Small Fish To Cycle

[LegalTender]

whats some common small fish i can cycle in my brackish tank?
just need to get it cycled before i transfer my eel into it
SG: .011

 

[nmonks]

Don't bother using fish at all. Just keep adding food. Decay = ammonia = cycling. A frozen prawn usually does the trick. Remove and replace ever few days. If you can, add some Malayan livebearing snails to speed up the process of decay (they're perfectly happy at up to SG 1.010). Otherwise household ammonia dosed to give you 1-2 mg/l should work nicely.

Cheers, Neale

 

[SirMinion]

...and of course there's always the urine option...
I have a friend who is a professional aquarium installer (mostly for businesses) and he always starts his clients' tanks cycling with a dash of his 'magic formula'
It's just an old coke bottle full of morning pee, nice and strong and left to mature for a week before using.

edit: Don't try this at home, Kids!

 

[nmonks]

And he's probably breaking half a dozen health and safety laws right there. I'd have to imagine his insurers would take a very dim view of that particular part of his business practises. Should a client find out about this after they got sick, there's a law suit right there.

You probably want to get some advice from an MD like the moderator steelhealr before taking this suggestion too seriously.

In any case, there shouldn't be much (any?) ammonia in urine if your liver is working properly. That's the whole point of urea production in the first place.

Cheers, Neale

...and of course there's always the urine option...
I have a friend who is a professional aquarium installer (mostly for businesses) and he always starts his clients' tanks cycling with a dash of his 'magic formula'
It's just an old coke bottle full of morning pee, nice and strong and left to mature for a week before using.

 

[steelhealr]

Oh man.....who started that. Humans don't pee ammonia...they pee creatinine. Not only that...but the urine can contain urobilinogen (breakdown products of bile)...ketones...if you've been dieting or missed a meal or two...red blood cells...white blood cells....any meds or vitamins that are in excess....glucose, G-d forbid you have diabetes...calcium oxalate if you pass stones....need I go on?

Sorry to get unmedical here..but...EWWWWW.

SH

 

[DarkEntity]

Funny ive heard a lot of people start marine tanks with Urine bottled and kept to ferment for a few months

 

[SirMinion]

Oh man.....who started that. Humans don't pee ammonia...they pee creatinine. Not only that...but the urine can contain urobilinogen (breakdown products of bile)...ketones...if you've been dieting or missed a meal or two...red blood cells...white blood cells....any meds or vitamins that are in excess....glucose, G-d forbid you have diabetes...calcium oxalate if you pass stones....need I go on? Sorry to get unmedical here..but...EWWWWW.

You have no idea how pleased I am that you've clarified that. I've been telling him it's a nasty habit for years but he swears by it and he runs a pretty succesful business so I'd always accepted his word that it works!

Myself, I use 75% mature media taken from other tanks (not any of his!) to start a new cycle.

 

[pastabake]

The main constituent of Urine is Urea or carbamide as they call it now.

Creatinine is a break-down product of creatine phosphate in muscle and is mainly filtered by the kidney, though a small amount is actively secreted.

Urea (carbamide) is used as a nitrogen release fertiliser because on contact with water it hydrolyses to form ammonia and CO2.

So if a healthy male wants to cycle their tank with urine go for it but don't do it directly after exercise or if ketones are present (often noticable by the presence of froth).

Other than that the extras in the urine of a healthy individual are no worse than fish poo.

Not that I've ever tried this or would bother to having a supply of pure ammonia, it would work and it's good to see that your mate uses morning pee which is best.

Just as a side note Urea finds its way into all sorts of products anybody that has ever used a face cream will have smeared it all over their face ... eew I also remember reading an anacdote regarding mums back in the days of terry towel nappies using the morning nappy to wipe their face with, apparently they thought it kept them young looking ... who'd have guessed.

 

[seangee]

Urea (carbamide) is used as a nitrogen release fertiliser because on contact with water it hydrolyses to form ammonia and CO2.

Glad you cleared that up. That's how I started my pond 4 years ago and never had a sick fish

 

[steelhealr]

...and not to mention the coliforms that may be in your urine. Pee in your OWN tank. SH

PS...urine, for the most part, is sterile....where it exits...well....see above. SH