Cycle, my head is mush after reading this forum

[clutterydrawer]

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?

*IF* you are fishless cycling, ammonia and nitrite need to be at zero before you put the fish in, (this applies to all fish) and nitrate needs to be as low as possible - under 20 if you can, depends on your tapwater though. was that what you were asking? fraid i don't know anything about africans so i cant answer the other questions.

 

[Phantom Thief]

I personally prefer fish cycling. Never lost a fish, why should i change my methods? And besides, i am too impatient to look at a tank with no fish.

MaddEnemy, list down your questions and i will try to answer them. I have gotten pretty confused with all the posts here.

P.T.

 

[ajhainey]

And if you decide to 'fishy' cycle then

Ammonia: should be 0 at the end but when you add the first fish in fishy cycling will go up. Anything over 0.5ppm is nasty for fish and means doing some water changes if poss to reduce.
NitITE: should be 0 but again will spike during the cycle. Is ~ half as toxic as ammonia so can be up to 1ppm while cycling. Again if over that do some water changes.
nitrATE: should be ideally less then say 25ppm, never over 50ppm - check your tap water as some start out really high!

For all the above lower is better I found Hagen's 'Cycle' product really helped kick things along and would recommend it unless you are really hard up for cash. Personally I did fishy cycle - and nothing went horribly wrong, although I did spend quite a while water changing when the nitite peaked. Its up to you - I haven't tried the other way yet so have no comment!

As to general water profile for african cichlids (judging from net only - I don't have any of these - feel free to correct - experts!)
P.H.: 7.5-8.5
G.h: 7
K.H: 10-12
However Red tailed Sharks aren't african chiclids are they?? I thought they were asian? Don't know a good cichlid site I'm afarid...

Finally - as for water purifier - it shouldn't make a lethal difference although it may harden your water (lower KH I thiiiihnk) as it removes salts?? To be honest I think you should just check the water before and after purification with your test kits and see for yourself You need a test kit for everything in bold above btw, or a multi-test strip might cover most of them. You'll also need a dechlorinating solution to treat tap water (purifier or not) - but I guess you know that already right?

Apologies in advance for errors - written in a hurry before leaving work! Hope it helps make things clearer for you!

aj xx

 

[MaddEnemy]

"In order to cycle a tank using ammonia, start everything up and add some gravel from an established tank or a few potted plants (their roots contain all of the necessary bacteria, and the plants themselves do not seem to be harmed by this process)."

So if I do not have plant lights will this cause a problem? I do not plan on using live plants after cycle. So if I don't use live plants or get gravel from another tank I can not do this? SHould I pull the plant out after spike?

 

[Phantom Thief]

I think that just getting a handful of gravel will do. The plants arent really necessary.

P.T.

 

[MaddEnemy]

I don't have gravel I can just get.....

 

[Phantom Thief]

YOu can do the cycle without either, its just that it will be much slower.

P.T.

 

[clutterydrawer]

If you have a friendly lfs, they might give or sell you some gravel/filter media from one of their tanks to start your cycle with. make sure it's a good lfs with disease free tanks though!

 

[MaddEnemy]

YOu can do the cycle without either, its just that it will be much slower.

P.T.

Well I will have to go with just using the ammonia only.

5 drops per 10 gals still? 60 drops for 125 gals.

 

[luxum]

In my experience with household ammonia, it's best to add ammonia until your test kit reads 5ppm, not add some arbitrary number of drops. The concentration varies widely. Take a look at this article for a thorough explanation of the technique.

 

[MaddEnemy]

In my experience with household ammonia, it's best to add ammonia until your test kit reads 5ppm, not add some arbitrary number of drops.  The concentration varies widely.  Take a look at this article for a thorough explanation of the technique.

Yeah, that sounds good!


Has anyone tried this with 125 gals? How much to add before 5?


Do I leave the water alone or change it out "%" during cycle

 

[clutterydrawer]

Depends on the concentration.


Don't change the water during the cycle.