Yet Another Cycling Question

[simer]

Hi

I'm sorry to be asking constant questions, but I figure if I look stupid it's a small price to pay.

I am going to buy a 4ft tank today and transfer my current stock (mollies, danios, a couple of gouramis and a couple of rams) to the new tank after doing one of these fishless cycles. I just have a couple of questions:

1/ I've read the articles on fishless cycling and understand that I need to add enough ammonia to get the level to 5ppm. The question is, as I drop the ammonia in, is it mixing or do I need to mix it up manually somehow before I test?

2/ When should I add/ test? The sensible thing to me seems to be to add the initial amount to get it to 5ppm, testing to make sure I get to 5ppm and then test the water 24 hours later and straight away afterwards add the same amount until I get my nitrite spike. At this point I cut the amount in half until the tank is cycled. Can someone confirm this is correct?

3/ Once the tank is cycled, should I transfer everybody across? My assumption is that the tank is ready for a full bio load at this stage, but will not stay ready unless it is provided, but to put them all in at the same time seems foolhardy especially with the rams which I understand are quite sensitive little souls.

Many thanks yet again for all your help.

 

[boxman]

Ok, so you're tansfering fish from an established tank yea? In that case your existing tank should be cycled.

You will not cycle your new tank in 24 hours unless you have established filter media (even better if you're putting your filter in your new tank - you could run it alongside any other filteration).

If I were you I would fill up your new tank with water and get it to roughly the same temperature as your other tank and let it have a day or two to get the temperature sorted - if you have some established filter media spare then put that in your new filter to start the bacteria off in the new tank.

You should in theory have a cycled tank from the filter media but when I transfer fish over I bag them up and shift some (or all) of the tank water from the old to the new and if you can put gravel or whatever from the old tank that will only help transfer that good bacteria accross.

(WHen you bag the fish make sure you've got plenty of air in the bags and leave them for an hour or so to get used to the new tank temperature).

The even better way to cycle your new tank is to do as above but put your filter in your current tank alongside or in your new tank - hey presto, instant cycle!!!!

 

[rdd1952]

Definitely use some filter material from the established tank to seed the new tank. If you're moving all the fish over, you should be able to just move the entire filter in along with your new filter. The tank will be close to completely cycled already. I say close because there is also bacteria on the tank walls, in the substrate, on decorations, etc that you may not be moving so It won't be complete, but close. If you can move the entire filter, you shouldn't have to worry much about cycling the new tank.

If you do want to completely cycle it before moving everything over, at least move some filter media to see the neew tank. Then add your ammonia to about 5 or 6 ppm. Some methods say to add the same amount every day but I prefer to raise it to tha level and then just wait on it to drop back to near zero.I then add ammonia back to around 2 ppm everytime it drops and wait on the nitrite to drop. The method of adding everyday takes a lot longer but your tank will be cycled for an extremely heavy fish load. I guess it's a good method if you plan to keep messy fish like oscars, plecos or goldfish.

 

[simer]

The new tank is a lot bigger so has a completely different and bigger filter which is why I wanted to cycle the tank before transferring the fish over. I was planning on seeding the tank with media from the original tank and I certainly was NOT thinking I could cycle the tank within 24 hours. The quickest I have read is a couple of weeks. While I appreciate both of your suggestions is there any chance you could look at the questions I asked:

Do I need to mix the ammonia in?

When should I test?

Should I transfer all the fish over once the tank is completely cycled?

thanks

 

[rdd1952]

The new tank is a lot bigger so has a completely different and bigger filter which is why I wanted to cycle the tank before transferring the fish over. I was planning on seeding the tank with media from the original tank and I certainly was NOT thinking I could cycle the tank within 24 hours. The quickest I have read is a couple of weeks. While I appreciate both of your suggestions is there any chance you could look at the questions I asked:

Do I need to mix the ammonia in?

[snapback]880867[/snapback]​

You do not need to mix the ammonia. The filter will take care of that.

When should I test?

[snapback]880867[/snapback]​

Give it about 5 or 10 minutes after adding the ammonia and test to see what level you have raised it to. After the first test, you should be able to get it pretty close to the 5 or 6 ppm with the second. If you added 10 drops and it went to 2 ppm, then adding 10 more should raise it to 4 ppm or 20 more to 6 ppm. After you get it up the first time, you need to check it daily do log your progress.

Should I transfer all the fish over once the tank is completely cycled?

[snapback]880867[/snapback]​

Once the tank is cycled, you can move all the fish. If you go through the complete fishless cycle, you would want to also add enough new fish to get you to full stock.

As for being cycled in 24 hours, if you moved the filter over from the old tank, just to run for a while, you probably would be cycled for your current stock of fish in not much more than 2 or 3 days but you would have a mini cycle. It would not be stocked for a full fish load though since the old tank is smaller than the new one. There is already enough bacteria in your old tank to handle the fish that you have.

Theoretically, you could move the filter and everything in the old tank (substrate, decorations, plants, etc) and be immediately cycled in the new tank for the fish you have. The only bacteria you would not be moving is what is on the tank walls and that isn't a huge amount. Majority of the bacteria is definitely in the filter and media.

Having said all that, if you have the time to go through the fishless cycle, preferably with some seed media from the old tank, that is the best way to go. Good luck.

 

[simer]

Brilliant!! Thanks for the advice. I'm in no hurry so I am gonna try and do things properly.

Thanks again!!