Hi all. I got a 5.5g tank a few months ago (3 or so) and had it cycled with a betta and some shrimp. My betta died quite suddenly. It basically became very lethargic and just sank to the bottom and passed within 24 hours. This was weeks ago. Some of the shrimp passed as well. I did frequent water changes and kept testing the parameters. It was consistently 0 nitrites and 0 ammonia and next to nothing in nitrites.
I had a few shrimp left they seemed ok. One was pregnant. I gave them away.
Tank was empty so I cleaned it out with just water, rinsed the gravel and bought new sand and Tropica aqua soil. Set it up again brand new, added some new plants and used the old filter media (did not rinse it just gently squeezed out some of the water and put it back into the filter). Added some beneficial bacteria just as a safety measure and now the tank is set up.
Tested the parameters about 2-3 days later and ammonia is 0, nitrites 0 and nitrates in the 25 mg/L range.
What are my next steps? I’m assuming the filter will help the cycle since there is already beneficial bacteria there? Also reusing a piece of driftwood which would have bacteria too as I don’t rinse it.
Do I just keep testing for the next couple of days? Will the Tropica leach ammonia heavily and should be monitored? This is the second time I’m doing this and I don’t want to add a new betta before this is set up properly.
Here’s a photo of the new setup. Also waiting for a floating log type item to come as well and haven’t added any tannins as I didn’t like the look of the dark water previously.
https://i.redd.it/usdybx17lvzf1.jpeg
Posted by Basketball-Mama