yeah i understand guys.. its been a few days not that iv set up the tank and had no fishies in it.. its given me the time to think of my stock and get the plants, driftwood, and rocks in order..
patience is golden
patience is golden
Which fish to choose to help kickstart freshwater cycling phase
- Thread starter tigerbarb88
- Start date
I don't know if you planned to have them or not, but a few hardy snails could help the process along. If a local shop will give you some ramshorns/pond snails/mts, you would toss them in. So long as the water is not toxic, it shouldn't hurt them. The only problem is, if you don't want snails, you'd have them forever.
no, no, honey... silence is golden; patience is a virg- i mean, virtue.
Lol!
same thing.. :duh:
The problem with putting fish into an uncycled tank is they create a lot of ammonia, and there is little bacteria to eat it up. Once a tank is cycled, you essentially have the amount of good bacteria you need to eat what ammonia is produced.
Thus, once your tank is cycled, you can start adding fish. Just be careful: if you add too many at once, you end up creating more ammonia than there is bacteria to eat it again. So you go slow: a cycled tank will produce more bacteria to handle the load quicker than an uncycled tank.
So, snails don't creat a ton of ammonia, unless you have a ton of snails. Plus, they are pretty tough little buggers. Putting a few snails in will create small, steady supplies of ammonia that will give the bacteria somethin to eat, resulting in a smoother bacteria colony growth. Once your tank is cycled then, you can start adding in your fish.
The only problem with smaller snails is that they tend to reproduce like crazy. You can control it by feeding less, killing/removing them by hand or stocking fish that eat snails.
It all depends on what you want. If you like snails, which do have their useful functions in an aquarium, then get a few from your local store. They tend to consider them pests and will often give them away. I like malaysian trumpet snails (MTS) and ramshorns best. They are neat to watch and eat leftover food.
If you like large snails, a mystery snail might be a good purchase, but I've never kept them, so I don't know how they would handle an uncycled tank.
Thus, once your tank is cycled, you can start adding fish. Just be careful: if you add too many at once, you end up creating more ammonia than there is bacteria to eat it again. So you go slow: a cycled tank will produce more bacteria to handle the load quicker than an uncycled tank.
So, snails don't creat a ton of ammonia, unless you have a ton of snails. Plus, they are pretty tough little buggers. Putting a few snails in will create small, steady supplies of ammonia that will give the bacteria somethin to eat, resulting in a smoother bacteria colony growth. Once your tank is cycled then, you can start adding in your fish.
The only problem with smaller snails is that they tend to reproduce like crazy. You can control it by feeding less, killing/removing them by hand or stocking fish that eat snails.
It all depends on what you want. If you like snails, which do have their useful functions in an aquarium, then get a few from your local store. They tend to consider them pests and will often give them away. I like malaysian trumpet snails (MTS) and ramshorns best. They are neat to watch and eat leftover food.
If you like large snails, a mystery snail might be a good purchase, but I've never kept them, so I don't know how they would handle an uncycled tank.
You can use Tetra Safestart or Seachem Stability to cycle a tank with fish and probably not harm the fish as long as the product works for you.
I used Stability and in one week my readings were 0/0/5 and have remained there even after I stopped using the product (you use SafeStart one time, Stability for seven days). Of course my nitrates go up but I do water changes to keep them low. Some here (and on other forums) don't think they work but it did for me. If you do some searching you will find others that have successfully used the products. Stability was $6, so about twice the price of a bottle of ammonia. Safestart for a 10 gallon is I think around $10.
The process is simple, add a few fish (I added three to my 29 gallon), follow the product instructions and test the water daily. Just like a fishless cycle once you have constant good readings you have to add new fish in small numbers so the good bacteria have a change to grow.
I used Stability and in one week my readings were 0/0/5 and have remained there even after I stopped using the product (you use SafeStart one time, Stability for seven days). Of course my nitrates go up but I do water changes to keep them low. Some here (and on other forums) don't think they work but it did for me. If you do some searching you will find others that have successfully used the products. Stability was $6, so about twice the price of a bottle of ammonia. Safestart for a 10 gallon is I think around $10.
The process is simple, add a few fish (I added three to my 29 gallon), follow the product instructions and test the water daily. Just like a fishless cycle once you have constant good readings you have to add new fish in small numbers so the good bacteria have a change to grow.
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