Cycle, my head is mush after reading this forum

[MaddEnemy]

I am still a week or 2 away from setting up my 125 Gal and my head feels like mush after reading how to cycle tanks.

Use home ammonia, use this product and so on.

I have 2 questions here.

With out being called a fish murder couldn't I just throw in 10 or 15 gold fish and in 2 weeks if the tests seem fine take them out and put some Africans in?

Can someone please just tell me the safest way to cycle a tank for the first time? I don't care if it takes a week or a month, as long as it is done right

 

[paulioo]

Im cycling a tank just now and as far as i know this is how to cycle, if im doing it wrong someone please correct me.

1) Get pure ammonia from a hardware shop and add as much ammonia so that you get a reading of 5 on your ammonia test. Take a note of how much ammonia it took to get this reading. ie 2 capfulls 3 capfulls etc.

2) Keep adding this same amount of ammonia to the tank each day ie 2 or 3 capfulls, and also then do a test for nitrites each day. Each day as you keep adding this same amount of ammonia and testing for nitrites you should notice that the nitrites begin to rise.

3) Keeping adding this same amount of ammonia and testing for nitrites until the nitrites begin to stop rising and remain at a constant value.

4) Once this happens you add half the amount of ammonia that you were adding previously. You keep adding this new amount of ammonia each day and eventually your nitrites will begin to drop.

5) Keep adding this new amount of ammonia each day and eventually your ammonia will test zero and your nitrites will test for zero. When this occurs do a 90% water change and then add your fish the next day.


Alternatively add 3 zebra danios


paul

 

[clutterydrawer]

With out being called a fish murder couldn't I just throw in 10 or 15 gold fish and in 2 weeks if the tests seem fine take them out and put some Africans in?

you could...but if you do it fishless you will minimise the chance of fishy death, surely that's better??

 

[canarsie11]

Also. to make sure you are using proper ammonia, shake the bottle!

If it bubbles up, do not use. Pure ammonia should not foam up at the top.

 

[MaddEnemy]

Im cycling a tank just now and as far as i know this is how to cycle, if im doing it wrong someone please correct me.

1) Get pure ammonia from a hardware shop and add as much ammonia so that you get a reading of 5 on your ammonia test. Take a note of how much ammonia it took to get this reading. ie 2 capfulls 3 capfulls etc.

2) Keep adding this same amount of ammonia to the tank each day ie 2 or 3 capfulls, and also then do a test for nitrites each day. Each day as you keep adding this same amount of ammonia and testing for nitrites you should notice that the nitrites begin to rise.

3) Keeping adding this same amount of ammonia and testing for nitrites until the nitrites begin to stop rising and remain at a constant value.

4) Once this happens you add half the amount of ammonia that you were adding previously. You keep adding this new amount of ammonia each day and eventually your nitrites will begin to drop.

5) Keep adding this new amount of ammonia each day and eventually your ammonia will test zero and your nitrites will test for zero. When this occurs do a 90% water change and then add your fish the next day.


Alternatively add 3 zebra danios


paul

change out 90% of the water. wow, seems like a lot of work for nothing

 

[Shizat]

The point of the 90 percent water change is to bring the nitrates down before adding fish so that you don't stress them out from the high nitrates. You could use the goldfish to cycle your tank but make sure to use some quality goldfish and be careful about feeder goldfish because often they have diseases which can be passed on to your new fish / new tank.

 

[MaddEnemy]

well, I am not doing the gold fish thing.

SO what do I need to check for?

and where should the levels be at for the things that need to be checked for Africans?

What is the water temp for Africans as well?

 

[xXMrBonesXx]

i never understood the cycle process myself, i dont really like playing with pure ammonia (isnt it lethal??) i have 2 products i use when i set up a fish tank "AquaPlus" (tap condioner) and "Cycle" (not sure what it does) and i just give it a day to sit and then i put my fish in .. havent lost a fish right away yet and for my new tank ive been doing water tests for about 2 weeks now (started 2 days after i set up my tank) every other day and i havent had ammonia or nitrites, only nitrates and it reads around 20

 

[MaddEnemy]

I am so lost, many of my questions don't seem to get the answers I am looking for if at all. Do we have any experts in this forum?

 

[shadow]

you could try reading this. Here

when i got my fish, i had no idea about cycling the tank but i only started with one betta and he's fine. good luck and i hope the link helps.

 

[MaddEnemy]

thanks, I have been reading as much as I can.

I have desided to go with Red tail sharks for starters.

ANyone know a good website for photos and info on Africans?



Also I use water purifier, will this kill my PH level or cause problems?

 

[NinjaSmurf]

I just set the whole tank up the way I want it without fish, start the filter up and let everything run like that for about a month while I research fish and comparison shop. And I don't have fish dropping of like flies.

 

[shrks1fan]

Here is the link to my Fishless Cycling page at my website. This comes from my experience of using the Fishless Cycling method in 3 tanks so far. Hope it helps.

http/www.pet-emporium.com/files/index.php?id=16

Linda

 

[paulioo]

Like someone has said previously, the 90% water change is to lower the nitrates.
By doing the fishless cycle (one i described at the start) it means you can add more fish at the one time once it has been completed.

I dont think ammonia is poisonous, they wouldnt sell it in every hardware store if it was, would they

 

[clutterydrawer]

Ammonia would probably do you some major damage if you drank an entire bottle. It makes your nose tingle if you sniff it in a concentrated form.

Guess what: you don't cycle a tank by drinking the ammonia. You put it in the tank, where it will do you no harm at all.

It's sold in loads of places as a household cleaners. Plenty of av erage people use it all the time and they're not dead. also, it's usually in a pretty weak solution, between 4 - 10%. you'd have to take more precautions with lab grade ammonia but that's not really relevant is it?

As for that 90% water change...I only did about 30% and nitrates ended up almost zero.