Cycling for a first timer

[James Turner]

Hi all,

Firstly, this is my first post so I apologise if I'm posting this in the wrong section!

I'm new to keeping fish, and I'm currently cycling my tank without fish. When I say cycling, I mean I've set the tank up and switched the filter on. It's been on for a day and I intend to leave for another couple of days before I add in the fish... Unless I'm told otherwise in here.

I've read a lot on this forum about cycling but I haven't found what I need... Basic advice on the steps of cycling from the beginning, and what things I would need to buy. At the moment the only things I have are the tank, the filter and some ornaments and fake plants. I'd be very grateful for some dumbed down advice on how to cycle to someone who is completely new.

At the moment my tank water has turned milky cloudy after 24 of being left with just the filters running. I read this could be a bacteria bloom?
Also, I haven't put any gravel or sand down as I think it will be easier to clean.

I'm very open to any advice on how to proceed, and if I'm doing it all wrong please do tell me, I want my fish to be healthy from the start.

Thank you!
James.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Cycling an aquarium generally means getting beneficial filter bacteria to grow in the filters before fish are added to the aquarium. This usually takes about 4-5 weeks and entails adding something that produces ammonia. You can use a bit of fish food, raw fish or prawn, or you can buy liquid ammonia and add a small amount of that. Some pet shops sell bottle of liquid ammonia designed for cycling marine aquariums and this is ideal. Or you can look for ammonia at a supermarket or hardware store and use that. If you get ammonia from a hardware or supermarket, make sure it doesn't have anything added to the ammonia, you just want a plain old boring liquid ammonia.

When you have the ammonia source, you add a small amount to the aquarium and then use an ammonia test kit to monitor the ammonia levels. After the tank has had ammonia in for a few weeks a group of bacteria develop in the filter and they eat the ammonia and convert it into nitrite. A couple of weeks later more bacteria appear and they eat the nitrite and convert it into nitrate.

When the ammonia & nitrite levels have both gone up and come back down to 0, and the nitrate level starts to go up, the filter is classes as cycled and you can then add fish. This is known as a fishless cycle because no fish were in the tank while the filters developed the good bacteria.

If you don't want to do a fishless cycle, you get the pH of the water to 7.0 and add a couple of cheap fish and feed them a couple of times a week. You then monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels in the tank and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate if you get any ammonia or nitrite readings. This is known as a fish in cycle because fish are living in the tank while the filter develops the good bacteria. A word of caution, fish that are in an aquarium that has ammonia or nitrite or even high nitrate levels can suffer and may not live as long as fish that are not exposed to these chemicals.

There is more info on cycling aquariums at the following link
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/

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re: not having sand or gravel on the floor of the aquarium. Fish feel a lot more secure if they have something on the bottom of the tank. You can use sand or gravel, whichever you prefer. To clean the substrate you use a basic model gravel cleaner like the one in the following link. You use the gravel clean each time you do a water change and it will let you clean the gunk out of the gravel while you drain some water out of the tank.

There are clips on youtube that show how to use a gravel cleaner or ask your local pet shop to show you how they work. If you have any issues with the shop showing you, let me know and I can describe it in detail.
https://www.about-goldfish.com/aquarium-cleaning.html

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You should get a couple of new buckets and use a permanent marker to write "FISH ONLY" on the them. Keep the buckets purely for the fish and never let anyone use them for anything except the fish. Likewise do not use any buckets from around the house if they have been used for cleaning products.

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What sort of filter do you have on the tank?
Some filters come with an ammonia absorbing granule and it looks like a chalky white gravel. This usually has a white powder on it that should be rinsed off before it is put in the filter. The powder might be causing the cloudy water and it should clear over a few days. If it doesn't, you can change most of the water in the tank and that should get rid of the cloudiness.

 

[James Turner]

Thank you! This is very helpful.

Ok, I'm going to cycling without fish I think, so I won't put any fish in tomorrow as planned - it'll of been running for three days by that point.

I'll head down and buy some ammonia, gravek and water testing kits tomorrow instead.

