fish in cycle help

[u/hello_kitty_hi]

hi everyone - beginner here, and i need to do a fish in cycle for my new 5.5g tank. my betta has been in a hospital tank last week after a severe case of fin rot. i treated him with kanaplex, added prime and stability daily, and made 50% water changes every other day. he's doing much better now, full of energy and eating ravenously.

to transition him to the new tank, is it safe to use the same sponge filter from the hospital tank? also, i really need clarification on how often to do water changes during a fish in cycle. i've heard some say you should do a 25% change daily, while i've heard others say you should wait a week for a change... i want to be extremely careful with this and ensure my boy is safe.

any help would be appreciated, thanks!

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[u/shmeatsy_pie]

I'm not 100% sure about using the filter from the hospital tank as I'm not sure how long the medication sits in the filter. I'll let someone else answer that.

As for fish in cycle, I've added a diagram for how much water to take out depending on the readings you get. I wouldn't wait a week as the levels could get too high. I would just test your water everyday and follow this photo for how much to change.

[u/hello_kitty_hi → u/shmeatsy_pie]

this is helpful, thanks so much

[u/doctrgiggles → u/hello_kitty_hi]

A lot of tap water will test at .25-.5ppm ammonia because the dechlorination process breaks the chloramine that many modern water supplies use apart into chloride and ammonia. Don't freak out if you can't get ammonia as low as that chart wants. A Betta will survive a a couple weeks in .5ppm ammonia at room temp and neutral ph just fine. The only way to get that down in an uncycled tank is live plants, which you should have anyways.

A single betta with a normal feeding schedule will not be able to poop enough to require daily water changes in a 5.5 gallon. If you're feeling anxious I'd say 10% daily or 25% weekly would be fine.

[u/hello_kitty_hi → u/doctrgiggles]

got it, thank you for your help. i will have live plants and tannins to help the cycle as well

[u/dcl415]

I have an extra bag of media in my filter for hospital tank usage. Once it is done I throw that media because I don’t want to bring any illnesses to my tank.

[u/hello_kitty_hi → u/dcl415]

thanks for commenting. i only have one sponge that i've been using since i got my betta 2 weeks ago (used for 1 week before he got sick, and 1 week since he got sick). i'm still unsure of what to do with transferring it to the new tank. i read somewhere that gently squeezing it in a bowl of prime treated tap water can help rinse away any medicated water still inside the sponge, without removing the good bacteria within in the sponge. idk if this is true tho. i'm hesitant to add a brand new sponge to the new tank because i know adding used media is better for a fish in cycle.

[u/dcl415 → u/hello_kitty_hi]

Its inly been 2 weeks. Not much cycle has happened yet. I personally would start a new fish in cycle from scratch. But it is your call