Cycling a second hand tank.

[CycloneLogan]

Hi everyone,

My partner has recently bought a second hand aquarium set up and has kept tropical fish before. I have never kept tropical fish.
We have the tank set up and are doing fishless cycling.

The filter had media and we have done a water test with the JBL pro scan. Can anyone have a look at the results below and give some information on it? We've never used it before and are unsure about the results.
Any information would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Was the filter media kept wet in tank water before you added it to your tank? If it dried out the bacteria died.

 

[seangee]

Follow the instructions on this site for a fishless cycle. If the bacteria survived you will know within a day because your ammonia and nitrites will drop straight to 0. If not continue with the cycle.

 

[Essjay]

Link to the fishless cycling method that seangee referred to https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

 

[CycloneLogan]

Okay, thank you guys. Will use the guide in here

 

[Naughts]

Hi everyone,

My partner has recently bought a second hand aquarium set up and has kept tropical fish before. I have never kept tropical fish.
We have the tank set up and are doing fishless cycling.

The filter had media and we have done a water test with the JBL pro scan. Can anyone have a look at the results below and give some information on it? We've never used it before and are unsure about the results.
Any information would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance.

Hello and welcome!

I haven't used JBL but at a glance your results shows that :

Nitrate is acceptable as it is under 20.
Nitrite is a small amount at present but could rise if the tank is cycling which would be harmful to fish.(Aiming for 0)
GH, KH and pH show soft acidic water. The red/ amber zones are misleading- many many fish will suit your soft water.
Chlorine is present and harmful, use a dechlorinator before adding fish and again with each water change.
Carbon dioxide will increase when you have fish and will be used by any live plants, adding it artificially can be detrimental to fish.

There is no reading for ammonia (NH3/NH4) - you will need a tester for this as it is harmful to fish and you would need the measurement if your tank is cycling.

All the best.

 

[CycloneLogan]

Hello and welcome!

I haven't used JBL but at a glance your results shows that :

Nitrate is acceptable as it is under 20.
Nitrite is a small amount at present but could rise if the tank is cycling which would be harmful to fish.(Aiming for 0)
GH, KH and pH show soft acidic water. The red/ amber zones are misleading- many many fish will suit your soft water.
Chlorine is present and harmful, use a dechlorinator before adding fish and again with each water change.
Carbon dioxide will increase when you have fish and will be used by any live plants, adding it artificially can be detrimental to fish.

There is no reading for ammonia (NH3/NH4) - you will need a tester for this as it is harmful to fish and you would need the measurement if your tank is cycling.

All the best.

Hi Naughts,

Thank you for your input.
Yes the chlorine has gone up in the last day or 2 so we have added some more dechlorinator. I will get an ammonia tester tomorrow and see what the levels are like.

We are not in any rush to get fish in the tank and want conditions to be ideal before we consider that.

Will let it run for another 4-5 days and consider a partial water change then.

Thanks again.

 

[Byron]

I concur with Naughts on the readings being generally OK. Nitrate is getting high though, but this may be due to the organics in the filter media. Test your source (tap) water alone for GH, KH, ph, nitrate at minimum. Nitrates occurring within an aquarium is very different from having them already in the tap water and adding more.

I assume this tank came from another hobbyist. Using the filter media, substrate, and any wood or rock from another aquarist is very risky. You have no idea as to what pathogens may be present. Cycling is a very minor issue compared to this.

 

[CycloneLogan]

I concur with Naughts on the readings being generally OK. Nitrate is getting high though, but this may be due to the organics in the filter media. Test your source (tap) water alone for GH, KH, ph, nitrate at minimum. Nitrates occurring within an aquarium is very different from having them already in the tap water and adding more.

I assume this tank came from another hobbyist. Using the filter media, substrate, and any wood or rock from another aquarist is very risky. You have no idea as to what pathogens may be present. Cycling is a very minor issue compared to this.

Hi Byron,

Thank you for your input.
Yes the tank and equipment was from another hobbyist. We do not currently have any fish and have used the sponges and rings that were used prior to start our cycle. Our local fish store said this would be fine.

Should we replace the sponges and rings at this point? Would we also need a full water change to go along with that? Just that we have treated the water that's presently in the tank and I'm guessing this would be a whole new cycle to start?

Thank you.

 

[Byron]

Hi Byron,

Thank you for your input.
Yes the tank and equipment was from another hobbyist. We do not currently have any fish and have used the sponges and rings that were used prior to start our cycle. Our local fish store said this would be fine.

Should we replace the sponges and rings at this point? Would we also need a full water change to go along with that? Just that we have treated the water that's presently in the tank and I'm guessing this would be a whole new cycle to start?

Thank you.

First, in general, do not rely on advice from a fish store unless you know the qualifications of the individual. Most store staff know very little about fish, and even worse they think they know all. Use reliable sites for reference, or ask on forums like TFF. Here, the answer you get is open to peer review as it were.

I do not like suggesting you do this or that, but I do feel it beneficial to point out risks, etc. Some aquarists will not even transfer items from one of their own tanks to another due to pathogens being different in this tank and that tank. I do not go this far, unless I happen to know some disease is present in one tank. But just as we advise that all new fish be quarantined, the same applies to any object from the aquarium. You might be OK here, we can hope you are.

 

[CycloneLogan]

First, in general, do not rely on advice from a fish store unless you know the qualifications of the individual. Most store staff know very little about fish, and even worse they think they know all. Use reliable sites for reference, or ask on forums like TFF. Here, the answer you get is open to peer review as it were.

I do not like suggesting you do this or that, but I do feel it beneficial to point out risks, etc. Some aquarists will not even transfer items from one of their own tanks to another due to pathogens being different in this tank and that tank. I do not go this far, unless I happen to know some disease is present in one tank. But just as we advise that all new fish be quarantined, the same applies to any object from the aquarium. You might be OK here, we can hope you are.

Of course, I know 9 times out of 10 that they are just staff and know very little about fish.

Luckily the guy I talk with is extremely knowledgeable and has kept fish for a long, long time. I trust him.

Thank you for the advice, I do appreciate all input. We have also been doing a huge amount of research and are getting things slowly in place. Still millions to learn but doing more and more research daily to have the best tank we possibly can.