Cycling 12 gallon Eclipse... slow...
- Thread starter Akysten
- Start date
How many fish? I last used guppy fry to cycle my big tank, along with dropping some stuff into the tank after vaccuuming gravel from my smaller tank. Went on vacation, came back two weeks later, and the tank had almost the same parameters as the smaller established tank.
The Eclipse System 12 has a pretty hefty sized Bio-Wheel for only 12 gallons along with a filter pad that sees a lot of aerobic air exposure...it may already be working quite well at dealing w/ the nitro compounds in your water.
v/r, N-A
The Eclipse System 12 has a pretty hefty sized Bio-Wheel for only 12 gallons along with a filter pad that sees a lot of aerobic air exposure...it may already be working quite well at dealing w/ the nitro compounds in your water.
v/r, N-A
How many fish are in there?
Do you feed lightly, heavily, once a day, twice a day?
Are there any plants?
These will all affect the time it takes to see changes in the water nutrient levels.
Do you feed lightly, heavily, once a day, twice a day?
Are there any plants?
These will all affect the time it takes to see changes in the water nutrient levels.
>How many fish are in there?
>2, they're small Goldfish.. NOT what I'll keep in the tank once it's cycled.
>Do you feed lightly, heavily, once a day, twice a day?
Twice a day, probably more heavily than I should
>Are there any plants?
Two plants
The aquarium shop gave me some gravel today. I'll see what shows up tomorrow. I expect SOME nitrite.
I'm going to put together a 60 gallon tomorrow. I'm going to cycle with Bio Spira and throw in 5-10 fish and see what happens. I'll let you know if the 60 finished faster than the 12(with a 10 day head start and gravel).
One shop owner bashed biospira as "garbage". Then again, he also told me to start my tank with no less than 15 fish and Gravel from an established tank. He says you need a bio load for a 60 gallon to get the cycle going. He also claims to have cycled with Discus.(must have changed the water twice a day!)
Another shop owner swears by bio-spira... tells me to cycle with 5 giant danios or 10 zebra danios. Says he'll take them back after the process.
This is also interesting... he pointed out that our tapwater has a high amount of ammonia in it. At his shop, the water comes out a ph 7.8-8.1 with a 1 ppm of ammonia. (we tested at the shop) I've checked the water at my home(from a resevour rather than a river) and it's .5 ammonia and a 7.0 ph. Don't know why i share this...
>2, they're small Goldfish.. NOT what I'll keep in the tank once it's cycled.
>Do you feed lightly, heavily, once a day, twice a day?
Twice a day, probably more heavily than I should
>Are there any plants?
Two plants
The aquarium shop gave me some gravel today. I'll see what shows up tomorrow. I expect SOME nitrite.
I'm going to put together a 60 gallon tomorrow. I'm going to cycle with Bio Spira and throw in 5-10 fish and see what happens. I'll let you know if the 60 finished faster than the 12(with a 10 day head start and gravel).
One shop owner bashed biospira as "garbage". Then again, he also told me to start my tank with no less than 15 fish and Gravel from an established tank. He says you need a bio load for a 60 gallon to get the cycle going. He also claims to have cycled with Discus.(must have changed the water twice a day!)
Another shop owner swears by bio-spira... tells me to cycle with 5 giant danios or 10 zebra danios. Says he'll take them back after the process.
This is also interesting... he pointed out that our tapwater has a high amount of ammonia in it. At his shop, the water comes out a ph 7.8-8.1 with a 1 ppm of ammonia. (we tested at the shop) I've checked the water at my home(from a resevour rather than a river) and it's .5 ammonia and a 7.0 ph. Don't know why i share this...
Akysten said:
Plants can affect the cycling process. They take up the ammonia, leading to less ammonia-eating nitrite producing bacteria. Not sure what plants you have in the tank, but the fast growing plants are nutrient hogs, and if they're big plants, they could prevent a true cycle from occurring.
Hygrophila polysperma and Anacharis
Just two... the Hygrophila looks to be growing fast.. but the original growth looks to be dying. Only the new growth looks good.
Amonnia is registered yesterday at about a 3.0ppm. Very high, but these are goldfish, that when given to me, were swimming in their nasty bowl of cloudy ammonia water. I wanter what the concentration was of THAT.
Just two... the Hygrophila looks to be growing fast.. but the original growth looks to be dying. Only the new growth looks good.
Amonnia is registered yesterday at about a 3.0ppm. Very high, but these are goldfish, that when given to me, were swimming in their nasty bowl of cloudy ammonia water. I wanter what the concentration was of THAT.
Hygro and ancharis are both fast-growing nutrient hogs. Having plants in a tank changes the cycling process, and there is a chance that you may never see nitrites in the tank at all, because the plants are taking up most of the ammonia. At the very least, it will throw the cycle off.
If you're having plant growth problems you may not have enough lighting for the plants--How many watts do you have over your 12gallon? Dying plants in your tank will contribute more ammonia, and will really complicate matters for you.
As I'm sure you're aware, high ammonia levels like you have currently are supposed to be for fishless cycled tanks only. I have to tell you that waterchanges and reduced feeding are needed to keep ammonia closer to 0.
If you're having plant growth problems you may not have enough lighting for the plants--How many watts do you have over your 12gallon? Dying plants in your tank will contribute more ammonia, and will really complicate matters for you.
As I'm sure you're aware, high ammonia levels like you have currently are supposed to be for fishless cycled tanks only. I have to tell you that waterchanges and reduced feeding are needed to keep ammonia closer to 0.
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I think i am having the same issue as this guy, with the plants... I have a 3 gallon eclipse that I started just about a month ago with a zebra danio, some java moss, and some java fern. went on vacation for the first 2 weeks that i set up the tank :thud: and came back and have recently been testing the water and im getting 0.6 ammonia and no nitrite at all. Perhaps the thing cycled already while i was away? But then what accounts for the ammonia reading.. ive been changing the water every few days.
The cycling process usually takes between 4-6 weeks, 10 days isn't much.
Plants will absorb any form of nitrogen in the tank including ammonia, hygrophila polysperma and anacharis are fast growers and may be sucking up the nutrient so it is possible that the plant is messing with the reading. Though you're getting an ammonia reading so it's probably not the case.
I've used BioSpira successfully many times with a full, reasonable fishload. You can get away with more than 5 giant danios or 10 zebra danios in a 60g tank at the recommended dosage.
Plants will absorb any form of nitrogen in the tank including ammonia, hygrophila polysperma and anacharis are fast growers and may be sucking up the nutrient so it is possible that the plant is messing with the reading. Though you're getting an ammonia reading so it's probably not the case.
I've used BioSpira successfully many times with a full, reasonable fishload. You can get away with more than 5 giant danios or 10 zebra danios in a 60g tank at the recommended dosage.