fishless cycle help

[dragoon1230]

i have a 10 gallon tank i plan to setup for zebra danios and small corydoras. can someone explain to me how i would do a fishless cycle to get the good bacteria running. i have a small power filter and a homemade sponge filter in my tank. also, is it safe to do a fish cycle with the fish i have?

any help would be appreciated.

 

[wetwetwet]

Hi dragoon

I prefer the fishless cycle - though I believe zebras are often used but definately not the corys (mature tank only for them)

A small pinch of flake every day or so is enough to cycle a tank - this can take 4-6 weeks....

Depending on how much of a hurry you are in there are products that can spped this process up - how effective some of them are is debateable - by far the best way would imo be to 'seed' it from an established tank - some gravel, filter media etc. - slightly warmer temps can also help...

Regular testing during this period will let you know how things are progressing - a spike in ammonia and then nitrite and when both have dropped to zero then the tank is said to be cycled/mature - why not post the readings on this board

Some people use ammonia but this is only really necessary if you need to introduce a large or many fish alltogether eg. certain cichlid set-ups....

In my mind theres no hurry - while you're waiting for the tank to cycle you can experiment with decor and plants

Once mature stock slowly and feed lightly to allow the filter bacteria time to catch up...

I'm sure you'll also get some different views though


hth

 

[Dragonslair]

I second what WWW says. No further comment to add. WWW has got it pretty well covered.

 

[dragoon1230]

thanks for the help. i'll just use the flake food method.

 

[dragoon1230]

thanks for the help. i'll just use the flake food method.