Nutrafin Cycling.
- Thread starter Alexp08
- Start date
water parameters are as follows.
Api test kit.
Ammonia = .15ppm
Ammonia on tap = .30ppm
Nitrite = .5ppm
Nitrate = .25ppm
Light i said fish are coming thursday.
So my thoughts are to take water form my established tanks and put it in this one, Take some tufa rock thats been in my other cichlid tank for months, and or tank some media from another tank. Or do all three lol
Whats my best bet.
Api test kit.
Ammonia = .15ppm
Ammonia on tap = .30ppm
Nitrite = .5ppm
Nitrate = .25ppm
Light i said fish are coming thursday.
So my thoughts are to take water form my established tanks and put it in this one, Take some tufa rock thats been in my other cichlid tank for months, and or tank some media from another tank. Or do all three lol
Whats my best bet.
There are lots of reports that this product does nothing.
Have you added ammonia to the tank at all or just the Cycle? If you haven't added any ammonia the way to know if it is ready for fish is to add some ammonia, enough to get 3ppm reading, then test after 24 hours. If the results then show anything above zero for ammonia and/or nitrite, then with fish coming on Thursday you will be doing a fish-in cycle.
Anything from an established tank will help, though whether it will be enough remains to be seen.
Have you added ammonia to the tank at all or just the Cycle? If you haven't added any ammonia the way to know if it is ready for fish is to add some ammonia, enough to get 3ppm reading, then test after 24 hours. If the results then show anything above zero for ammonia and/or nitrite, then with fish coming on Thursday you will be doing a fish-in cycle.
Anything from an established tank will help, though whether it will be enough remains to be seen.
I concur that we need to know a bit more about how you "cycled." The number of fish you can safely introduce will depend upon this, so I'll leave it for the present and respond to a couple other points.
Nutrafin's Cycle will help establish the nitrifying bacteria by slightly speeding up the process. Dr. Hovanec the scientist who led the team that identified the species of bacteria responsible for nitrification conducted a test on this product and found that while it does not contain the nitrifying bacteria species it does quicken the cycling by a day or two,maybe three at most. So it will "help" but the "cycle" still has to be established.
Moving over rock, wood, decor and plants from an established tank will help seed the new tank with nitrifying bacteria. Same for filter media, or moving the filter itself intact. Moving over water does not, and may be more detrimental than helpful. The only advantage to using "old" tank water is when the parameters of the old water are very far removed from the fresh water to the point that it will shock the fish. Rather than using old tank water in a new tank, I prefer to do water changes in the tank where the fish are presently being housed to acclimate the fish to the new water. This can be done in a pail too, again depending upon the degree of the difference. But other than this, there is no benefit to using old tank water. Having said this, I realize you are dealing with newly acquired fish so normal acclimation would be best; my comments here are more to explain for others.
To the numbers...the tank is in the middle of cycling. This can take from a few days to a few weeks. With fish arriving Thursday, I would move over as much hardscape as you can (rock, wood, etc), use a good dechlorinator in the new tank when you fill it (before moving the hardscape), use some "old" filter media, and buy a bottle of a reliable bacterial supplement. Dr. Tim's One and Only is perhaps the best, as it has been proven to instantly "cycle" if used as directed, but the Tetra SafeStart will also help though this is not an instant cycling product. I'm suggesting as much seeding as possible. A 75g has more water volume than small tanks, and this helps because ammonia produced by fish dissipates wider so it is somewhat less lethal, but the number and size of the fish also factor in. Without knowing all of this, or guessing, play it safe and do as much bacteria seeding as possible.
Byron.
Nutrafin's Cycle will help establish the nitrifying bacteria by slightly speeding up the process. Dr. Hovanec the scientist who led the team that identified the species of bacteria responsible for nitrification conducted a test on this product and found that while it does not contain the nitrifying bacteria species it does quicken the cycling by a day or two,maybe three at most. So it will "help" but the "cycle" still has to be established.
Moving over rock, wood, decor and plants from an established tank will help seed the new tank with nitrifying bacteria. Same for filter media, or moving the filter itself intact. Moving over water does not, and may be more detrimental than helpful. The only advantage to using "old" tank water is when the parameters of the old water are very far removed from the fresh water to the point that it will shock the fish. Rather than using old tank water in a new tank, I prefer to do water changes in the tank where the fish are presently being housed to acclimate the fish to the new water. This can be done in a pail too, again depending upon the degree of the difference. But other than this, there is no benefit to using old tank water. Having said this, I realize you are dealing with newly acquired fish so normal acclimation would be best; my comments here are more to explain for others.
To the numbers...the tank is in the middle of cycling. This can take from a few days to a few weeks. With fish arriving Thursday, I would move over as much hardscape as you can (rock, wood, etc), use a good dechlorinator in the new tank when you fill it (before moving the hardscape), use some "old" filter media, and buy a bottle of a reliable bacterial supplement. Dr. Tim's One and Only is perhaps the best, as it has been proven to instantly "cycle" if used as directed, but the Tetra SafeStart will also help though this is not an instant cycling product. I'm suggesting as much seeding as possible. A 75g has more water volume than small tanks, and this helps because ammonia produced by fish dissipates wider so it is somewhat less lethal, but the number and size of the fish also factor in. Without knowing all of this, or guessing, play it safe and do as much bacteria seeding as possible.
