i just want my beta fish to be happy yo

I’ve been doing a lot of research on setting up my first fish tank after a complete failure a few years ago, this is one of my favorite videos I have seen. You are very concise and I really appreciate the graphs as a visual aid. Thank you!

I sort of understood cycling a tank, but after watching this video, I feel so much more confident about it now. Amazing educational video that is so digestible. Thank you so much for this!

Absolutely brilliant. I'm a first timer and cycling my tank now for two weeks, but never really understood why..now I do. 😊

I'm currently doing a fishless cycle in a planted tank. The tank is a 20 long, moderately planted, with fluval stratum capped with Controsoil. After a week, I'm getting ammonia of 1.0 ppm and nitrates at 20 ppm. Zero Nitrites. PH is 7.6. I've never seen parameters like that before after just a week. I squeezed an intake sponge from an established tank and added Fritz 7, plus a small amount of nano fish food a couple times since setting up the tank. I have a HOB filter running. One thing I'm a bit discouraged by is how many fishtubers push for fish-in cycles because they're sponsored by the companies selling these products for fast cycling.

When I first started someone taught me to use a small bag of frozen shrimp and let it rot. I've been doing it that way ever since.

Not me watching this for a second time while i wait on supplies 😅
I've had fish before but want to do a walstad style 29 gal cold freshwater tank. Patience patience lol

I added the fish to the tank because the fish guy at the store told me I could, after having my goldfish and angel fishes die on me I then found out about bacteria blooms water testing,conditioning,stress coating,water changes etc so now I’m spending money to get the rest of my black skirts and belly mollys to live during this bloom/cycle

Just restarted my daughters 60L aquarium after 3-4 years. She went to uni this year and room is free most of the time :)
Planning to do amazonas, neon tetras and maybe something on the low/bottom. Boiled old/brown oak leaves on abaout 2/3 bottom surface gave nice barkish water, pieces of driftwood and thin branches, some moss, few live plants ..
And ceramic castle ruin!
For continuity :)
Hope to introduce fish next time she's at home ..  in 4-5 weeks

Such a great video. I recently set up a new tank and without any knowledge about tank cycling(no one said me about it) I brought few fishes and put them and after a week or so they started to die. I felt bad so I began to research, looked everywhere and found out this video, it had every answers to my question. I have followed all the steps, my tank is still cycling it's been around 12 days I haven't put any fishes yet, I think now my tank is ready for fish. Hopefully this time they won't die

We are in the process of setting up a small freshwater tank in our office (20 gallon). Just started cycling it today with no fish. Appreciate the video as it served as a good refresher, haven’t had a freshwater tank in over 10 years

Undecided about which type of fish to keep. Thinking a few Mollies, some live plants.

this video is an absolute masterpiece. i’m so glad I found your channel, it is really helpful and I can see your passion. thanks so much

Im doing a fish in cycle due to my own ignorance. My mom got my son a new fish tank and betta for his birthday. I fell in love with the little lady, (she’s a beautiful female koi betta) and after some research I realized my mistake. I’m trying to do damage control by removing uneaten food and waste with gravel vacuum, and small to medium water changes every couple of days. I thought I had established things, because my betta seems to be thriving, but there was a lot of algae, so I thought it was time for a clean up crew. My poor little nerite snail only lasted 2 weeks, now I’m testing the water and ammonia is the issue I think. I’m thinking my poor betta is only alive due to being a labryrinth fish and the ability to breathe air. I’m really hoping I can fix this, I’m just going to be diligent in maintaining the water quality and hoping for the best. Wish me and Princess Peach luck! (my son named her lol)

This was a pretty good breakdown of the basics. It was very helpful.

Great presentation.  I started this hobby in the 80s.  Then, if there was no established tank to borrow filter media or substrate from, we just threw in a few "starter fish" and added a few more each week until the bacteria colonies were established for a full tank bio-load.  Water changes were more frequent to keep the water safe during that cycling process.  It was unscientific and inconsistent but worked out over time.  Back then new aquariums were usually sold with under gravel filters with two riser tubes in the back corners that used air stones to produce water flow.   Aqua Clear HOBs were my standard filters.

It’s been 8 yrs since the last time I have to cycle a new aquarium.  My current tank has been running 8 yrs strong.  The way I see it, it’s a one time event, so I didn’t rush it.  I started my tank fully aquascaped and planted.  I think it took a bit over a month before the water parameters stabilized, but every tank will get there with a bit of patience.  I slowly added fish over the course of the first year, but I always double check the water parameters before making a trip to the LFS.

This is super useful and easy to follow thanks for the information!

Yes, I have had this video on repeat while prepping to set up my third tank to hopefully finally wrap my brain around the nitrogen cycle...it has been a vibes check more than anything so far....so Thank you for the explanation.

Thank you this is the best cycle video I've found so far.  Thank you

You were very clear and helpful. Thank you!