cycling the tank

[fish boi]

cool

ok a got a filter called marineland bio wheel penguin 100 power filter and a heater called tetra ht 30 100W submersible heater they didn't have the tims one and only or the tetra safe start

 

[fish boi]

can i put in water now?

 

[fish boi]

also can plants grow if i have a gravel subsrate
and should i get a thermometer

 

[aussieant32]

A thermometer helps to monitor the heater is working correctly.

Most plants sold at a lfs will be ok with a gravel substrate, if you can advise what you bought we can say for certain.

Add your water, put the heater in and turn the filter on. Add an ammonia source (I usually put some cheap fish flakes in an stocking and float it in the tank. Test for ammonia and nitrite. Once they both read 0 its safe to slowly add fish. Even using a bio starter it will still take a good week or more to cycle. There is no definitive time, its ready when its ready. Nothing good every happens fast when it comes to fish tanks.

 

[fish boi]

Any time you like. You can cycle with plants in if you want.

My friend just gave me some prime to help cycle the tank can you tell me how to use it?

 

[Essjay]

If you mean Seachem Prime, that won't help with a fishless cycle as it is a dechlorinator. But it also detoxifies ammonia and nitrite so it can help protect the fish during a fish-in cycle.

 

[fish boi]

If you mean Seachem Prime, that won't help with a fishless cycle as it is a dechlorinator. But it also detoxifies ammonia and nitrite so it can help protect the fish during a fish-in cycle.

so its useless

 

[fish boi]

what should i use then?

 

[Gruntle]

Prime is not useless. It treats the water by (I'm not going to go all sciency because my mind just went blank) making sure the chlorine and chloramine in municipal water does not kill your beneficial bacteria (which are part of your nitrogen cycle).

However it does not help at all to start a nitrogen cycle. For that you need an ammonia source.

 

[fish boi]

Prime is not useless. It treats the water by (I'm not going to go all sciency because my mind just went blank) making sure the chlorine and chloramine in municipal water does not kill your beneficial bacteria (which are part of your nitrogen cycle).

However it does not help at all to start a nitrogen cycle. For that you need an ammonia source.

what could i use as an ammonia sorce

 

[Essjay]

You need to buy a bottle of ammonia solution. Ace Hardware sells it if there's one near you. If not, you could try Ebay/Amazon. If you could find some of Dr Tim's ammonium chloride, that is good too.

Once you get your ammonia look at the calculator section (in How to Tips) as that will tell you amount you need. Then look at Cycling a Tank in the How to Tips for the method.




I should have explained that you need a dechlorinator to remove the chlorine/chloramine in tap water that would otherwise kill the bacteria you want to grow, but any dechlorinator will do that, it doesn't have to be Prime.