Fish-in Cycling

[Scates11]

If you didn't move the old media over to the new filter, then yes, you restarted when you switched filters.

I didnt because it was a different style filter, i bought the Aqua Clear 70 and replaced the silly kit pump and filter so the existing filter would not have fit...i only lost 8 days so I am not to worried, I was hoping some of the bacteria would have started to build in the substrate but oh well.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The amount in the substrate is negligible compared to the filter, except in an undergravel filter, where the substrate IS the filter.

 

[snazy]

If you didn't move the old media over to the new filter, then yes, you restarted when you switched filters.

I didnt because it was a different style filter, i bought the Aqua Clear 70 and replaced the silly kit pump and filter so the existing filter would not have fit...i only lost 8 days so I am not to worried, I was hoping some of the bacteria would have started to build in the substrate but oh well.

That definately started the cycle from scratch so you're 8 days less into the cycle, roughly 3 weeks max based on your previous comments. If you are doing regular water changes to keep the ammonia as low as possible, you are also removing any nitrItes that you may not have even noticed appearing. In rare cases, especially in a fish-in cycle you may not get a big spike of nitrItes or it may not be too long. The last two fish in cycles I did had a nitrIte spike of just a few days before all ammonia/nitrIte bottomed out to constant 0s. So it depends. In other cases, it just takes a lot longer than normal to get to nitrIte stage and the cycle is longer than normal. I couldn't be bothered doing a fish-in cycle anymore breaking my back and wasting my time to do water changes just for the sake of seeing fish in the tank, most of which may be permanently damaged by the ammonia, even the low levels are if not lethal, damaging in the long term except for the lucky ones.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

BTW, you can always add a different media to a filter for the benefit of the biofilter. It won't capture the bits in the water properly, but it will process ammonia. Aquarists starting new tanks with mature tanks always steal some media from the established tank to speed up the process. Of course, an 8 day old filter isn't exactly mature, so it's not a big concern.


In my own case, in about a week, I'll be stocking my 110 gallon tank with about 20 bloodfin tetras. Sounds like a lot, right? Not really. I have a fully stocked 56 gallon tank at home (ironically it has the exact same media for the filters) and I can take 1/3 of the media and be 'instantly' cycled for about 3/4 of the initial stock. The rest of the cycling process will be done "fish-in". I'll be testing the water daily and completing any water changes necessary. But, honestly, I'm not expecting to need to do any, because of the huge volume of water compared to the initial stock. I will also be monitoring my established tank, but again, I don't expect any issues. I have two filters running on that tank, and taking roughly half the media from that tank shouldn't cause a problem. I'll do my standard water change the next day anyway, just to be safe, but there should be no trace of ammonia in either tank.

 

[#1 Fish Fan]

Sounds like a good guide! Keep up the good work.

 

[longy1989]

found this very helpfull as im currently setting up a new tank 

 

[BamBeckham]

Hi, I just did a water changes around 60-70% because of ammonia reading too high near 3.0ppm. Then change the water, the ammonia test show decreasing to 1.0ppm but still dangerous to my fish. What should I do? Do I need to re change a gain the water?
 
Thanks
Bam

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yes.  Change another 60-80% to bring the levels down even lower.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

eagle- why not dose ammonia for a week or so and get it even more cycled? I bet you can get it pumped up that fast esp since you can dose to 3 ppm once and likely do the job, twice at best- and I best the doses are going to be about 4 days apart, maybe 5- the 2nd will vanish fast.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Are you referring to this post?
 

BTW, you can always add a different media to a filter for the benefit of the biofilter. It won't capture the bits in the water properly, but it will process ammonia. Aquarists starting new tanks with mature tanks always steal some media from the established tank to speed up the process. Of course, an 8 day old filter isn't exactly mature, so it's not a big concern.


In my own case, in about a week, I'll be stocking my 110 gallon tank with about 20 bloodfin tetras. Sounds like a lot, right? Not really. I have a fully stocked 56 gallon tank at home (ironically it has the exact same media for the filters) and I can take 1/3 of the media and be 'instantly' cycled for about 3/4 of the initial stock. The rest of the cycling process will be done "fish-in". I'll be testing the water daily and completing any water changes necessary. But, honestly, I'm not expecting to need to do any, because of the huge volume of water compared to the initial stock. I will also be monitoring my established tank, but again, I don't expect any issues. I have two filters running on that tank, and taking roughly half the media from that tank shouldn't cause a problem. I'll do my standard water change the next day anyway, just to be safe, but there should be no trace of ammonia in either tank.

 
 
That was  ~6 months ago, and that was the tank that had all those issues.  I actually dosed 3ppm for a month, as we had trouble getting the bloodfins when we wanted, but that turned out to be the easiest issue to deal with...  By the time the bloodfins came the tank was fully cycled...

 

[TwoTankAmin]

oops sorry  my bad- saw a post in new posts and scrolled up to get background and never looked at the dates
 
I must be getting old.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Nah, we all do that sometimes.    Being tired is the more likely culprit.

 

[BamBeckham]

Yes.  Change another 60-80% to bring the levels down even lower.

Thanks to you Eaglesaquarium. I did the water changes again 1 more time & the ammonia decrease to 0.25. This morning when I woke up, I do 1 more check & found the ammonia rise a bit to 1.0 but the Nitrite still in 0. I did the water changes around 50% & the ammonia become less than 0.25.
 
So in the time on cycling, I need to keep the ammonia & Nitrite less than 0.25 to make sure it doesn't effect my fish.
 
The questions is, how long the bacteria will produced to get Nitrite up?
 
Do I need to clean the filter or leave it there until there are bacteria?
 
Thanks

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Leave the filter alone. 
 
How long?  It depends.  6 weeks, maybe longer. 

What's your pH?

 

[Smelliot]

Intresting