Freshwater cycling

[MudskipperFan]

Using the fishless methond is pretty confusing and dangerous for a pond IMO.

After the liner is changed, I'll get alot of plants and gravel that have bactieria and see if that'll work.

 

[J double R]

Using the fishless methond is pretty confusing and dangerous for a pond IMO.

After the liner is changed, I'll get alot of plants and gravel that have bactieria and see if that'll work.

how so? its exactly the same as a fish tank. the only way it could be construed as dangerous, is if youre doing it with fish in the pond, and then it wouldnt be fishless, now would it?

 

[Coler]

Hmmmmmm.

Thing about a pond is that you don't want to have to do a water change do ya. That said....a large pond could require quite the expenditure on ammonia to get things cycled lol.

I would think....but I don't know this is entirely correct....that if you set up a nice pond with a load of plants moss etc, you are going to have decomposing plant litter and stuff like that v quickly and basically it will develop bacteria without the need for an ammonia source. So just a question of time...test as per a tank which is cycling...and you are set.

No need to add fish until then methinks.

 

[shockwave191]

I realize this is an old post but, it is still a very important one. After reading the orginal post from rbishop and the follow up one from ghostshrimpp55 I still have some questions. Hopefully either of you two can answer or someone else.

1) When adding a small number of fish (According to the tank size), obviously we need to monitor the water parameters. We were instructed to do a partial wc at an ammonia level of .25 ppm.

First question, can we go as high as .5 ppm and still be in a safe zone?

Second question are we trying to achive 0 ppm of ammonia with this partial wc?


2) In my reading unless I missed it, nothing was stated about the nitrite level. So during the nitrite phase, at what level or amount of nitrite do we need to a water change? I assume that it can not be higher then .25 ppm as well. Please comment on this because nitrites to my understanding are just as harmful to the fish as ammonia.

3) Also nothing was mentioned on feeding. To my understanding you don't want to feed your starter fish too much during the cycle process.

Please comment. My experience is with fishless cycling but, my issue in doing this is the "stall factor".

Thanks

 

[Rbishop]

if a fishy cycle, keep ammonia and nitrites below .25

feed as normal....

 

[SunsetPisces]

I want to have live plants in my tank, which has been running without fish for several days. Local Petco told me I can only put plants in a well-established tank that has already had fish in it for 4 wks or more. Can I buy live plants now and put them in, or should I wait? What kinds of plants? I find different answers everywhere I look. Thanks for your help.

 

[colinsk]

Plants are good for the tank. I would put them in first then thing about fish. What plants you choose depends on your lighting. Start a thread in the forums and the people here will be glad to help you.

 

[feederfish]

From reading all this, I have a question concerning use of carbon filters. I think it seems obvious not to use carbon during the fishless cycle, since it will absorb the ammonia you wish to feed to your hungry bacteria colony... once it forms. So no carbon during cycling?

I was thinking of using a carbon filter to assist in keeping spikes in ammonia, nitrites, and even nitrates manageable (and I already have 4 carbon filters) after the fishless cycle completes, but am a tad worried that it could result in a potential loss of bacteria if the carbon filter is absorbing too much ammonia and nitrites. Should I wait to add carbon a few cycles after I stock, or need to worry? I know some here, may use carbon only when applying meds, but I don't see the problem in using a little carbon. Never know what good be in the water.

Think we are gonna need a bigger filter!

 

[THE V]

The carbon that we use in aquaria does not adsorb ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate. It is mainly used to remove much larger molecules from the water column (organics and some heavy metals). This has to do with the pore size of the activated carbon. Nitrate has a molar mass of 62 g/mole while lead has a mass of 207g/mole. It kind of makes sense then that nitrate can flow right on through while lead gets stuck in the pore.

 

[feederfish]

I am so glad that I slept through, I mean took Chem 1 and 2 in college. Thanks for the reply The V. Since I have no worries about starting the cycling with carbon, I will just cycle with it.