Cycling My Tank :0

[coco*butter]

Hello everyone,
Ok i clean out my 40 gallon arcylic tank. It been 4 years since I did a stip cleaning. I thought the tnk needed cause of all that stuborn algea.
My fish are in a 10gallon atm. So am useing my previous stuff(gravel, aquaclear,heater). Am wondering how do one start a fishless cycle in this type of situation. I already clean everything and started(tank fill, filter running etc) the tank.
I read lots on fishless cycle on new tank but not on previous use one
Thanks

 

[flyhawk]

use your old material from your filter and
that will help the problem

 

[coco*butter]

Ummm Thanks but that didnt answer my question on how to start it. Any how I dont have the old material. I stated that I already had the filter running so that mean the old one is in the trash lol
I just want to know is it the same processes like a new tank?
Thank you

 

[cowboy507]

From what I understand you will have to re-cycle the tank
just cycle it like a new tank

 

[fca1963]

yep ....you'll need start all over
[/quote]

 

[Rediahs]

For future reference, it would help a LOT if you keep your old filter media instead of tossing it out, this is where all the beneficial bacteria live, it would make your cycle go a LOT faster. Like a LOT faster, you'd probably save 90% and possibly 100% of the time (not sure on that, never done it myself, I don't know if used media would instantly cycle the tank or just make it really fast).

 

[arobinson1984]

Using old filter media speed up the cycle quite a lot, but it depends on the condition of the media. If it has been out of a tank for a while then it would be useless as the bacteria would die off if not kept in water and fed with ammonia.

Andy

 

[coco*butter]

Hello, Thank you all for the info. I really aprecaited alot. I been in this hobby for 15 years and it seem like I need to still learn something.
I throw it away casue it look awful and smell different.
Anyways I buoght Ammonia last night from Ace, I hope it the right one. It janitor strength and ACE brand.
How much for 40 gallon?
My tap has none and tank tested at zero
The ph did go up from 72 to 76
Am getting the nitrite and nitrate test kit

 

[waterdrop]

I believe some members have used the Ace ammonia. Its important that you observe that it does not foam when shaken. Instead it should just make some bubbles like water that go away in two or three seconds. It should be clear, with no dyes. It should be just pure ammonia with no fragrances added (be careful, don't sniff too closely!)

Sometimes the bottle will give a concentration on the outside (like 9.5% or similar) and you can use that to enter numbers into the ammonia calculator on this site to get an idea of how much ammonia to put in. But even after you get those numbers, you should test to see what your ammonia test kit says you -really- got. If its too high you'll have to change out some water. If its too low you'll add a little more ammonia and note what works in your cycling logbook.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[coco*butter]

The calculator gave me 7.57ml but does that mean?

 

[coco*butter]

Is it the amount of the test tube? A test is 5ml.

 

[Geoff1991]

7.57ml is how much you put in your tank.

 

[cowboy507]

Is it the amount of the test tube? A test is 5ml.

add about 7 ml to get the ammonia reading to 5 ppm, make sure that the ammonia that you bought only has ammonia and water, no added scents and such.

 

[waterdrop]

If you have time you might start at 5 or 6ml and "test your way up" until it looks like you are getting a 4-5ppm result from your ammonia test kit. Be sure to write down how many milliliters gets you closest to the 4-5ppm result.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[coco*butter]

Ok, I added 5ml of ammonia, I long do I have to wait and test to see if I need to add more ammonia so it reaches it 4-5ppm mark?
Thanks again