Fishless Cycling ??
- Thread starter suby7272
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Hiya suby!
Fishless cycling is a way to get your tank ready for fish by establishing the bacterial colonies that will be needed to process the waste the fish produce, the extra food, etc. There is a discussion about this in the Freshwater Newbie Forum. Here's a link. And here's a link to The Skeptical Aquarist article about Fishless Cycling - I found it a little easier to understand.
I'm a newbie, too, so I wish you the best of luck!
Fishless cycling is a way to get your tank ready for fish by establishing the bacterial colonies that will be needed to process the waste the fish produce, the extra food, etc. There is a discussion about this in the Freshwater Newbie Forum. Here's a link. And here's a link to The Skeptical Aquarist article about Fishless Cycling - I found it a little easier to understand.
I'm a newbie, too, so I wish you the best of luck!
fishless cycling is when you add ammonia to the tank to create the good bacteria you need for your fish to thrive in the tank, when you do a fish cycle the fish waste is producing the ammonia needed to create a colonie of good bacteria, but you will need good hardy fish like danios or platies for the fish cycling and you will need to add fish slowly after the tank is fully cycled. This is why fishless cycleing is much better because you would be able to add alot more fish at one time because there will already be a good colonie of good bacteria built up in your filter.
If i anything i said is wrong then i apologize and someone correct me if there is anything wrong
If i anything i said is wrong then i apologize and someone correct me if there is anything wrong
I like this discription of fishless cycling, which I read at another site..don't remember where...It's the "Shrimp and Beer" approach to fishless cycling...sounds good to me...but make mine a wine cooler....lol...
"To start up your tank correctly you will need a test kit that will test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. You also need a raw shrimp and a few beers. Fill and decorate the tank and get your filter and heater going. Temp to about 78 for now. Throw in the shrimp and go have a beer. You're done for a few weeks. You can test the water every few days. You will see ammonia start to build as the shrimp decays. Soon a bacteria will grow in the bio media of your filter (never clean this) that will convert the ammonia to nitrite. your test will show ammonia crashing and nitrite spiking. This will take a week or two. Go have another beer. Do nothing to the tank. It will take about twice as long, but soon enough a second bacteria will grow that converts nitrite into nitrate. Your test will show ammonia and nitrite at zero and nitrate spiking. Do a 50% water change using a gravel vac to get the remains of the shrimp out of there. That can be a little gross, so steady yourself with a beer. Add a pair of fish, sit back and...well you know by now. The next morning take a few asprin and test the water. If you see any ammonia or nitrite OR if nitrates are above 20ppm, do a water change. Do not have a beer after this water change. Too early. When ammonia and nitrite stay at zero for a few days you can add a few more fish. Best to do this later in the day, for the obvious reason. Always test after stocking, the bacterial colony in your filter will need time to adjust to the new bio load. I should also be talking you through the proper use of a QT (quarenteen tank), but I'm out of bourbon..Don"
"To start up your tank correctly you will need a test kit that will test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. You also need a raw shrimp and a few beers. Fill and decorate the tank and get your filter and heater going. Temp to about 78 for now. Throw in the shrimp and go have a beer. You're done for a few weeks. You can test the water every few days. You will see ammonia start to build as the shrimp decays. Soon a bacteria will grow in the bio media of your filter (never clean this) that will convert the ammonia to nitrite. your test will show ammonia crashing and nitrite spiking. This will take a week or two. Go have another beer. Do nothing to the tank. It will take about twice as long, but soon enough a second bacteria will grow that converts nitrite into nitrate. Your test will show ammonia and nitrite at zero and nitrate spiking. Do a 50% water change using a gravel vac to get the remains of the shrimp out of there. That can be a little gross, so steady yourself with a beer. Add a pair of fish, sit back and...well you know by now. The next morning take a few asprin and test the water. If you see any ammonia or nitrite OR if nitrates are above 20ppm, do a water change. Do not have a beer after this water change. Too early. When ammonia and nitrite stay at zero for a few days you can add a few more fish. Best to do this later in the day, for the obvious reason. Always test after stocking, the bacterial colony in your filter will need time to adjust to the new bio load. I should also be talking you through the proper use of a QT (quarenteen tank), but I'm out of bourbon..Don"
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Rotting shrimp (or other organic material) will work, although I've always preferred adding liquid ammonia because you can better control the ammonia levels and it doesn't stink.
The beer part sounds like it would work no matter the source of ammonia!
Jim
The beer part sounds like it would work no matter the source of ammonia!
Jim