Cycling and Heater questions

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corvettekid82

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Feb 2, 2003
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Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum
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. First off, I'd like to say I've had fish tanks for most of my life.. (I'm 20 currently). Right now I have 2 running, a 10g and a 25g long. The 10 gallon has hand-caught fish from the St. Johns river which is local to me in Central Florida. Its a well established tank (over 3 years and counting). The 25g houses a turtle and a feeder goldfish that a friend gave to me because it had grown too big for its britches.
Right now, I'm setting up a 55g Hex tank.. and my questions to you are these: Is there any recommended time for cycling if I were to reuse some of the 10g water, its filter cartridge from the penguin that's running on it now and a lot of its gravel in the 55g tank or do I just need to have the water tested to see when its ready to go? I don't have any testing kits, but the LFS will test it for free.
Also, I have an old heater.. and I'm wondering if I should use this on the 55g tank. The other tanks I keep have never run a heater, and they stay at 76-80 degrees at all times. I'm not exactly sure how the heater works because I've never used it before and the instructions are LONG gone. Its an old 'Avant' heater, with the control knob on the top and standard glass tube design. Its light bulb still lights up, but I don't know exactly what that means.
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please.
And the last question: will my choice of a 160 Biowheel and an under gravel filter that takes up 1/2 of the tank powered by a SecondNature 640 Power head be adiquate? I decided on this setup to allow for live plants to be planted without the disturbance from the UGF on one side of the tank. I can easily add on an extra filter (I have an extra Penguin Mini and another Penguin 160 without the biowheel laying around).

Any thoughts/ideas/tips/suggestions? Thanks so much for your time and any advice.
 
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First, I would suggest you get your own ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and gh+kh testing kits as you will need to test the water often when cycling. when I say often, I mean everyday, you will have to check the ammonia and nitrites. Use as much of the gravel/decor from your established tanks in the new one. I don't know anything about the filters you mentioned, but if you didn't already get them, I would suggest getting an Emperor 400 and using it with the other extra filter you have. If you do the fishless cycle the right way and use gravel/decor from the established tanks, it will take about 2-3 weeks.
 
I would add that you can forgo adding water from the existing tanks to the new one. The water won't do anything to bring in beneficial bacteria. The filter media, gravel, and decorations will do that just fine.

HTH,

Jim

P.S. Just curious... what's with the LS1.com banners in your message? I've seen those before and wondered why/how they got there...
 
There is no need to use any of the old water, and if you are moving the upper layer of gravel and the filter media, the tank shouldbe cycled fairly quickly. You will need to either move some of the fish, or feed the tank with ammonia to prevent the good bacteria from dying off. However, testing is still needed, just to make sure.

Wups--looks like JSchmidt beat me to it--Ha!
 
Originally posted by NJ Devils Fan
I don't know anything about the filters you mentioned, but if you didn't already get them, I would suggest getting an Emperor 400 and using it with the other extra filter you have
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Getting a testing kit today, and the filters I have have been sitting around unused, just like the 55g Hex and a 55g regular and probably 5 10g. I can never get rid of them, as I always find some quick use for them. :)

Originally posted by JSchmidt
P.S. Just curious... what's with the LS1.com banners in your message? I've seen those before and wondered why/how they got there...
Click to expand...
LOL did they show up as LS1.com banners? I tried to link to some of their smilies and maybe it didn't work properly? LS1.com is a car forum I belong to.. its one of my other hobbies I enjoy on a daily basis. (Hence the Username).
Thanks for everyones advice.. now if I could figure out this darned heater ;)
 
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Okay. Well, while digging through the storage closet trying to find another intake tube for my large filter, what did I stumble across?! A BRAND NEW.. NEVER BEEN USED Aqua-tech 30-60 Filter. 330GPH, with 2 brand new filters. I remember my father buying this for me about 4 or 5 X-mas's ago.. but it had been burried because it was way too large for the 10g's I had running at the time. Talk about "Kid in a candy store" giddyness! And even better, it uses 2 filters, so I can swap the old filter from my established tank right into this one along with a new one for the old tank and a new one for the 55g. Yippie! (Sorry, had to vent somewhere!)
 
As far as the heater goes, I went to the LFS and read the back of one of their similar heaters. They work like a thermostat does.. the pilot light illuminates when its heating, and goes off when it reaches a desired temp using a seperate thermometer. Also bought a full testing kit, for Amonia, PH (high and normal range), Nitrates, Nitrites, General Hardness and Carbonate hardness. I'm excited to say the least :)
 
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