Ammonia levels in tank, rocks needed, etc.?

Question

I recently (5 days ago) had a question about my Bettas health and whether I should move him into the Goldfishe's tank. For those of you who saw that, Halpert now is in a 10 gallon tank with filter and the first day he was in it I think he got some shock, he sat at the bottom for maybe 3-5 hours but he's okay and jolly now, possibly from the ammonia levels, but the tank had been out completely open with the current water for a day, but it may also be the rocks that came with the new tank? I was also wondering if the rocks in a tank are needed, and even if they aren't if the fish enjoy them, and if I should boil them every time I clean the tank. (About once a week) Also, Gloopy is still alive and breathing, and I am planning to move him into the 3 gallon tank which I cleaned after it sits and the chlorine neutralizes in a couple of hours. Does the water sitting out neutralize the ammonia levels too? I have a place to hold them well (Not in the same place) if I ever need to let a newly cleaned tank sterilize they can stay in there for a while. Thanks, I had a lot of questions.

Answer 1

You need a mature filter to cope with ammonia. Letting water sit just lets it sit with ammonia in it.

I hope 'Gloopy' is the betta as 3 gal is too small for anything else.

You do not need rocks if you like them though keep them, you do not need to boil them when you clean the tank.

Read about cycling a tank and maintaining a tank as it sounds like you have no idea about this.

Answer 2

I suspect you are actually over cleaning things.

You are trying to achieve a sterile environment, where you need a biological system thats a balance between your fish and the benefical bacteria that you need to process waste ammonia.

Keep the tank 'clean' by syphoning out any loose crud, and cleaning off algae, but trying to keep a tank sterile is doomed to fail. The algae is harmless, so it actually doesn't matter if you clean that or not, it's just ugly and eventually you cant see your fish.

My 50gal tank has been set up for 2 years now, the ONLY maintenance it's had is gravel vacs, filter clean outs and LOTS of partial water changes. The plecos even clean the glass for me.

So stop thinking 'sterile' and start thinking 'ecosystem, things will work much better.

Ian