Topic: Cycling a 1 gallon betta tank

[donna4909]

Can a 1 gallon Mini Bow be cycled? It came with an UGF and air pump.

And if it is cycled, could I do maybe 50% water changes twice a week?

I don't like doing 100% water changes with this little female, as it seems to freak her out quite a bit. I'm thinking if I can get it cycled, she'd be much happier. Currently, she's getting 100% changes 2 or 3 times a week.

Also, how would I go about the cycling? Just add gravel and the plant from her current tank? Would there be enough good bacteria on that?

[supersixone]

you CAN cycle it but it wont be as stable as a larger tank. you'll need to test the water constantly. personally i don't think it's worth the trouble, it's much safer for the fish to do full water changes.  her current tank isnt cycled, so there wont be any "good bacteria." adding gravel from it won't help

[Mellyn]

You could seed it with stuff from her old tank or any other tanks you have. I'd suggest puting some floss or something under the ugf for the bacteria to adhere to.

The problem with cycling a small tank is that the amonia spikes much faster in a small tank than in a large tank. I'd suggest while it cycles to do small water changes every other day to keep the amonia in check. Like a cup or something.

[supersixone]

You could seed it with stuff from her old tank or any other tanks you have.

her old tank doesn't have a biofilter; you can't seed from it.  if you have a cycled tank, you can try seeding from that.  if you don't have one, maybe a friend does.

[donna4909]

The reason I got this tank (with the filter) was to avoid 100% water changes.

If I set it up today, and start it cycling, could I put her in and do 50% every other day? Or maybe 25% every day?

I can't seed from another tank, as I don't know anyone that has an active tank. It seems like everybody has aquariums, but nobody has fish in them. Maybe the LFS would give me some gravel from their tanks?

[supersixone]

i wouldnt cycle with the betta, especially not in such a small tank.  besides, doing partial changes every day would be more stressful than doing full changes every 3 or 4 days.  i dont know about you but i dont want my tank contaminated by anything from the pet store

[donna4909]

I think I'll just take the Mini Bow back, and get another 3 gallon kritter keeper.

Then I can get 2 sponge filters, split my air pump, and filter both my tanks.