Cycling

[srm1973]

Hi,

I have recently acquired a 2nd hand 70l Juwel Rekord Aquarium, didnt know anything about fishless cycling so have done it fish in as advised by local pet store, I had filled tank with water and let in run for a few days I had also used old filter media which had dried out, I then added 5 Serpae tetras which have been in the tank for 8 days, did a water test today and the results were Ammonia 0.5 Nitrate 25 mg/l Nitrite 0.5 mg/l, how do these results look? Should i be doing daily water changes? Thanks

 

[philrag11]

Hi,

I have recently acquired a 2nd hand 70l Juwel Rekord Aquarium, didnt know anything about fishless cycling so have done it fish in as advised by local pet store, I had filled tank with water and let in run for a few days I had also used old filter media which had dried out, I then added 5 Serpae tetras which have been in the tank for 8 days, did a water test today and the results were Ammonia 0.5 Nitrate 25 mg/l Nitrite 0.5 mg/l, how do these results look? Should i be doing daily water changes? Thanks

Hi,

Welcome to the forum.....

I was fortunate enough not to be taken in by what my LFS said and have just completed a fishless cycle....pretty frustrating when you find out you've been given 'duff' information

From what I've read about a fish-in cycle (see the beginner's section for some good advice on fish-in cycling) you need to do regular water changes to get the ammonia levels down to 0. This might mean daily water changes at first but should hopefully become less as the bacteria start to grow.

NB if your old filter media had completely dried out then I'm afraid the bacteria would have died off....where abouts are you based as there might be someone on the forum who would be willing to donate some mature media?

Regards

Phil

 

[srm1973]

Thanks for the reply, I'm in Tonteg near Pontypridd

 

[Gilli]

You are starting your cycle from scratch as you will not have any live bacteria in old dried out media!

Read up on this link for fish in cycle information :

Cycling with fish info

Do an immediate 80% water change - your fish will be suffering , and cut right back on feeding until your tank is fully cycled. Do at least 50% water changes on a daily basis until your levels are more acceptable. This will be a long haul requiring you to do water changes almost daily for between 4-8 weeks which is why its not a good idea to cycle with fish either for their sakes or yours!

 

[XeroTolerance]

Your probably doing a Fish-in cycle. Check out the Beginners forum for more info.