Hi there i am into the third day of my tropical fish tank hobby. I have 2-ft tank with a elite stingray 10 filter and a heater. I have also de-chlorinated my water and it has now reached 25 degrees Celsius for the last day and is stable. I also have the gravel in the tank and light. I am going today to buy some ornaments for it should i buy some live plants? Also shall i buy 2 hardy fish maybe a zebra or guppies or mollies to start the nitrogen cycle off i hear that these fish can withstand any water straightaway please help?

Hi, fletch.
Why not do a fishless cycle?
http://www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...shless-Cycling/

This way you harm no fish while maturing your aquarium.

Definately add plants as not only do they look cool they also consume both nitrate and phospate which would otherwise be used by unsightly algae.

Please dont use fish to cycle your tank, use a cycling product and follow the manufacturers directions. Its far too cruel and stressful on the fish to use them to cycle a tank, how would you like to be stuck in a room for a couple of weeks with no toilet or fresh air? Let your filters mature before adding any fish to your tank, and dont forget to do regular water changes when they are in there.

If you must put fish in as they are highly susceptible to nitrogenous compounds.

Hi xoxfletchxox

Welcome to the forum!

It sounds like you've been doing a little reading already. If so, you will know that now is the time to make a very important decision. Will you do the traditional "cycle with fish" or do the safer "fishless cycle?" Like many of the other folks who are just starting up tanks, you seem to be leaning toward doing it with fish.

Just in case you don't completely understand what you are going to be doing to make the tank habitable for fish, let me briefly explain it.

Basically you will be taking steps toward establishing a colony of "Beneficial Bacteria" that will consume the raw ammonia produced by the fish in their wastes. This ammonia is very harmful to them. The first bacteria that will arrive during cycling will begin to consume the ammonia and turn it into nitrIte in their wastes. That's harmful to fish too, but gets things ready to attract the third type of beneficial bacteria to setup housekeeping in your tank. These are the ones that consume the NitrIte and convert it to the NitrAte. This is much less harmful to fish and if the amount is kept low by doing regular partial water changes, will cause no problem at all.

The establishment of such a colony of Beneficial Bacteria is called cycling. As you can see, it can be started by using a few fish. It takes a number of weeks to complete and during this time these fish are living in a nasty environment. It's possible they might die or have their lifetime shortened because of this.

There is also a process that accomplishes the same thing, but is done without using fish, but rather by pouring ammonia into the tank and monitoring the results. Since there are no fish involved, many people find it the more humane way to go.

There is also a third way, and this is the easiest. If you have a friend with a tank, they could give you some media from their filter. This is laden with all kinds of beneficial bacteria and if you added some to your tank, you could immediately add a few fish. It would make your tank instantly cycled. After that, by adding just a few fish at a time so the bacteria could increase naturally, you would be all set.

If you choose to do the Fishless Cycle, there are a number of good members on this forum who would be happy to guide you through.

Good luck to you with your new hobby!

I have just started working at a pet store. could i take some water or bacteria from there and add it to my tank then add fish say 30 mins later? how would i go about doin it?

Hi,
Congrats on your new job I would take some mature media from one of your employers tanks (not water as it has little bactirial value) and add it to your filter. I would then carry out a fishless cycle, to be on the safe side. Things can happen to the media in transit, caursing a bactiria die off, thus endangering the fish. Also, it is unlikely that the new media will contain enough bactiria to support a fully stocked tank right off the bat. A fishless cycle enures that the bactiria can handle the load, and proves that nothing happened to the media during transit. Mature media will greatly cut the time spent waiting for your tank to cycle, often down to less than a week, and give the added advantage of being able to add all your fish at once.

HTH
Rabbut

Hi xoxfletchxox

Beneficial bacteria lives by clinging to surfaces. Very little of it is floating free in the water, so don't even consider that. All surfaces in a tank, including the gravel, glass, plants and decorations, support a small amount of beneficial bacteria, but most of them will be found on the many surfaces provided by the filter media.

If you take some of this filter material from one tank, and move it to another, it will immediately be able to support the same number of fish as were in the tank it came from. If there are fewer fish in the second tank, the extra bacteria will not have enough food to sustain them and will simply die off with no harm done. If the second tank has more fish than the first, the bacteria will have an abundance of food and will reproduce themselves to the level that will be needed to consume it. There is no need to do further cycling or add any chemicals except for dechlorinator, but be sure there are fish present to begin creating food for them.

Since there is no way of knowing just how much bacteria is on any given bit of filter material, be sure to get enough of it to start out. Beneficial bacteria will begin to die off quickly without a good supply of oxygen and food, so be prepared to move it quickly, and keep it under water at all times.

The filter system at the store might be different from yours, but if it uses any kind of filter floss or filter pads, something can be worked out to transfer it to your type of system. Perhaps you can tell us something more about this.

I would strongly urge you to start out with only a few fish and let them settle in before adding more. A big part of fishkeeping fun is doing research, finding out just what kinds of fish really interest you, learning to create the perfect environment and finally finding them. Don't be too quick to buy just any fish to fill your tank. Once you have them, like any other living creature, you are responsible for their well being.