The filter I have is the ciano CF40. It came with the tank. The tank is 22L.

 

[Colin_T]

If you buy test kits, try to get liquid test kits because they are more accurate than paper strip test kits.

Check the expiry date on the test kits and make sure they have not expired and are not going to expire in the next few months.

Don't buy test kits that are kept in a warm place like a fish room or in front of a window.

Keep test kits in a cool dry dark place. I kept mine in a plastic icecream container with lid and had it on the bottom shelf in the fridge.

The chemicals in test kits are pretty toxic so don't let children or animals have access to them, and rinse the test phials out after using them, and wash your hands with soapy water after doing tests.

The main test kits that you want are: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & pH. If you can get general hardness (GH) and carbonate hardness (KH) they are also useful but not necessary for cycling an aquarium.

If you can't afford the test kits (they can be pricey), ask the pet shop if they do water tests. Most pet shops test aquarium water for customers, some do it for free and some charge a small fee to cover the cost of the kits they use.

To get water tested at the pet shop, take a glass full of tank water to them and when they test it, write the results down on some paper and post them here. Test results will be something like the following: ammonia 0.25ppm, nitrite 0.5ppm, nitrate 25ppm, pH 7.4, general hardness (GH) 150ppm (or it might be 16dgh), carbonate hardness 120ppm.

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If your tank is only 22 litres, is there any chance you can get a bigger tank?
I ask because a 22 litre tank is pretty small and limits you quite a lot when it comes to fish you can keep in it.

Because the tank has only had water in it, if you drain it, dry it and take it back to the pet shop, you should be able to get a bigger tank and that will give you more options as to what fish you can keep. The minimum size tank you want is about 40 litres (2ft long x 10inches wide x 12 inches high), or bigger if possible.

 

[James Turner]

This is really helpful, thank you.

I've went out and bought the water testing kit (not the strip kind) and at the moment the the nitrite and nitrate levels are fine, ammonia is high because I've just added it in liquid form. The GH and KH are ok but at a level that needs continuous monitoring. Is there a way to bring these two to a safe level?

I don't think I can get a bigger tank, sadly. There's only once place in my flat where it can realistically go. I intend to only keep a small number of small fish. I'm paying attention to the amount of space per fish level as well.

What do you make of moss balls? Are they good for the tank? I might introduce one once I've introduced 1 or 2 fish in the tank for a couple of weeks. The plants I have are fake and I think it could be good to put a live plant in.

 

[Essjay]

This is the best method for fish cycling with ammonia http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/
Notice that you add ammonia to give a reading of 3 ppm to start the cycle, no higher. If yours is higher than 3, you'll need to do a water change to get it down to 3.
This method is different from most other websites; with those you end up with so much nitrite that the cycle stalls. The method on here was written so that if you follow the instructions to the letter, nitrite can never get high enough to stall the cycle.

As for a 22 litre tank, the only fish I can think of that would be OK in that size is one betta (Siamese fighting fish) if you have soft water or a dwarf puffer if you have hard water. Or a shrimp colony.
Apart from bettas and puffers, even the tiniest shoaling fish need a tank at least 45 cm long x 30 cm wide. Larger fish like neon tetras need at least 60 cm length.

Live plants are better than fake, but more than just moss balls which are in fact a type of algae. Add the plants once the cycle is finished as most plants do not like a lot of ammonia in the water. To start with you could try something simple such as Java fern attached to a piece of wood. Some shops will sell this wood/plant combination ready prepared, or just use a length of thread to hold the Java fern in place till it attaches itself.

 

[Colin_T]

What were the actual results for the GH and KH?

You can add Rift Lake conditioners to increase the GH & KH but it depends on the fish you plan on keeping and how hard the water currently is. If the water is soft (has a GH less than 150ppm) we would recommend staying with soft water fishes. If the GH is above 200ppm we would suggest hard water fish.

 

[seangee]

A shrimp colony would be a great idea. I always thought they would be boring but now that I have a shrimp tank I spend more time watching them than my fish.