Fishy Cycling my 75 gallon
- Thread starter Letsgometsreyes
- Start date
Letsgometsreyes said:
When using bio-spIra properly, you add it and then the fish at the same time. Do not do an ammonia-cycle start and then do it. I have had success with bio-spira cycling taking a day or so with water changes as needed (over a weekend so I could check water params every hour or so). Not a problem. Doing a seeded media cycle has taken up to 4 days, using filters and pantyhose legs full of top layer substrate. Just an FYI.
I'm going to add my 2 cents again... and it's not going to be popular...
Just speaking from MY experience.
I've cycled several tanks and have yet to lose a fish.
If you understand the toxitity levels and how to manage and monitor, fishless cycling is a waste of time.
I've cycled a tank with Rainbowfish and Clown Loaches.. I've cycles them with Congo Tetras, Pristella Tetras... I've yet to lose a fish through cycling, and I've seen no reduction in the life of the fish... because the levels never got high enough to do any damage! Bio Spira helps too.. get some.
A friend of mine cycled his 20L with 3 Neon Tetras and a Bristlenose Pleco...
NO DEATHS....and no Bio Spira
The reason? To kill your fish at 77 degrees and a 7.0ph you need an ammonia of 8ppm.. yep... I've never.. EVER had a reading over 4ppm... so it's hard to imagine. Granted.. I personally wouldn't be comfortable with an ammonia readion higher than 1.0... which is VERY doable. As the temps and PH go up, the ammonia gets more toxic, at a ph of 8, 1ppm of ammonia will kill your fish...
I wouldn't bother with the goldfish... get fish you plan on keeping, and would be fun to watch.
Option 1: Bio Spira
Get your tank to 0 ammonia and 0 nitrates(if chloromine gives you an ammonia readin)
Then buy your fish and add Bio Spira at the same time. I cycled a 50 gallon with Bio Spira and 33 african cichlid juvies. I never showed any ammonia, and the nitrites never even got to .25ppm. I had to be careful of the water changes.. I kept them small for the first few weeks as the bacteria that eliminates the nitrites takes longer to develop. When I do a large water change on a young tank... my tap water addes .5ppm of ammonium. This is converted to nitrites quickly, but the next level isn't quite there yet. Therefore I did 10-15% changes weekly for the first few weeks. And this tank was a PH 8.0.. so there was no tolerance for ammonia.
I've also had luck with a planted tank and Eco Complete. It claimes to be backed with live bacteria, and i've actually had that kick off my cycle... and bring my .5 ammonia in the tap water to 0 in 2 days...
Option 2: Seeded Media
Seed your filter, or use some media from an established tank. You can also have someone add biological media to someones cannister basket. You can also throw some gravel from an established tank into your filter... This works great with Aquaclears and Cannister filters.
Option 3: Fishy Cycle Old School
There is no real reason to do with with Bio Spira out there.. but it works.
Get your readings with NO fish to 0.
Find some fish that you actually like... forget the goldfish... in a 75 gallon, you'll need some bio load or it will take forever. I would suggest 10 fish such as Zebra Danios, Pristella or other hardy tetra... If you use something larger like Giant Danios or some other larger hardy fish.... cut the numbers in half.
Add them and monitor closely.. with a tank that size, ammonia will rise slowly.. enough so that the bacteria should start to take hold before you see any major spike. I don't like to see my Ammonia get over 1ppm. If you see it that high, so a 30% water change. Also, you can add a product like PRIME with will detox the ammonia into ammonia and reduce the toxitity of nitrites.
Once ammonia is at 0.. it's the next stage that takes the time. Hopefully this pocess would have started before your ammonia is at 0(testing for nitrates can be unreliable because many tests convert nitrates to nitrites before testing.. if you have any nitrites, your nitrates will show off the chart, even if you really have no nitrates at all. Same goes with the water changes and Prime.
Best of luck.. just don't get sucked into the urban legend of fishless cycling. I've yet to meet anyone personally who is a accomplished fishkeeper and recommends fishless cycling.
However, this could be because if you're really into fish, finding seeded media or seeding another filter is never an issue.
Use common sense though.. don't use things like Discus or Blue Rams... use fish that are known to be more resiliant...
Just speaking from MY experience.
I've cycled several tanks and have yet to lose a fish.
If you understand the toxitity levels and how to manage and monitor, fishless cycling is a waste of time.
I've cycled a tank with Rainbowfish and Clown Loaches.. I've cycles them with Congo Tetras, Pristella Tetras... I've yet to lose a fish through cycling, and I've seen no reduction in the life of the fish... because the levels never got high enough to do any damage! Bio Spira helps too.. get some.
