Some starting questions

[CTS]

I have been fish keeping for a few years now, but this is the first time i have REALLY got into it. And i was woundering how long would it take to do a fishless cycle in a 50 gal tank. instead of putting in a few drops af ammonia cant i just dump a whole crapload in.I also guess that i would have to take out the carbon from the fillter. Thanks for your help

 

[Polardbear]

I fishless cyled my 55 gallon and it took 16 days. I think I initally put about a quarter cup of ammonia in it, which was way more than needed, and it was reading off the chart. I didn't add any more ammonia for a couple of days until the readings started going down and then I just kept adding enough ammonia daily to keep it at about 4-5 until the nitrites started. After that, it seemed like it pretty much would clear up the ammonia within 24 hours. Nitrites took the longest to get down. I think they took 10 of the 16 days to get down to 0.

 

[CTS]

wow 16 days that did not tak long at all

 

[Polardbear]

It seemed like 16 days of eternity though. I didn't think the nitrites were ever going to come down and my little 10 gallon was way overcrowded with swordtails at the time. Then they started having babies. The 10 gallon was really giving me a hard time with staying stable so I didn't use anything from it in the 55 gal. Fortunately the 55 gal finally cycled and I could move the swordies to it.

I think it really depends on how much you stay on top of the process. Keeping a simple journal and checking your water parameters consistently and adding ammonia consistently are important. I tested my water twice a day and added ammonia at the same time daily. I also raised the heat on my tank much higher than I would normally keep it at to speed up the bacterial growth. I added several bags of gravel from a cycled tank about mid way through the process which I'm sure really helped out to. I also got a bunch of anacharis that I added towards the end and that seemed to help as well.