I Wasn't Told About Fishless Cycling!

[Samazon]

Hello everyone. My name is Sam and I bought a LED 20 gallon fresh water all in one kit five days ago that was very spur of the moment. The worker there seemed very knowledgeable and excited to help out a newbie.

I asked him many questions and about an hour later I left with a brand new tank and five zebra fish. After setting up my new tank, substrate, decor, water, filter and de-chlorinator I popped my five new zebra fish in my new tank that read 70 degrees.

That night to my horror I found about cycling and how you are supposed to do a fishless cycle on new tanks so that I wouldn't put my new fish in danger. The worker at VI Pets mentioned cycling but never fishless cycling. I'm upset with myself for not doing the research before hand because I usually always research everything that is a big investment like this. I guess I got caught up with the excitement the worker had for fish and his many tanks.

That leaves me five days into my new tank that I've been watching like a hawk. Everything seems okay for now. The water is clear and the fish seem to be acting normal. Just about an hour ago I took a sample of my water to VI Pets for them to test and the lady working there turned me away and said that my water wouldn't read anything because of how new the tank is. She told me to add nutrafin cycle to my tank to speed of the process. She then went on to tell me that I should keep the tank as is for 4-6 weeks without doing anything to it which seems way off from what I've been reading online. (I'm skeptical on nutrafin cycle and haven't added any yet)

There's a lot of information out there and I've been reading many conflicting tips on fresh water tank cycling.

Although it's been a rocky start I have loved having fish. These guys are a blast to watch. All I'm looking for is a couple of tips from you guys to help get me through these beginning stages as unscathed as possible. Thanks!

 

[peachlids]

i'm not sure by what she meant that youre tank water woludnt read anything because its new, even in a new tank you need to know what you are working with, if anything.


i wolud reccommend getting your own testing kit, testing your water, posting with your info and go from there, im in need of a new kit but my tank stays pretty stable since its bigger.

but you for sure want to test your tap water because depending where you live, like for example, here ,the city decided to switch from chlorine to chloramines and a type of ammonia to clean the water, our water is quite hard, so you always need to test your new water.

 

[fluttermoth]

Welcome to the forum, Sam.

What you need are test kits of your own; just ones for ammonia and nitrite right now, although pH and nitrate will come in useful later.

You'll need to test your water every day, and do enough water changes (that might mean daily, or even twice daily water changes, I'm afraid) to stop both the ammonia and the nitrite going above 0.25ppm.

Any level above that can cause long term health problems, or even kill your fish.

Don't forget to temperature match and dechlorinate the new water, and don't be scared of doing big water changes; good, clean water and plenty of it is the very best thing for fish.

There are some good articles on cycling in our beginner's resource centre (the link for that is in my sig) which you might find useful.

 

[Samazon]

Cool, will do. Any recommendations for a solid test kit? I live in the states.

 

[fluttermoth]

Most of us use the API master test kit, which has everything you need in it; I'm sure it's readily available in the US. Have a look on Amazon or eBay

 

[Jam Jam]

Welcome mate,I too got landed in the same place as you are by the pet shop!
With help from the guys on here I got my tank cycled successfully in the end after lots of testing and big water changes daily.
As everyone said get a testing kit and test your water then post the results on here, the advise can be given to help you getting the water right for your new fish.
You will need some tap water conditioner to treat the water before you add it also put warm water to it to match the temps about the same.

 

[Samazon]

Is there a pump that you guys would recommend? Until then whats the best way to do a water change without a pump?

 

[Aquascaper]

What do you mean by pump?

Most people just use a length of hose and a bucket or invest in a 'Python'.

 

[bmonki]

one thing which my seem obvious but delayed my fish-in cycle for ages without me knowing it.. was if you're gonna do a water change and not dechlorinate the water until its in the tank (i find dechlorinating in the bucket before adding the water in works better but sometimes for whatever reason that isnt possible) if you're doing it by adding water first then dechlorinating the whole tank then make sure the chlorinated water does NOT touch the filter. If you can remove the cartridge (if its internal)or something even better. Chlorine kills the bacteria you're trying to grow

 

[slimeneo]

Is there a pump that you guys would recommend? Until then whats the best way to do a water change without a pump?

try to get a gravel vacuum- it cleans poop out of the gravel & takes out water at the same time you'll definitely need one!

I would suggest going to your LFS and ask for some mature filter media from one of their tanks, it'll almost instantly cycle your tank and save you from doing a million water changes. It worked for me. Since you're in the US, try asking petco, that's where I got mine from. Make sure the tank that it's coming from doesn't have a lot of dead fish though.