Fishess cycle

[caz27]

I want to cycle my new tank and i want to try the fishless cycle......but i don't know where to get the amonia from. any ideas would be great

 

[CFC]

Try a local hardware store, they might stock it. If not try sending a PM to Gadazobe, i know that she uses ammonia for cycling.

BTW why are you cycling the tank at all ? I know you already have tanks set up and running so why not just transfer 1/3 of the media and a handful of gravel from one of your existing tanks to the new one ? This will seed a new bacteria colony, you can add a few fish right away and will never see the tank cycle as the bacteria will already be present. Just take the feeding easy (half rations) on the tank you took the media from for 2 or 3 days until the bacteria have seeded the fresh media you replaced it with.

 

[Alien Anna]

I agree with CFC, just seed the tank with filter floss and gravel from an established tank, put in water change water and add a bit of fish food to keep the bacteria fed.

 

[caz27]

Done all that this morning tank is running now .......I want this tank to be for cichlids...which is best for a starter and thanks forv the advice saved me loads of hassel

 

[Kossy]

Well as you probably know chiclids are quite aggressive and they are quite delicate...however the bigger the chiclid the hardier they get. Are you planning for african (hard-alkaline water) or the amazonian (soft-acidic) water.

 

[caz27]

african....I really love the lemon Cichlid


Caz

 

[CFC]

I admit that i dont know much about cichlids but i do know that our (London) local tapwater is great for African cichlids !!!! (yes it is actually good for something ).
What size is the tank and what kind of filtration does it have? Many people recomend overstocking the tank when keeping mbuna type cichlids to help keep aggression down but to do this you have to double up on filtration to take the extra load.
Just remember to supply enough hiding places for all the fish you add.

BTW you may already know but Maidenhead Aquatics at Syon park has a very good selection of African cichlids which is worth checking out

 

[caz27]

Thats where i'm off to this morning have to get my ro water from there....the tank is 2 and a half foot and i have a rena internal filter and a fluval 103 external ...will that be enough ???

caz

 

[CFC]

Should do the trick, while i am not up on names and numbers of filters the external/internal combination is a good one and both fluval and rena are quality makes.

 

[Alien Anna]

african....I really love the lemon Cichlid

I was thinking of getting some but then I found out just how aggressive they are. I was advised to buy several and then take back the most aggressive to the LFS until I had a few sensible fish that wouldn't kill each other. I didn't fancy being a referee at some kind of fishy "Fight Club", so I chickened out and got mollies.

I much happier with my mollies. I'll get some shelldwellers later on in my fish keeping career, and possibly avoid lemon cichlids all together, although I'm still hankering after one of those zebra crossing cichlids (they're not called that but I can't spell "Tretocepahas" or whatever).

Oh, and I couldn't get the rocks.

 

[caz27]

I'm a little nervous but i have always wanted to keep them and as cfc pointed out the water round here is perfect for them.....i'm sure i will be posting alot more questions about this so all you experts on cichlids beware