Arrrggghhhh What's Cycling, New Tank And I've Already Got Fish

[qtchick02]

hello miss wiggle ... i need to do this cycle and i got my tank on September 25th and i got my first 4 guppy's on September 30th and then i got 2 more guppy's, fighting fish and 2 cory's on the 1st of october and then i got a Tiny Angelfish and a widow black longfinned today 2nd october. but i am planning on getting rid of the fighting fish and i want to keep the angel and get rid of it later on wen it does get bigger....
i live in Australia and i don't know the conversion of gallons and inches ... so i was wandering if i tell u wat fish i have can u tell me how many litres i should get rid of? and where to put it and for how long? i cant get any mature media and i want to keep wat i have ... does this make any sense?
im sorry if it doesnt ... pls ask me if it doesnt make any sense ...

 

[lolvert]

Ive had my tank from the beginning of february with fish in it, and i havent cycled yet . my fish seem healthy at the moment but i seriously need to cycle my tank for optimized happyness of my fish

 

[TheMerovingian]

so.....
If i put the right bacteria into my tank and leave the tank running for a week or so....
then it might be ready

 

[Miss Wiggle]

so.....
If i put the right bacteria into my tank and leave the tank running for a week or so....
then it might be ready

the problem is getting the right bacteria..... unfortunatley the bottled bacteria products available are nearly all rubbish and you can't just magic the bacteria up from thin air. also once they are present they need a food source i.e. ammonia.

this is why we go through the process of fishless cycling, it gets the right bacteria into the filter so it's safe to add fish.

 

[waterdrop]

Late last year, when I first came across this new idea of fishless cycling, I was so intrigued by the idea that the correct two species of bacteria would "come out of nowhere" in a new tank that I found I just had to try and experience it first hand.

I mean, its really pretty hard to wrap your brain around at first: You are going to take this brand new clean tank and filter, with absolutely nothng living in it (I didn't even put in live plants) and fill it with clean tap water that supposedly has had all the bacteria killed by chlorine/chloramines put in by the water authority and then, somehow, like magic, a tiny random number of microscopic cells are going to find there way in there (without you even putting them there at all!) and slowly, very slowly, their population is going to begin to ascend an exponential growth chart and soon you will be reading your test results and seeing that yes indeed, they are there!

I found this whole new arcane set of knowledge to be completely fascinating and quite an entertaining part of the hobby, quite separate from the fish themselves there were to eventually inhabit the tank.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[ox5477]

Wow Miss Wiggle, we gonna see new pin topic from you every week now? If so, gonna be nothing left for us to do but point to the pinned topics by next year! Haha.

One thing... very unimportant but it is with respect to wording in the first or second paragraph. your talking about the bacteria and how they use the waste as food. I will edit this and put the quote of exactly where I'm talking about. I just think for the wording, you should mention that is two different forms of bacteria for each chemical (ammonia and nitrite). The way it is worded, it sounds like its the same bacteria that uses both. But, since there is two types, hence why you see ammonia being used and nitrite rising.... and then nitrite starts lowering after as the new bacteria grows consuming the nitrite....

wow this is worded badly but Im sure you'll understand what I mean... and like I said... no big thing, just thought should maybe make the point that it is two different bacteria that do the waste processing.

Ox

EDIT: Heres the part... more like the 6th or 7th paragraph...

Your fish create ammonia in their waste, this is toxic so it must be removed from the water, this is what your filter is for, there is nitrifying bacteria living in there who convert the ammonia into nitrite (also toxic) then to nitrate which is much safer, you keep this at a manageable level through doing water changes every week.

 

[waterdrop]

Yeah Ox, those homeroom teachers love to pin stuff to their walls

I think this was an older thread but Miss Mero revived it just today or so,

~~waterdrop~~

 

[ox5477]

Ha! It was older... didnt even look at the date.... o well... my constructive criticism still stands

Beyond that, looks very good. Maybe hi-lite the part where you say take the fish back and start a fishless cycle too as this is the most ideal situation.

Ox

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah was an old topic, someone just posted on it today so i answered the question........ will look at your comments tomorrow ox...... had a glass of wine now

 

[waterdrop]

yes, we must give her an evening to relax and stare at her -own- fish - takes a lot out of ya, tending all us students

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah i seriously needed the glass of wine last night

 

[waterdrop]

yeah, from posts, looked like a very early train yesterday

lol, another regular friend came over last night and said the usual ("when you going to get fish") and was shocked when we said to go have a look!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah, from posts, looked like a very early train yesterday

lol, another regular friend came over last night and said the usual ("when you going to get fish") and was shocked when we said to go have a look!

nah, been in the office a fair bit recently, just pulling my hair out over some stuff at home....... if anyone happens to have a spare few hundred quid sat around I'd be most grateful

 

[tropical fishies]

awsome! thanks for the help, sounds like dang hard work though!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

awsome! thanks for the help, sounds like dang hard work though!

have a read of the fishless cycling thread....... it's a lot easier and it's safer for the fish

generally we only advise people to follow this process if they already have fish and can't return them, if you haven't yet got fish you can go through a proper fishless cycle which is a lot less hassle!!!