Time 2 Change Filter?

Marxman187 said:
right now i have my 3 inch jack dempsey in a temporary home with 2 giant danios a gaurami and a pleco in a 29 gallon.this friday i will begin cycling his new home ( a 55 gallon) he will be the only one in there.i will definatly post my levels this weekend, and i hope that somone can help me with an accurate step by step guide to starting a tank from scratch,since it will be my first time.i have a product called cycle that supposedly will reduce cylce time drasticly, any comments on this product or past experiences on how to get a tank cylced asap would be greatly appreciated. thanks ac!
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You can switch half of the new filter pads with established ones from other tanks. Yes..just stick the dirty filter pad in the new filter. You can also toss in a handful of gravel from your established tank.
I have done this multiple times without losing one fish. And I'm talking hundreds of fish.
 
Lithomunky said:
What's a way to find out if you have good bacteria in your tank?
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Typically most healthy tanks that are established with fish for several months have developed the bacteria you want.
When you set up a new tank you avoid big water changes for at least a month. Changing the water too soon will make the bacteria take longer to develope.
 
well if its just about the bacteria can i stick my old filter pad in the new filter and use cycle to get away with puting all new gravel in?about how many days do you think it will take to be ready for fish?what about water should i take the old water from a water change and use it in the new tank or should i use brand new treated water?there is a picture of cycle on the first or second page of this post if you havent already heard of it
 
terror spawnin said:
Typically most healthy tanks that are established with fish for several months have developed the bacteria you want.
When you set up a new tank you avoid big water changes for at least a month. Changing the water too soon will make the bacteria take longer to develope.
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not changing the water will also allow ammonia and/or nitrite levels to increase enough to damage or kill your fish. with what we know about bacterial growth and fishless cycling there is no need to put fish though this process. water changes keeping ammonia and nitrite under .25ppm will not stop the cycling process, but they keep the fish safer.

the 'cycle' product will not make your tank safe faster. it does nothing. it does not contain live bacteria, it contains enzymes that the bacteria eat. when you already have an ammonia source (fish in the tank), there is no need to add additional food source. it's a waste of money.
 
Lithomunky said:
What's a way to find out if you have good bacteria in your tank?
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you know by testing the water for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. since the bacteria eat ammonia and nitrite and convert them to nitrate, your water (if you have fish in there) should test for 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and any amount of nitrate. then you do water changes to keep nitrates under 20ppm.
 
wataugachicken said:
you know by testing the water for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. since the bacteria eat ammonia and nitrite and convert them to nitrate, your water (if you have fish in there) should test for 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and any amount of nitrate. then you do water changes to keep nitrates under 20ppm.
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im still a little unclear about the process of how to do a fishless cylce,but that is what i want to do.without an amonia source how will i know if the tank is ready for fish?what can i do to speed up this process besides using an old filter pad?how long will this take...jack the ripper is getting more aggresive with the other fish by the day.
 
Search Google for " Fishless Cycle ". There is a ton of pages on the subject and process. Honestly, the fastest way to go would be a combo of fishless cycling along with BioSpira. I am hearing that BioSpira has been discontinued, but I am aware of another product of similar repute. I'll have to look it up later.
If you're doing a fishless cycle I would guesstimate 3 weeks or so before you test 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and some nitrate.
Cycling is a patience game. If you're afraid for your fish are going to die if you don't act, first try to convince your LFS or another aquarist you trust to house your aggressive fish until the cycle is through. If that's not possible, move him or the rest of the tank into the new one and start water changes daily or more depending on your ammonia and nitrite levels. You may not get them to 0 consistently, but you have to try. This will probably extend the cycle time.
 
Having a bio-wheel would prevent you from killing off your bacteria every time you change the filter cartridge. But you should know that there are a large amount of bacteria living on your decorations and in your gravel. You should only be having mini-cycles due to the bacteria removed by your filter change otherwise everyone's fish would die after every media change.

BTW cycle is complete garbage. You are better off using prime, or getting the real stuff like bio-spira (no longer in production so grab some if you need it. ^ month shelf life if store properly)
 
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