A friend of mine cycled his 20L with 3 Neon Tetras and a Bristlenose Pleco...
NO DEATHS....and no Bio Spira
The reason? To kill your fish at 77 degrees and a 7.0ph you need an ammonia of 8ppm.. yep... I've never.. EVER had a reading over 4ppm... so it's hard to imagine. Granted.. I personally wouldn't be comfortable with an ammonia readion higher than 1.0... which is VERY doable. As the temps and PH go up, the ammonia gets more toxic, at a ph of 8, 1ppm of ammonia will kill your fish...
I wouldn't bother with the goldfish... get fish you plan on keeping, and would be fun to watch.
Option 1: Bio Spira
Get your tank to 0 ammonia and 0 nitrates(if chloromine gives you an ammonia readin)
Then buy your fish and add Bio Spira at the same time. I cycled a 50 gallon with Bio Spira and 33 african cichlid juvies. I never showed any ammonia, and the nitrites never even got to .25ppm. I had to be careful of the water changes.. I kept them small for the first few weeks as the bacteria that eliminates the nitrites takes longer to develop. When I do a large water change on a young tank... my tap water addes .5ppm of ammonium. This is converted to nitrites quickly, but the next level isn't quite there yet. Therefore I did 10-15% changes weekly for the first few weeks. And this tank was a PH 8.0.. so there was no tolerance for ammonia.
I've also had luck with a planted tank and Eco Complete. It claimes to be backed with live bacteria, and i've actually had that kick off my cycle... and bring my .5 ammonia in the tap water to 0 in 2 days...
Option 2: Seeded Media
Seed your filter, or use some media from an established tank. You can also have someone add biological media to someones cannister basket. You can also throw some gravel from an established tank into your filter... This works great with Aquaclears and Cannister filters.
Option 3: Fishy Cycle Old School
There is no real reason to do with with Bio Spira out there.. but it works.
Get your readings with NO fish to 0.
Find some fish that you actually like... forget the goldfish... in a 75 gallon, you'll need some bio load or it will take forever. I would suggest 10 fish such as Zebra Danios, Pristella or other hardy tetra... If you use something larger like Giant Danios or some other larger hardy fish.... cut the numbers in half.
Add them and monitor closely.. with a tank that size, ammonia will rise slowly.. enough so that the bacteria should start to take hold before you see any major spike. I don't like to see my Ammonia get over 1ppm. If you see it that high, so a 30% water change. Also, you can add a product like PRIME with will detox the ammonia into ammonia and reduce the toxitity of nitrites.
Once ammonia is at 0.. it's the next stage that takes the time. Hopefully this pocess would have started before your ammonia is at 0(testing for nitrates can be unreliable because many tests convert nitrates to nitrites before testing.. if you have any nitrites, your nitrates will show off the chart, even if you really have no nitrates at all. Same goes with the water changes and Prime.
Best of luck.. just don't get sucked into the urban legend of fishless cycling. I've yet to meet anyone personally who is a accomplished fishkeeper and recommends fishless cycling.
However, this could be because if you're really into fish, finding seeded media or seeding another filter is never an issue.
Use common sense though.. don't use things like Discus or Blue Rams... use fish that are known to be more resiliant...
Last edited:
Mr. Bishop, that was quite a post! :bowing:
That post should be a sticky, all by itself!
I'd have been all lazy and just posted a link...
That post should be a sticky, all by itself!
I'd have been all lazy and just posted a link...
I recently did a fishless cycle a few months ago and I think I was better than doing a cycle with fish. I used the method posted by "Akysten". I bought some pure amonia from Home Depot and used that to similuate the fish waste. To test for pure amonia, shake the bottle. If it foams, but it back, otherwise it is what you are looking for.
I took me about 30 days to cycle my 75 gallon and everyday I used my test kit to test and after a while, the ammonia begin to drop while the nitrIte begin to raise. Shortly after, the nitrIte fell, and the nitrAte increased. Once ammonia=0, nitrIte=0 and nitrAte=o, the cycle was complete. I did a big water change and added my Tiger Oscar and Silver Dollars, and they are all doing great now.
I took me about 30 days to cycle my 75 gallon and everyday I used my test kit to test and after a while, the ammonia begin to drop while the nitrIte begin to raise. Shortly after, the nitrIte fell, and the nitrAte increased. Once ammonia=0, nitrIte=0 and nitrAte=o, the cycle was complete. I did a big water change and added my Tiger Oscar and Silver Dollars, and they are all doing great now.
