Help Needed With Cyling!

[Ch4rlie]

Why do you guys make things so hard to understand!!. Listen put a neutral natural base into the tank plant it switch on your filters and lights 10 days later add fish.

If you're referring to a silent cycle, very basically then yes, but you need LOTS of plants, knowing how to test water for ammonia and nitrite and knowing when to add fish, and what to look out for, 10 days later is not that accurate as it varies between tanks, not that simple.

But a lot of newbies do not know or obviously have the experience or confidence to do things like planting live plants and adding fish and testing this way.

What might be easy for you may not be so simple for others who are new to this hobby. It's truly a big learning curve for newcomers as everything they are doing is completely new to them.

They will learn and let them learn at their own pace and methods

 

[itiwhetu]

If you're referring to a silent cycle, very basically then yes, but you need LOTS of plants, knowing how to test water for ammonia and nitrite and knowing when to add fish, and what to look out for, 10 days later is not that accurate as it varies between tanks, not that simple.

But a lot of newbies do not know or obviously have the experience or confidence to do things like planting live plants and adding fish and testing this way.

What might be easy for you may not be so simple for others who are new to this hobby. It's truly a big learning curve for newcomers as everything they are doing is completely new to them.

They will learn and let them learn at their own pace and methods

We should be encouraging the newbies to buy plants and fill there tanks with them they are just as much apart of this hobby as the fish. Then things become very simple. The way you guys talk about testing nearly scares me away from the hobby and I've been doing it for years!!

 

[Ch4rlie]

Oh we do encourage all keepers to have live plants in their tanks as these brings many benefits for the tank and livestock, no question of that at all and is definitely a natural part of the aquatic world.

I just simply don't encourage new keepers to go with silent cycles and heavily plant their tanks and then add fish, in an ideal world it would be as simple as that but more often than not, problems occurs, thats why I encourage fishless cycles as the liklihood of fish being harmed is kept to a minimum when the tank has been successfully cycled.

We guide them with articles and with proven methods that works and help them when its needed, fishless cycling is not that complicated at all once you actually start doing the processes of the cycle.

The tests are essential for the wellbeing of the livestock so we can test for ammonia and nitrites as these are naturally occurring in ALL aquariums and those elements are toxic for all livestock within our aquariums so that we know when we need to take action in order to help save our livestock from ill health or even death.

Testing our tank water should be encouraged, not to be shied away from or to be scared of at all, its all about learning and coping with the enviroment in which our fishy friends live in.

 

[itiwhetu]

I would never cycle a tank with fish. But once a tank has been set up for ten days and the plants have started to grow I have never had a tank that the first fish can't be added. I always would only add about 3 fish for the first fortnight. Then slowly build the population up over the nest 3-6 months. I always say don't go out and do it all at once take your time and enjoy.

 

[Essjay]

Apart from the 10 days, that's what we always tell people with planted tanks on here. We don't give a time but say to wait until you see signs that the plants are actively growing.


There are people who do not want plants in their tank for a variety of reasons - they want dayglo plastic decor for their child; they are scared that plants are too complicated; and 'every plant I've ever tried to grow has died'.
People who do not want live plants should be encouraged to do fishless cycling rather than fish-in cycling.

 

[itiwhetu]

Apart from the 10 days, that's what we always tell people with planted tanks on here. We don't give a time but say to wait until you see signs that the plants are actively growing.


There are people who do not want plants in their tank for a variety of reasons - they want dayglo plastic decor for their child; they are scared that plants are too complicated; and 'every plant I've ever tried to grow has died'.
People who do not want live plants should be encouraged to do fishless cycling rather than fish-in cycling.

I realize people want all sorts of things. I hope my input is helpful. I am not trying to be argumentative. Sometimes the discussion's with new people gets very complicated. Like the thread "My fish keep dying" I even got lost in it!!!

 

[Treestone]

@kenkat I wouldn't worry too much that the cycle is going very slowly (the nitrosomonas (ammonia to nitrite) may have more trouble hence the slow cycling and the very low nitrite levels) it's expected in a low pH tank and it may never cycle. I recommend you take @seangee 's advice as you have to remember ammonium is less harmful than ammonia to fish.

@itiwhetu Kudos to you bro, but water is a chemical. I know its a bit of a smart alec answer but maybe there's a better more descriptive word like water additive. Ahh screw it, just keep it don't care.

 

[kenkat]

So some good news, the nitrite, which I was having trouble finding on the test kit, is now up from 0ppm to 1ppm. The nitrates went from 10 to 20ppm. The only thing is, the ammonia is still stuck around 4ppm still. I am assuming that the nitrites recently came in and the hope is that through next week or two, the nitrates will increase even more and that the ammonia will go down. I have added about 6 or 7 amazon swords in the back and a couple Sagittaria Subulata so hopefully that will also help. Should I keep waiting and monitoring or is there anything else I could do to help the process? Thanks for the answers and discussions as always.

 

[Essjay]

The nitrate tester tests for both nitrite and nitrate so if nitrite is increasing, the nitrate test will also show an increase.

With the swords in there now, you may find that ammonia drops to zero but nitrite and nitrate stay the same. Plants take up ammonia but they don't turn it into nitrite or nitrate. If this happens, I would probably do a big water change to remove the nitrite then add maybe 2 ppm ammonia and see what happens. If that disappears with no sign of nitrite and the swords appear to be doing well, I would get thr first batch of fish - but keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrite levels for several days and do a water change if either appear.

 

[kenkat]

So I thought that I had turned the corner with the nitrite showing up last time at 1ppm. But it was back down to 0ppm while the ammonia is stil at 4ppm and nitrates at 20ppm. Is there a reason why the nitrites went down but the nitrates didnt incrase and that the ammonia hasnt changed in around a month? This is getting very frustrating.

 

[kenkat]

bump