# Question on Betta Care



## iksnip (Dec 2, 2014)

My wife received a 10g tank and betta. We have it set up with a penguin 150 filter. We in week 5 or 6 of the fish and it is thriving. Been keeping the temp around 23.5c and seems to be working. 

Question on the filter. I admittedly haven't been doing as much water testing as I probably should have been. Did it today for first time in a week and we have establishment of the nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia. I did a 35% water change to reduce the ammonia. 

Two questions

1. Should I be doing water changes during cycling to reduce the ammonia. For a betta, what is the ammonia level that would be of concern?

2. In terms of a penguin 150 filter, for the cartriage itself, should I be washing it or replacing it every 30 days? What is the protocol?

any feedback would be great

thanks!

Ken


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## WildForFish (Aug 5, 2008)

What are the levels?

Yes, you should do partial water changes to dilute the ammonia and nitrItes.
When the tank has cycled you should have 0 levels.

The filter cartridge should be cleaned in old tank water to remove debris, no need to replace until falling apart


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Tetra SafeStart, which you can get at Walmart, will speed things up enormously.


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## BabyGirl77 (Nov 2, 2015)

What WildForFish means is when you have 0ppm ammonia and nitrite, with some nitrates then your tank is cycled.

There really should be no ammonia, because any amount of ammonia is bad for any fish. Bettas can withstand a lot and are hardy fish.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

hi Irwin..


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## WildForFish (Aug 5, 2008)

BabyGirl77 said:


> What WildForFish means is when you have 0ppm ammonia and nitrite, with some nitrates then your tank is cycled.
> 
> There really should be no ammonia, because any amount of ammonia is bad for any fish. Bettas can withstand a lot and are hardy fish.



I wrote what I meant to say. In response to the question:
_Should I be doing water changes during cycling to reduce the ammonia?_

The information regarding the ammonia & nitrItes was given as reassurance when the tank is cycled these levels will be 0.

As far as ammonia levels, when cycling there should be ammonia level for the cycle to take place. This is the down side to a cycle with fish. It can be done as tanks were cycled with fish for years before the fish less cycle. Keeping the levels to a minimum with water changes, partial or other wise will help in keeping injuries to fish to a minimum.

There are many hardy fish that can with stand many things to a point. High ammonia levels are the most damaging to all fish as the ammonia burns the gills, making the gills less efficient at extracting O2 from the water.


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## BabyGirl77 (Nov 2, 2015)

WildForFish said:


> BabyGirl77 said:
> 
> 
> > What WildForFish means is when you have 0ppm ammonia and nitrite, with some nitrates then your tank is cycled.
> ...


I agree. I was just helping the OP understand the information given.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

Not sure if you have a male or female betta but if it is a male you might want to put a bit of mesh or ladies nylon around the uptake tube of that penguin filter. Use a tie tag to secure it elastics eventually disintegrate.

It is possible for the long male tail to get sucked into the uptake tube and to get ripped off. It is very painful for the fish. It will not do any appreciable damage to the filter.


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