# cycling Q's



## FRIENDLYFISHIES (Aug 7, 2012)

ph 7.6
high range ph 8.0 
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0

im not too worried about the PH as bettas can tolerate a fairly wide range. 
but im not sure why im having tail rot, theres no ammonia... im treating the tail rot but its going to really screw up my cycle because im going to have to up my water changes from 50% every other day to 70% daily  ..but i guess my tanks not cycling yet anyways...thats what I cant tell though...
It doesnt appear to me that the tank is cycling? Why isnt it cycling yet? 

each tank-
50% water change every other day
2 weeks
3 gallons
one abubias
one java
sand
hidy house
filter
heater (78-80)
and today I just added indian almond leaves to the tank...

If my tank isnt cycling yet, how do I get it to cycle with my fish in there, and how do I do it without harming the ones with tail rot? When I do less water changes the tails get worse. I thought it had to have been cycling by now...jeesh...2 weeks and nada! I must be missing something. Thank you


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

I'm guessing the betta that's fighting fin rot is a blue one. Am I correct? I rarely cycle my tanks, and I don't have problems with water parameters. I do take a filter cartridge from one tank and move it into the newly set up tank, and that has worked well for me.


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## FRIENDLYFISHIES (Aug 7, 2012)

its not the rescue blue 1 hes doing awesome, its no nen my blue double tail (from the avatar) who never had signs of any thing like this before and his tail was so full and beautiful. The only thing I can figure, is that it started when he was without a filter for a week (it broke and I was waiting for the replacement to come in the mail) and now today he has black tips and ripped up fins. I would love to cycle these tanks so I dont have to do water changes so often...I thought it wouldve been half way through the cycle by now.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Blue bettas are more susceptible to fin rot then others are. Its something with the pigment in the skin. I have 2 blue bettas that are often fighting fin rot.


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## FRIENDLYFISHIES (Aug 7, 2012)

Oh great lol! I have 2 blues!


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

Hoe exactly do you know when a betta is cured of finrot? Sister's betta has it. He's red and blue....


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

When his fins stop rotting off and don't rot when there's not meds in the tank.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

I hardly ever cycle a tank. For a fish in cycle your tanks cycling as is. A 50% water change every other day with one betta is not going to cycle. Bettas do not have a large enough bio load to create a dirty enough tank to start the cycle.

Now for exsample say you have one betta in a 5g tank with a small hob filter and your doing a 50% water change every other day. 

That tank will never complete a cycle. I would cut back to a 10% change every other day in a 5g tank

Now 1 betta in a 10g tank I would change water monthly and that would start a cycle. 

Let me know what fish you have and what size tank. I could help you out a bit better on how to keep it going and what your water change schedule should be.

Now I have a 10g planted tank (September totm tank 5) I have 3 plattys and 1 fancy male guppy with a cheap hob filter rated for a 10g (under filtered because of plants) I change my water every other month and fill it up as needed. I never have a problem.


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## FRIENDLYFISHIES (Aug 7, 2012)

Thanks cory, I just switched everyone to smaller tank without filters because I have some massive fin issues going on grr...no cycling those tanks for me now im going to do 100% water changes daily for a while and see if they heal up. As for 2 tanks I will be cycling - 5 gal plakat betta tank I just set up today no live plants. He will be the only fish in the tank and a 5 gal guppy tank I will be setting up this week with 2 male guppies and no live plants. 

Betta man - my rescue betta blue vt seems to never heal from fin rot...ive been lucky that he hasnt had any severe rot...I was doing 50% every other day before and his tail would heal right up upon water change a bit of AQ salt And stress coat...but if missed a single change a big chunk of tail falls off and heals up again on the next water change this keeps repeating. Now he will be getting 100% water changes daily without his filter. I know you say blues are more suseptable...do you think he will always be this way? When I got him he was a bit clamped faded and under weight. Ive had him for about a month...hes a great fish, very friendly and extremely active but asside from gaining a tiny bit of weight and color brightening up a bit he still has the same clamped tail/fins...very strange.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I like to put a little air-driven sponge filter in every tank. You can't count on a little tank staying cycled, but even a clump on floss on an airline will help. It can be the different between sporadic low-level ammonia and no ammonia at all, which could help him heal faster.


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