# Moving from bowl to tank?



## quilltips (Sep 10, 2011)

I have a betta in a 1.75 gal. bowl, and I'm moving him to a 2-gallon tank. The tank is brand new (it's this one from Petco), and the instructions say nothing about cycling or seeding the tank. Is it safe to skip it, or should I ignore the instructions and try cycling it anyway? I'm brand new to this, so I don't know what I'm doing.

If I do cycle it, what's the fastest way for a small tank? Would it be enough to move decor from the current bowl into the new one, and hope they seed it with the proper bacteria? (I clean everything weekly, so I doubt they'd have much on them.) I'd like to move the fish soon, so I can get a heater in with him before the weather gets colder.

Also, do I need to have gravel in there, or will glass marbles be fine?

Thanks in advance for your help!


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## Micho (Aug 22, 2011)

Cycling anything under 5 gallons is impossible basically, I have no clue what seeding is though. Ignore the cycling, it's no use to you at all. Just do one 50% and one 100% water change per week.

Try to get a heater that's adjustable I recommend the Elite brand, they make good heaters.

Also remember to acclimate him, put him in a ziplock bag with some of his tank water, float him ontop of his 2 gallon tank, every five minutes pour some of the 2 gallon water into the bag. After fifteen minutes, net him and plop him into his two gallon tank. Don't pour him into the tank with the water.


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

I don't believe you can cycle something that small. I'm not sure what a proper WC schedule for that size tank would be with a filter. Probably one 50% with vacuuming, with possible a second 50% water only. But I've never had a filter in anything that small.


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## quilltips (Sep 10, 2011)

Ok, thanks. Is it safe to move him into the tank (with acclimating) as soon as it's rinsed and set up, then?

I'm looking at a small Hydor mini-heater, I've heard they're pretty good. They're not adjustable, but they raise the temp around 5 degrees, which is about what he needs. I may look for others, though.


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## Micho (Aug 22, 2011)

quilltips said:


> Ok, thanks. Is it safe to move him into the tank (with acclimating) as soon as it's rinsed and set up, then?
> 
> I'm looking at a small Hydor mini-heater, I've heard they're pretty good. They're not adjustable, but they raise the temp around 5 degrees, which is about what he needs. I may look for others, though.


Yep, remember to add water conditioner though! I've forgotten a few times myself. ._____.; Wash gravel/substrate in a bucket until there is no more cloudiness, for the tank and decor, just rinse with hot water. 

I don't have any experience with Hydor heaters, only with Marina and Elite. Don't get Marina, it only got my tank up to 76F, which is the minimum. It's kinda defective too, so I would always suggest an Elite heater.


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## Miyazawa (Sep 14, 2011)

quilltips said:


> Ok, thanks. Is it safe to move him into the tank (with acclimating) as soon as it's rinsed and set up, then?
> 
> I'm looking at a small Hydor mini-heater, I've heard they're pretty good. They're not adjustable, but they raise the temp around 5 degrees, which is about what he needs. I may look for others, though.


it's really hard to control a hydor heater, because it doesn't let you adjust it, and it fluctuates way too much. I really recommend the elite heater though, because that's what i switched to (had the hydor before)


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## quilltips (Sep 10, 2011)

Thank you both! I'll check out the Elite heaters on Amazon, then.


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## ollief9 (Mar 16, 2011)

I don't recommend the Elite heater. It has recently been fluctuating the temperature a LOT. Sometimes it's about 78 degrees, then two hours later is at 85 degrees.


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## Miyazawa (Sep 14, 2011)

ollief9 said:


> I don't recommend the Elite heater. It has recently been fluctuating the temperature a LOT. Sometimes it's about 78 degrees, then two hours later is at 85 degrees.


What gallon tank do you have? Which wattage of heater are you using? Maybe you have a defective one


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## WDW Donna (Jun 28, 2009)

I have a 2gal. and I don't use a heater. All the ones I could find were too powerful for that size. I do have a filter though. Our first betta Mr Bubbles lived 2 1/2 years in it no problem. Of course the tank is in my daughters room which gets the afternoon sun (not directly on the tank) and keeps her room pretty warm.


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

I use a 50w Tetra Submersable one from WalMart, its for 2-15g tanks and it work great in my 1.5g tanks (4 of them). Mine is always at 78F unless and outside source is heating the water.

Glass rocks are fine, I use those as well for easy cleaning. You may get teird of it though with all the great stuff people use In here. 

Moving from a 1.75g tank to a 2g tanks is not a big change. I'd just pretend I'm doing a 100% water change but set up the 2g instead of the old bowl. Good luck!


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## Miyazawa (Sep 14, 2011)

WDW Donna said:


> I have a 2gal. and I don't use a heater. All the ones I could find were too powerful for that size. I do have a filter though. Our first betta Mr Bubbles lived 2 1/2 years in it no problem. Of course the tank is in my daughters room which gets the afternoon sun (not directly on the tank) and keeps her room pretty warm.


A Betta should definitely live in a tank with heater. Your Betta might not die without it but it definitely makes them uncomfortable when the temperature fluctuates. I'm using a 25W heater in a 2 gallons tank with no problem.


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## quilltips (Sep 10, 2011)

Pitluvs said:


> Moving from a 1.75g tank to a 2g tanks is not a big change. I'd just pretend I'm doing a 100% water change but set up the 2g instead of the old bowl. Good luck!


Thanks! And thank you for the word on the glass rocks, too. I wasn't sure if the gravel had some kind of special purpose I was missing.



WDW Donna said:


> I have a 2gal. and I don't use a heater. All the ones I could find were too powerful for that size. I do have a filter though. Our first betta Mr Bubbles lived 2 1/2 years in it no problem. Of course the tank is in my daughters room which gets the afternoon sun (not directly on the tank) and keeps her room pretty warm.


How often do you change the water in the 2gal. tank? I know I need a heater in mine, since our apartment is freezing (just ordered one of the Elite 25w), but I wasn't sure how often to change the water once I get the filter set up.


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## Miyazawa (Sep 14, 2011)

quilltips said:


> Thanks! And thank you for the word on the glass rocks, too. I wasn't sure if the gravel had some kind of special purpose I was missing.
> 
> 
> 
> How often do you change the water in the 2gal. tank? I know I need a heater in mine, since our apartment is freezing (just ordered one of the Elite 25w), but I wasn't sure how often to change the water once I get the filter set up.


1 50% and 1 100% a week, but with a filter you might get away with just 1 100% a week


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