More cycling questions

[frannyscho]

Am I nearly there yet with these readings?

Ammonia - between the 1.2 and the 1.8 colour bands
Nitrit - 0.2
Nitrate - 8

(done before a 20% water change with a liquid nutrifin tester kit.)


Also another separate cycling question...this may be naive...(and I'm not doing it yet)...but...

If a small tank has cycled, and you want to put the fish in a bigger tank, can you take out the old gravel, filter etc and put them into the new tank? And then would the new tank be immeadiately cycled because the right bacteria were there in the filter and the gravel?... or has that only cycled the smaller amount of water, and therefore would you have to cycle the new tank separately first because it has more in?

Does that make sense?

 

[Torrean]

to your second question. The tank will be cycled for that amount of fish that were in the smaller tank. If you want to add more fish to the new tank you should wait for whatever minicycle may happen and then add fish slowly. (I think i am right about this)

 

[cheekeyarab]

My guess with regards to your readings is that you are getting there. The bacteria needed are obviously presents as you have nitrates. Wait for Ammonia and Nitrite to reach 0 and you're done. How long this will take is difficult to say but keeping up with water changes should speed things up a bit.

What do you intend to put in there when you're done and how big is your tank?

 

[frannyscho]

B)
I haven't got a new tank yet. I am waiting for a big one to materialise on e-bay or from somebodies attic. Why is it that only after you have bought a tank - everyone says
"oh I wish you had told me coz I've got one I don't use"...

...I'm waiting for that and for my tank to finish cycling.

I want to put bristlenose pleco fry in from the nursery schools' tank. Theirs have been breeding like crazy, I shall swap them for my Molly fry coz my Mollys been doing the same.

So far it looks to be a beginners crew of

Bristlenose pleco, Balloon Molly, Platy

I like cardinal tetras because they are pretty, and there are alot of suggestions on another thread of mine, but I haven't looked up about their care yet. Also I think I read that tetras are very water sensitive. So more types of fish better be later when I have learnt a bit more.

I expect I will stick to easycare fish in case the children overfeed or get upset over deaths.

 

[rdd1952]

...I'm waiting for that and for my tank to finish cycling.

I like cardinal tetras because they are pretty, and there are alot of suggestions on another thread of mine, but I haven't looked up about their care yet. Also I think I read that tetras are very water sensitive. So more types of fish better be later when I have learnt a bit more.

Are you doing a fishless cycle? If so, how high was the ammonia when you first put iit in the tank. To do a complete fishless cycle, you show start with ammonia in the 5 to 6 ppm range and then wait on it to drop. Since your ammonia is only at 1.2 to 1.8 with a very low nitrite reading, I'm thinking you didn't start with the ammonia high enough. You need to bump the ammonia up to about 5 or 6 and then see what happens. Otherwise, you will end up with a tank that is cycled for only a partial fish load.

As for tetras, neons and cardinals are delicate and need very good water conditions. Most of the other tetras are very hardy. Red-eyes, serpaes, pristellas are all good beginner fish.

 

[frannyscho]

Sadly not a fishless cycle. I am near the end (I hope) of new tank syndrome. See my RIP's, but there are 7 fry now, so the water can't be too bad I suppose, they are still alive...so far...

I just fed them frozen bloodworms, the Platy has been quite wild about them. Mollys not too bothered, and too silly to realise there are more at the bottom. Fry are having a valiant go, very funny as the bloodworms are many times their size.

I love my fry....