Another Fishless Cycle Question

[frankiefj]

Hello everybody

Recently, our 7-year-old ranchu goldfish expired, sadly - but we now have an empty tank, and are thinking of using it for tropical fish. We've had tropical fish tanks in the past, but they've always been disastrous (poor fishies) - so this time we would really like to get it right, by doing a fishless cycle first.

I've tried searching around for all the information I can find - but am a little confused by it all. We have a 54L tank and a filter which has no markings on it (hub says it's an 'aqua 1') Would this filter be ok, do you think? We have a heater (not sure of make) and would just need to get a thermometer, gravel and plants to get it set up. Am I right that I then need some household ammonia (the type you can buy on amazon?), a dropper and ammonia, nitrate and nitrite test kits? Can you tell me how much ammonia I would need to add each day for this size tank?

Any advice would be grateful received. Thank you.

Frankie

 

[Skins]

Hello everybody

Recently, our 7-year-old ranchu goldfish expired, sadly - but we now have an empty tank, and are thinking of using it for tropical fish. We've had tropical fish tanks in the past, but they've always been disastrous (poor fishies) - so this time we would really like to get it right, by doing a fishless cycle first.

I've tried searching around for all the information I can find - but am a little confused by it all. We have a 54L tank and a filter which has no markings on it (hub says it's an 'aqua 1') Would this filter be ok, do you think? We have a heater (not sure of make) and would just need to get a thermometer, gravel and plants to get it set up. Am I right that I then need some household ammonia (the type you can buy on amazon?), a dropper and ammonia, nitrate and nitrite test kits? Can you tell me how much ammonia I would need to add each day for this size tank?

Any advice would be grateful received. Thank you.

Frankie

Is the filter you had for your Ranchu still in the tank?

Welcome to the forum, Keith.

 

[frankiefj]

Is the filter you had for your Ranchu still in the tank?

Welcome to the forum, Keith.
[/quote]

Hi Keith

Yes, it's the unmarked one. We probably need to change the sponge though (so no useful bacteria), because we're not sure if the ranchu was diseased.

Frankie

 

[Skins]

Keep the filter media, by all means clean the tank but you could really do with your filters media.
Is this tank going to house your tropicals?
Regarding test kit, look out for Api's freshwater master kit on ebay(£20)
Keith.

 

[frankiefj]

Keep the filter media, by all means clean the tank but you could really do with your filters media.
Is this tank going to house your tropicals?

Just worried that the media might contain something harmful - because our ranchu was fine and then deteriorated very quickly.

Yes, this would be the tank to house our tropicals. I know it's very small!

Frankie

 

[Skins]

Keep the filter media, by all means clean the tank but you could really do with your filters media.
Is this tank going to house your tropicals?

Just worried that the media might contain something harmful - because our ranchu was fine and then deteriorated very quickly.

Yes, this would be the tank to house our tropicals. I know it's very small!

Frankie

I would be inclined to keep the media and for now until you re-stock put a pinch of fish food daily into the tank, rotting fish food will feed the bacteria that has colonised in your filters media. You could also set your heater up and get the tank up to temp, the bacterias you want to remove toxins out of your tanks water chemistry respond better to higher temps.

Keep us posted, Keith.

 

[frankiefj]

Thank you so much!

We now have our small tank set up and I'm putting in a pinch of fishfood each day. I've ordered some ammonia (had to get it online as they didn't have any in our local Boots ...) so,when that arrives, I'll add a couple of drops and keep testing.

I'm already thinking about fish, of course! We'd like peaceful fish: perhaps a small shoal of small fish (not sure which), a couple corys, a couple shrimp and one larger fish - perhaps a gourami? Would these work in a 56L tank? I love tiger barbs, but realise the tank is probably too small for several and that they're aggresive if not kept in shoals. Our Ph is 7.6 - would this be an issue?

Thanks again - will keep you posted!