Ask Questions About Cycling

[eaglesaquarium]

3-5 days should be fine. Would be ok to add another snack dose.

 

[GuppyGal2018]

So, I just purchased a Biorb Flow 8 gal tank and I want to move my guppies to it. We have amazingly hard water here that has killed several of my pumps/aerators. I've set up the tank and put the starter bacteria in but I'm not comfortable just putting my kiddos in the tank. I know I should be able to speed up the cycling of my tank and I can move some of my bacteria covered ornaments/plants to help but how fast would be safe to move my kids?

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

You mention the hard water has damaged several air pumps. Can you tell us what happened to them?

 

[GuppyGal2018]

I have an old tank that is 10 gal with the side filtration system that aerates when the water goes back in. The mineral deposits build up and keep the motor or pump or whatever from turning and then they burn out.

 

[candrews999]

Hi all we (read I) are cycling my daughters 60litre tank which she intends stocking with some shrimp and a male betta. I/we have added the snack dose of ammonia and ammonia is now at 0 but nitrites have been at 2 for about a week. Do I need to add more ammonia or just add more patience?
Many thanks in advance
Carl

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[candrews999]

Hi all we (read I) are cycling my daughters 60litre tank which she intends stocking with some shrimp and a male betta. I/we have added the snack dose of ammonia and ammonia is now at 0 but nitrites have been at 2 for about a week. Do I need to add more ammonia or just add more patience?
Many thanks in advance
Carl

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Well I'll come here for advice again!

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[nighthawk723]

I'm currently fishless cycling a 60 gallon tank with sand substrate and about 30% live plants.heat is at 80 degrees with filter running 24hours. I'm using fish flakes for ammonia ( no stores sells pure ammonia around me), and was wondering if I can speed it up by using python bio support which is a bacteria in a bottle. I don't now anyone that can seed my tank. I've gotten up to 3ppm for ammonia and its been a week. The tank looks yellow with all the bacteria blooming so it's working so far...

 

[LeeMew]

Hello - I'm relatively new to the fishkeeping hobby, and I'm intending on getting a Marina S15 HOB filter. I have been told by some that it's able to filter fine from the get-go, no cycling needed. That seems a little strange to me as the filter would have no beneficial bacteria in it. How would one go about cycling a tank with this filter? In the usual way?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

No filter comes pre-cycled. They all need to go through a process.

Yes, this filter, as with any other should be done the same way.


A filter can be 'cloned' if there is a tank with existing filter media and then the existing media can be used to either greatly reduce the process or to instantly cycle the tank. That depends on the bioload in the tank the old media is taken from, how much the intended bioload will be of the new tank, and the amount of media taken.

 

[Lenka]

Hi,

I’m in week 5 of my fishless cycle. I used ammonia to start. I initially used API QuickStart but after some reading I did a week of the seachem stability about 3 weeks ago to help. My readings at the moment are nitrite .25ppm, nitrate .20ppm and ammonia 0ppm.

Question I have, is am i getting close to the end? And should I be adding in ammonia at this stage?

Thanks

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yes, you are getting closer...

but, you need to add ammonia periodically to provide food for the bacteria.

http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/
This how-to will give you a better sense for things.


But, not knowing your routine, its hard to know where you are in the cycle.

 

[Anthony Dibble]

Hi, going to do a fishless cycle using the great information provided. One question though please. I have a friend with an established tank. If I place a bag of filter media straight into their tank will that bacteria colonise that enough to use as a boost for my cycle when i start? If I leave in there for two weeks or so. I don’t get my tank until the 10th of June 2019

 

[Essjay]

Two weeks won't grow many bacteria, if you can leave it there longer it would be better.

The bacteria we want to grow live in the biofilm which is bound to surfaces. The bacteria don't get up and wander around. They colonise new media when there is excess ammonia and nitrite in the water which makes them increase their numbers, and some of those new bacteria will find their way into the new media. Putting extra media into a tank but not increasing the number of fish means the bacteria don't need to multiply so only a few will move into the new media.

The best way to seed a cycle is to ask your friend for some of his media, and give him your new media to replace his old media. That will contain lots of bacteria and all you'll need to do is grow some more. He can give you up to a third of his media without harming his fish.


But whichever you do, you'll start the cycle with more bacteria than in just all brand new media. The only difference between leaving your new media in his tank for two weeks, a month or using some of his old media is the amount of bacteria you'll transfer to your tank.

However make sure that your firend's tank has no diseases in it first!

 

[Anthony Dibble]

Hi, I am doing a fishless cycle. I am 8 days into this. My nitrites have hit 0.25 for two days and have dropped back to zero. I have read the excellent thread on how to cycle your tank. I have only dosed once so far. Amonnia looks like it has dropped to 1ppm. My tap water has 5ppm nitrate. Will my tap water be helping to zero out the nitrites?

 

[kw96]

Hi, I'm new here. I'm in the process of doing a fishless cycle. This is the first time I've ever done this and I'm a little confused. I've been cycling for almost 3 weeks now. I have the Top Fin Enchant 3.5 gallon tank and I use the filter that came with it. My heater is the Aqueon 50W heater and it keeps the tank at 78F. I used fish flakes to start the cycle. I've been checking the levels every day (sometimes every other day) with the API Master Test Kit and I can't seem to get the ammonia and nitrite to go down. I used Prime in the water to begin with and I put it in the new water when I have done water changes. My tap water has 0.25ppm ammonia in it already and I also have a nitrate reading in my tap water, but I can't remember exactly what it was. Pretty much every time I test the tank water, the ammonia is at 0.25ppm. The highest it has ever been was 0.50ppm. I started testing for nitrite on July 6th and got a 0.50ppm reading. It went up to about 1.0-2.0ppm between then and July 16th. I did about a 30-40% water change yesterday, the 17th, and tested the water a few hours later. Ammonia looked to be between 0ppm and 0.25ppm, but it was hard to tell. Nitrite looked to be 0-0.25ppm as well. However, I just tested again today and ammonia is definitely still at 0.25ppm and nitrite looks between 0.25-0.50ppm. Nitrate has always given me a steady reading of 10ppm. I'm not really sure what I should do to get the ammonia and nitrite levels down to 0. Also, my pH level was about 8.2 a couple of days ago and after the water change it was around 7.4, but today it has gone back up to 8.0. Any help would be appreciated because I'm very new to this and I'm just not sure what to do next.