takes to cycle the tank considerably.Also adding aquarium brackish (or non iodized cooking salt) at a rate of 1 table spoon per 5 US gallons (about 20litres) of water will help will help make smaller the effects of nitrite toxicity.
The actual time it takes can vary a lot as warmth,ph,whether or not you use gravel,filter media from an established tank and other factors can play an effect on how express or slow a cycle will finish.
Also note that a tank doesant have to be contemporary to restart a cycle. This can be caused by too much off a water vary too often, overloading a tank with too several fish, using certain medications will kill sour the nitrifying bacteria needed to keep the tank tough.
Answers: Most fishkeepers use fishless cycling these days. This involves adding a source of ammonia (either fish food or bottled household ammonia from a supermarket or chemist) to the reservoir. This will kickstart the population of friendly bacteria that break down the ammonia over several weeks into other nitrogenous waste substances known as nitrite and nitrate and finally nitrogen gas. This process is call the nitrogen cycle. Both ammonia and nitrite are lethal to fish even in small amounts so only once both toxins read 0 on the audition kits will it be safe to add fish to the aquarium. You requirement to patient as fishless cycling can take several weeks, and failure to cycle the reservoir will result in new tank syndrome, which system the filter can't cope with the biological waste produced by the fish leading to ammonia and nitrite spikes.
Finally since your container is quite small I would keep the betta on its own, by adding more fish could do water quality problems.
"Adding ammonia" fishless cycle is a great method, and certainly the best, because the fish don't hold to go through toxic water that might not kill them, but depart them weak for the rest of their lives, and it also stresses them a lot. It uses pure Ammonia to cause the ammonia and nitrite spikes, and when in that is no more ammonia or nitrite, you can add fish, but only a few at a time. You can read more at:
http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles...
But if you enjoy another tank that is well established and properly maintain, then you can get some filter media (for me, sponges and biomax earthenware rings work best, but floss and others also work, although don't use any chemical media!) from the established tank filter, and fill up around two thirds of your new filter with the established media, while the second third is filled with new medium. Tada! You have an instantly cycled filter. But remember, don't put any of the new media into contact near tapwater as chlorine kills good bacteria, and don't keep hold of the bacteria out of water for more than 30 to 60 minutes or the helpful germs will die. Gravel from an established tank can also help this, but it is nowhere near as efficient as media.
Another Fishless Method is for planted tanks. It's done by having milieu lighting (about 2 watts per gallon/0.5watts per liter), a CO2 system, and a nutrient rich substrate topped with a few cm's of normal gravel. Cover at least a partly of the whole substrate with fast-growing plants that are undemanding to keep. Do this right and nearby will be very little or no Ammonia or Nitrite. Read more about this method, called the "Silent Cycling" method, at:
http://silentcycling.blogspot.com/
Hoped I help
- Dannyo
