Cycling
- Thread starter baggins22
- Start date
Did you read the sticky thread at the top of this forum? It goes into detail and explains what it is. In its simplest, it is the process of growing the bacteria that convert ammonia into nitrite and nitrite into nitrate.
For test kits I suggest at least pH, Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and really feel GH and KH and phophate can come in handy at times, most especially in a planted tank.
For test kits I suggest at least pH, Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and really feel GH and KH and phophate can come in handy at times, most especially in a planted tank.
That depends on a whole ton of things, not the least of which is whether or not the tank is cycled. Did you read the sticky thread near the top of this forum?baggins22 said:
Cycling with fish is not a good idea. Do a FISHLESS cycle. Read the sticky and do a google search. When I started I did a few days of solid research, to make sure I was doing it the risht way.
if you do want to cycle with fish in the tank make sure you use fish that can tolerate extreme conditions otherwise try to pick up some tri-start to age and condition your water
Tri-Start simply removes chlorines and chloramines. It has no bearing on whether or not a tank is cycled. As far as I know, BIO-Spira is the only product proven time and again to reliably and safely cycle a tank within a week's time.
Most folks on the boards here will recommend a fishless cycle. Most people are too impatient their first time through, though. In addition to that, many folks who fishy cycle once vow never to do so again. Let me explain a few key benefits to fishless cycling. First, you don't harm or kill fish. Yes, in a fishy cycle you can do everything right and luck out sometimes and not kill a fish. With a fishless cycle I can guarantee you you will not kill a fish during your cycle if you do it correctly which is to say, not adding fish until your tank cycles.
Second, with a fishless cycle there are no daily 50% water changes. Trust me, chnaging 5-6 gallons of water every day for 2 weeks may not seem like much, but once you're on day 7 or 8 you start wondering why on earth you didn't listen to those fishless cycle geeks. With a fishless cycle you simply test water, add ammonia as needed, then kick back with a refreshing beverage while you surf the internet looking for the right fish. During fishy cycles you test the water daily, maybe do a water change, test the water again, maybe do a second water change because the stupid ammonia levels are still too high and your fish are breathing rapidly... by the time you're done you don't want a refreshing beverage because it reminds you of water!
Third after a fishy cycle you can only safely add fish one or two at a time every two weeks or so and still have to carefully monitor your water with tests daily for months while you build up to your normal stocking level. With fishless you can add all of your fish at once as soon as the tank is cycled and you've made the one, count it one, water change. After that, daily testing for a couple of weeks to make sure you're steady, then you can taper off.
In the long run fishless is better because it is cheaper (you use less testing supplies as well as water and time), easier, takes less of your valuable time, allows you more freedom of stocking than does a fishy cycle and the kicker, no fish are harmed.
Most folks on the boards here will recommend a fishless cycle. Most people are too impatient their first time through, though. In addition to that, many folks who fishy cycle once vow never to do so again. Let me explain a few key benefits to fishless cycling. First, you don't harm or kill fish. Yes, in a fishy cycle you can do everything right and luck out sometimes and not kill a fish. With a fishless cycle I can guarantee you you will not kill a fish during your cycle if you do it correctly which is to say, not adding fish until your tank cycles.
Second, with a fishless cycle there are no daily 50% water changes. Trust me, chnaging 5-6 gallons of water every day for 2 weeks may not seem like much, but once you're on day 7 or 8 you start wondering why on earth you didn't listen to those fishless cycle geeks. With a fishless cycle you simply test water, add ammonia as needed, then kick back with a refreshing beverage while you surf the internet looking for the right fish. During fishy cycles you test the water daily, maybe do a water change, test the water again, maybe do a second water change because the stupid ammonia levels are still too high and your fish are breathing rapidly... by the time you're done you don't want a refreshing beverage because it reminds you of water!
Third after a fishy cycle you can only safely add fish one or two at a time every two weeks or so and still have to carefully monitor your water with tests daily for months while you build up to your normal stocking level. With fishless you can add all of your fish at once as soon as the tank is cycled and you've made the one, count it one, water change. After that, daily testing for a couple of weeks to make sure you're steady, then you can taper off.
In the long run fishless is better because it is cheaper (you use less testing supplies as well as water and time), easier, takes less of your valuable time, allows you more freedom of stocking than does a fishy cycle and the kicker, no fish are harmed.
LISTEN TO HARLOCK!!! Because of receiving poor information and knowing nothing about fishless cycling, I chose to set up 2 tanks at once. Started with just 2 fish in each tank and then 2 weeks later I added a few more. The first 2 weeks I had no ammonia readings. I guess it was too soon. But everything spiralled downward once I added a few more. Knowing what I know now, that was probably the worst time to be adding fish. Then I started to have ammonia readings...water changes about 40% for each tank everyday. Then things got real bad, no ammonia but extremly high nitrites, that was 3 weeks ago now. Still have nitrites, so it ain't over yet. Everyday I was doing 2 50% water changes, now the nitrites are low enough that I only have to do 1 60% change. But believe me with 2 tanks and almost 4 weeks of water changes I certainly have alot of respect for fishless cycling. I really havn't had the chance to enjoy my fish yet. And of course when you aren't changing water, you should at least be testing it. All my decisions were based on the information I received at my LFS, not good advice!! Learn to ask your questions here, people can educate us from their own experience where they have nothing to gain from our mistakes.
The voice of fresh experience. Thanks for sharing that, Boohoo. I started fishkeeping before there was an internet, before there was fishless cycling and really, before LFS even had a clue. What we had was tradition, which was setting up a tank, letting it rest a while, adding fish and crossing our fingers, basically. Again, if someone is in a hurry and doesn't want to stare at an empty tank for 2-8 weeks, I suggest using BIO-Spira (it really does work for most folks) and testing it against ammonia at 5ppm until after 24 hours you get readings of 0 and 0 for ammonia and nitrites with nitrates present for two days in a row. This can be as little as 48 hours (basically instantly cycled) to a week. Or, if you're going with a planted tank, just add tons of plants and go for a silent cycle. Anything beats daily water changes for weeks on end.Boohoo said: