The Care Guide To Owning A Betta Fish

Water treatment and Cycling

When you have a tank bigger then 5 gallons you should always and I mean always cycle your tank before you bring home your new friend. So what is cycling you may ask, cycling is when your tank goes through the nitrogen cycle and grows a steady and healthy bacteria that is beneficial for your fish.  You are required to cycle your tank because without a cycle your tank will go through lots of up and downs such as ammonia spikes and a unsteady PH. These things are what kill your fish. That is why many beginners who set up there tanks the day they get there fish end up with many deaths. That is why I am going to explain how to cycle your tank. To start off there are many different ways that you can cycle your tank. For an few examples you can add pure ammonia till the ammonia steadies down ( I don't know much about this technique so you will have to read further about it if you plan to use it) There is a method where you add old filter media or decorations to your new tank and let the filter run for about a month of two with the already good bacteria. Lastly there is the easiest way  I can think of, which is where you run to the store and buy a bottle of instant cycle. What you do with it is add the recommended amount on the bottle and let the filter run. Within a few hours your tank will be cycled and ready to go. This method can be unreliable, but it does work. Just make sure you have a test kit to test the water to make sure it is safe and ready for fish.

Next I am going to talk about water treatment. First off for any fish your water has to be conditioned before you add your fish to the tank. This is so all the chlorine and bad minerals in the water are removed. Any sort of conditioner works when conditioning your tank. Also betta water or commonly known as distilled water should never be used  with your fish. This is because not all the minerals in the water are bad and if your remove them all then the fish will be losing good minerals that they need. Also about twice a week you should test your water to make sure that the PH and everything else in the water are where they should be.  This is how you treat your water and how to cycled your tank.