Uncycled Tank: Add 6 fish & do many partial water changes?

Fishman37

Fishman37

Beginner Aquarist
Jun 13, 2006
13
0
0
VA
I have a 55 gallon tank thats been set up for a week. I don't have any fish and I wanted to cycle it with 6 or 5 swortails. If I change the water twice a day will it keep the ammonia and nitrate levels down? What about once a day? Will changing the water inhibat the bacteria growth?
 
Yes changing water slows down the cycling process. I would urge you to consider doing a fishless cycle. Its is faster, no fish suffer from it and when you are done you can add a full fish load right away.
 
Changing water slows down cycling in the sense that there is less ammonia in the water (otherwise the fish would die) for the developing bacteria to eat. A fishless cycle is the ideal, so I would go with that if you have the patience. I have had success with a fishless cycle before with minimum stress on the fish. If you think there will ever be a day where you won't have the time to drop everything and do a large water change because your ammonia spiked, then go with the fishless cycle. There were three or four nights in a row that I had to take an hour and do a 75% change to get my ammonia levels down. If you don't have the time for that or you think there will be even one day when you can't get home to do it for whatever reason, go with the fishless cycle.
 
Water changes do not reduce the speed that a tank cycles. The bacteria will continue to propagate in the presence of ammonia, regardless of amount. If you use Bio-Spira the cycle will occur much faster, or use Prime/Amquel to detox the ammonia. Having to do 75% water changes to get your ammonia levels are really a thing of the past if you look into modern technique. Granted a fishless cycle is awesome, but far from interesting. I very much like planted aquaria, so I always suggest a plant cycle by default. If the gadgets required to maintain healthy plants are out of your scope, and you're not inclined to look at an empty glass box of water for weeks, then a fish cycle is probably your only option. Get a bottle of Bio-Spira and a bottle of Prime. The Prime detoxifies NH3 to NH4+ which is still consumed by cycling bacteria, and the Bio-Spira will speed the process along significantly. If plants are a potential option, check the plant forum for info on what you need to get set up and going in the right direction.
 
Goatman:

Personally, I would never recommend a silent cycle to a newbie, but that's me.

As for the Bio Spira: Marineland has stated that they will not endorse the use of Amquel with Bio Spira. Prime, yes. Amquel or Amquel +, no. It took some prodding from me to get them to okay Prime, but they definitely said "no way" to Amquel. They would not divulge the reasons, however RTR has posted that Amquel can affect the pH which could adversely affect the bacteria.

Copies of the emails exchanged between Marineland Tech and myself can be found in this thread:

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65173&highlight=amquel+marineland

Actual information starts on page 2.

Roan
 
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first of all thank all of you for your help,

So, how about if I do the fishless cycle and add a steadily rising amount of ammonia to the tank to simulate more and more fish. When I get to the point of adding the same amount of ammonia equivalent to the amount that the 27 fish I want would give off, can I just put all of the fish in the tank (and stop adding the ammonia) since the bacteria has colonized already to support them?
 
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