Betta Issues and some clarifications....

Omnominator

Omnominator

Large Fish
#1
Sep 19, 2012
101
0
0
Clearwater, Fl
#1
Hello all,
my sister got a betta a while back and i gave her my bowl that i had kept a fish in. she did well with it and all was well.(don't worry this is not a sob story) I decided to get her a 2.5 gallon tank for her birthday so she didnt have to change all of the bowl water every week. (just water changes) Now my sister is very lazy and i have been telling her that she needed to do a water change because her fish was not active anymore and seemed unhealthy. She ignored me... I am under the impression that you do not need to cycle a betta tank correct? Anyways she kept prolonging it and i finally tested the water and read that ammonia was off the charts! I dug up that bowl and set him up in there temporarily because i didnt want him to die. Now for my purposed questions.

Do i leave the ammonia in the tank so that maybe the cycle will begin?
The cycle is the only way i can think of to automatically dispose most of the ammonia.

Also there is little clearish disks at the tops of the tank floating, anybody have any clue what they are?
I appreciate it :)
 

T

Thyra

Superstar Fish
#2
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
0
0
Yelm, WA
#2
This is what I would do - not necessarily what others might suggest. At this point I would siphon the water out of the tank, but leave the substrate and decorations intact. I am assuming that 2.5 tank is like the one I had and has a little filter (although I replaced the filter it came with) Then I would fill it with dechlorinated water and put the betta back in, test the water daily and siphon out about half the water as soon as you see the slightest ammonia. If you continue to do that and protect your fish the tank will eventually cycle. The important thing is to check the water and keep the ammonia at zero. There is probably some beneficial bacteria in the substrate and the fish by products will be feeding it. This might not be a project for your sister.
 

T

Thyra

Superstar Fish
#4
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
0
0
Yelm, WA
#4
I guess you will have to read and see what others suggest you do but it still will all come down to water changes and keeping the ammonia level at zero which will mean you need a test kit. Also I have not idea what the little "clearish" disks are. Was the betta the only fish in the tank? Any chance there is any insoluble material getting in - like oil, or hand lotion, etc.?
 

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