Fishless cycling

MamaPish

Fishaholic
Joined
Feb 21, 2003
Messages
477
Reaction score
0
Location
Miserable Wells, Texas
GREAT FORUM!!


I am currently doing a fishless cycle on a 29 gal.....should I have the carbon filters in place? :huh: Or is this slowing the process.
TY

:D
 
In my experience there is no need for carbon whilst doing a fishless cycle. Carbon is an absorbitive material with mega pores to capture impurities. Dependant on what you have in your tank whilst going through your cycling process will determine your absorbtion needs. The main job of carbon is to remove ammonia, if you have no fish and you are not "peeing" in the water :lol: there's no need for carbon.
 
Although you need ammonia for cycling:

NH3/NH4+ -> (nitrosomonas) => NO2- -> (nitrobacter) => NO3-

Without "food" bacteria don't live and/or increase and is useless to cycle :rolleyes:
 
Most fish keepers will use carbon in their filter after completing chemical treatment for aliments such as ich or fin rot. Carbon is made for filtering chemicals out of the water, something that foam is too coarse to do

Best to just use the foam pads that come with the filter, and let the tank cycle as naturally as possible, as this is how your tank should be run on a day-to-day basis
 
For a fishless cycle you'll need something in the tank as MrV says to make ammonia (most people simply use fish and do a fish cycle :) )

You can buy pure ammonia from shops but make sure it is not scented as that will pollute your tank! I've never done one myself but you add a small amount each day and do tests for ammonia and nitrite and nitrate. You need to test pretty much every day or every other day, after 2 weeks your tank will be cycled (much quicker than using fish) and also the once cycled you can add all the fish your tank will hold with no ill affects, no need to wait for the bacteria to build up. I kind of like stocking up slowly though and don't mind sitting around for a month with just a handful of fish - if you do it with small numbers then the ammonia/nitrIte levels will not ever get high enough to harm them :) :thumbs:
 
If and when you add NH3, remember to change water at least 75% before you put any fish into the tank. Check nitrite and ammonia first (they must be 0mg/l both and nitrate under 10mg/l). It usually takes 2-4 weeks, when new aquarium is working ok. It depends do you put any bacteria in the beginning. Nitrobacteria increase very slowly. First signs of cycling is that nitrite level increase. After that nitrate level increase too.. When cycling is ok, there is nitrite level 0mg/l although you add ammonia and nitrate seems to increase. Then it's working ok.
 
ok....now I am really confused!!!

I add some flakes, brine shrimp to the tank a couple of times a day....and I actually have a guppy in there right now, but just put her it in a couple days ago, she was about to pop, but she ate the babies, so I will be putting her back in the other tank because the ammonia is up, but so far but nothing else...

I didn't have carbon in until I put the guppy in, I have taken it out now...I have been using stress zyme to help w/ bacteria.
 
Mama

Good luck with your fishless cycle. I did one too and it worked out great. I had no beneficial bacteria to start with, but completed the cycle in 14 days.

The only thing I see in one of your posts was that you use some food to cycle it in. I know there doesnt seem to be "the right or wrong amount" but out of experience I must have been the one that used to much food. I ended up with a swarm of planaria and had to knock the blooming down before the fish were added as the quantity was just too much from other posts that I had read. I just thought I'd mention it.

Good Luck again with your tank........Keep up the good work.....OH :thumbs: and glad you are here :nod:
 
ok, i am curently cyclying my tank (fishless used fish food)... I am using my magnum 350 with the carbon... so I should be using the paper filter that came with it? I was under the impression this was used for polishing...
thanks
 
I am currently preparing to do a fishless cycle on my tank. I'm going to be using a cultured filter. That should help with the good bacteria, right? Just want to make sure before I go ahead and start.

Gabe
 
The best way to tell if your tank is cycled - regardless of method - is to carry out regular/daily testing of the water and once ammonia and then nitrite have 'spiked' and then returned to zero then the process is finished.

Gabe when you say a 'cultured filter' do you mean one from an established tank? If this is added to a 'new' tank you may still suffer a 'mini' cycle. The benificial bacteria live not only in the filter but the whole tank, water,substrate, gravel, decor etc.


:)
 
wet, I did mean a filter from an established tank. I assumed I would still have to go through the cycle period and hadn't planned on adding fish until I was sure the cycle was done. I just wanted to make sure that using a filter from an established tank would help things along and not mess up the cycle period. I don't want to risk losing my fish, so I'm doing a fishless cycle. I plan on taking the filter I am using on my current tank and placing it in the new tank(I have a back up for my current tank) and hoped it would help cycle faster. Thanks for the info!

Gabe
 
Gabe, this should speed the cycle period - but how long it will take ??

Regular testing for any ammonia/nitrite spikes will be required - though these may be hard to spot. Remember to use treated water and 'feed' the filter bacteria (eg. some flake food every day or so).

While you're waiting you can organise your decor and plants.


hth


:)
 
wet, thanks for the advice. I have some food that I got with my one gallon that I bought as a holding tank. I don't really trust the food and won't feed it to my fish, but I will use it for cycling my tank lol. And as soon as my income tax comes in I will be running to the store to buy my test kits. Oh, how often do you have to test for amonia and nitrItes while cycling? Thanks again! The tank I will be cycling is 15 US gallons.

Gabe
 
Using the established filter there is no way of telling how long the cycle will take (usually 4-6 weeks) so I 'd test daily. When the nitrite and ammonia levels have risen and then dropped back to zero, the tank is considered cycled and should be able to cope with some fish. :)



:)
 

Most reactions

trending

Members online

Back
Top