Byron.
I agree with Byron post about using some established media if you can and also using Dr Tim's One and Only will help cycle your tank much quicker, though this does depends if the bacteria in the Dr Tim's bottle are ok as sometimes storage of these bottles by LFS are detrimental to the bacteria inside as well as the expiry dates on bottle.
Think I would suggest, if you can, putting off or postponing the arrival of the stocking until you are sure the tank is cycled, much easier and faster to cycle the tank without any stocking. Any mistake made will not have any negative affects if there are no fish in the tank.
From the readings you gave earlier, this suggests the tank is not cycled though would require another test of all parameters in 24 hours to see what direction your cycling is going.
Think I would suggest, if you can, putting off or postponing the arrival of the stocking until you are sure the tank is cycled, much easier and faster to cycle the tank without any stocking. Any mistake made will not have any negative affects if there are no fish in the tank.
From the readings you gave earlier, this suggests the tank is not cycled though would require another test of all parameters in 24 hours to see what direction your cycling is going.
Alexp08 said:
There is no guarantee that the tank will/can "cycle" in six days. It is based upon several related factors, but cycling can take up to several (6-8) weeks. So I would do what you can but still rely on Dr. Tim's... at the time. This plus the decor moved over and filter media should cause no issues, but keep the first fish numbers as low as you can under the circumstances.
I have set up dozens of new tanks, and I never "cycle." I use live plants which do the whole work if done properly, plus I rely on bacteria from chunks of wood. It has never failed me yet in 20+ years.
Byron.
Okay thanks. I order dr.tims on one day delivery so itll be here tomorrow. Should i add it tomorrow or wait till im closer to the fish arrival? Also should i still be adding ammonia or hold off amd let tims and the transfer of decor and bio media do the work?
The sooner you add the Dr Tim's and follow the instructions to the letter, the better.
Alexp08 said:
Follow the instructions on the bottle. I have not used this myself, but I gather from watching Dr. Hovanec's video and from what other members have said, that you need to follow the instructions and the tank will cycle immediately. So, on that basis, I would not add ammonia (unless it says to do this, which I would doubt).
Edit. I see Ch4rlie posted simultaneously, but we are saying the same thing of course.
TwoTankAmin
Fish Connoisseur
Here is what to do-
1. Change the water before you add the ammonia, in fact change it tonight.
2, Follow these directions from Dr. Tim's site:
/www.drtimsaquatics.com/resources/how-to-start
Some fast notes to clear up any potential confusion-
If you did not have the ammonium chloride, use other ammonia in an amount designed to produce 2 ppm using the ammonia calculator on this site.
Before you add the bacteria do shake the bottle well and also turn of the tank lights. Leave them off until you test the next day. When you get to the 24 later hour point, test for both ammonia and nitrite. Then add 1/2 the amount of ammonia you did the day before. Do this no matter what your test results are.
Do not add any more ammonia and continue to test daily.
When you do see 0/0, add the same amount of ammonia as you did the first time (the full amount). You should then be able to test in 24 hours and get 0/0. If not wait until you do get 0/0 and repeat the full dose and test.
This can take anywhere from 5 -7 days for most people. Do not worry if your tank requires more. One thing that can make things go faster is using more bacteria than is suggested for given tank size. The more one starts with, the fewer times they must double to reach the needed numbers to be able to process the 2 ppm in 24s. But most folks would be happy to be fully cycled in about a week .
Do not change water until the tank is cycled and then do a 50% or more change before you added fish.
I have used this product several times. If you need help, feel free to shoot me a PM.
1. Change the water before you add the ammonia, in fact change it tonight.
2, Follow these directions from Dr. Tim's site:
from http
/www.drtimsaquatics.com/resources/how-to-startSome fast notes to clear up any potential confusion-
If you did not have the ammonium chloride, use other ammonia in an amount designed to produce 2 ppm using the ammonia calculator on this site.
Before you add the bacteria do shake the bottle well and also turn of the tank lights. Leave them off until you test the next day. When you get to the 24 later hour point, test for both ammonia and nitrite. Then add 1/2 the amount of ammonia you did the day before. Do this no matter what your test results are.
Do not add any more ammonia and continue to test daily.
When you do see 0/0, add the same amount of ammonia as you did the first time (the full amount). You should then be able to test in 24 hours and get 0/0. If not wait until you do get 0/0 and repeat the full dose and test.
This can take anywhere from 5 -7 days for most people. Do not worry if your tank requires more. One thing that can make things go faster is using more bacteria than is suggested for given tank size. The more one starts with, the fewer times they must double to reach the needed numbers to be able to process the 2 ppm in 24s. But most folks would be happy to be fully cycled in about a week .
Do not change water until the tank is cycled and then do a 50% or more change before you added fish.
I have used this product several times. If you need help, feel free to shoot me a PM.
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