# 5 gallon tank fishless cycle with fish food



## Tan3l (Jun 20, 2010)

Hello

After trying to cycle my small 5 gallon tank with a betta fish living in it, I will now try a fishless cycle (the betta didn't die, but it seemed to suffer so I aborted the cycle and took him out).
I changed 90% of the water, have 2 plants in the tank, sand and some plant-friendly substrate underneath that. I didn't remove all the water from the previous failed cycle, so I'm thinking there should be ammonia in the tank. I don't have a test kit, as it seemed too expensive. 
My plan is to leave the tank empty for about 3 weeks and then put in the betta after a big water change. So, can the ammonia-eating bacteria survive for 3 weeks without adding more fishfood ?

And thanks in advance to anyone who has the time to give me solid advice.

Cheers.

Tanel


----------



## Auban (Aug 8, 2010)

hello tan31, im glad you decided to go with a fishless cycle. i have been using fishless cycles for years, and in my opinion, they work faster and better than using live fish to get a cycle going. to answere your question, yes, nitrifying bacteria will live without adding more fish food, however, without a sufficient spike in ammonia, there wont be enough ammonia to feed the bacteria, resulting in a tank that cannot support much waste when the time comes to stock it. i usualy use a piece of catfish from the grocery store to cycle my tanks before adding any fish. this way there are enough bacteria to handle a full load of fish when it comes time to stock it. my advice would be to go ahead and buy the 30+ dollar master test kit, the liquid kind with glass vials, and watch your ammonia and nitrate levels closely. when you see the ammonia levels drop to zero and the nitrate levels spike, do a 70% water change and add your fish the next day.


----------



## Tan3l (Jun 20, 2010)

Thank You very much for replying.

The thing is, that right now I have a single male bettafish living in a 5 gallon tank, which I don't think is that much of a bioload ?
Lets assume I don't add any more ammonia, after 3 weeks I would introduce my single betta and the bacteria would adapt to that bioload.
After, I had the idea of adding 3-5 tiny fish (can't remember the species), then I guess the bacteria would start adapting again.
As long as I don't raise the bioload too fast, everything should be fine ?

Oh, and 2 live plants in the aquarium should help with ammonia too.

I hope I'm not too far off with this. Months of googeling should have an effect finally.

Cheers.


----------



## Auban (Aug 8, 2010)

i think your fish wil be fine when you add him in three weeks. if you can, i would still get a test kit to monitor ammonia levels, as that is really the only way to tell if the tank actualy cycled. the method i described is what i use for stocking full tanks, and i always use plants, namely java moss. if you cant test the water, leave the light on as much as possible, a good indication of a successful cycle will be algea groing in the tank, with clear water, no cloudiness. sometimes its hard to tell if a tank is cycled without testing it though, especialy if the water you use for water changes has ammonia in it.(my tapwater has about 4ppm) anyway, i hope everything works out for you


----------

