Arrrggghhhh What's Cycling, New Tank And I've Already Got Fish

[dbanbery]

i have been told using a cheap bottled water from the supermarket is better than using tap water as it is more constant and does not have chlorine. is this a good idea? with cycling, i have a cycled tank now with some filter media from my 20litre tank and i'm in the process of setting up a 60 litre tank [previous one is too small] i sort of messed up with trying to fishless cycle the tank by using fish food instead of ammonia, and it ended up getting a bit polluted when i overstocked it. aiming to do a bit better this time around.

 

[OldMan47]

The bottled water varies a lot from place to place but, in the US, it is almost devoid of all minerals so it is a terrible choice for fish. I have no idea the mineral content of the bottled water in the UK so I cannot advise on that. Over here tap water would be much better than bottled water because it will have some mineral content to start with. Only fish that need a high mineral content, like African cichlids, might need some more added.

 

[Amberleaf]

Thanks for this!

What do you mean by putting "mature media" in the tank....? Do you mean cutting off a piece of that sponge in the filter and then adding it to the filter....? Sorry, very VERY clueless, but I need a sponge-filtered tank to keep my soon-to-be-born fry in within the next few days (a 5-gallon), and I'm rather clueless. XD

 

[waterdrop]

Thanks for this!

What do you mean by putting "mature media" in the tank....? Do you mean cutting off a piece of that sponge in the filter and then adding it to the filter....? Sorry, very VERY clueless, but I need a sponge-filtered tank to keep my soon-to-be-born fry in within the next few days (a 5-gallon), and I'm rather clueless. XD

Yes, you've got it. Media (sponge, ceramic rings, ceramic gravel, etc.) that has been in a filter that has been cycled (has had the two specific species of bacteria grown in it such that it has now formed what we call a "biofilter" is removed from this "cycled" filter and placed inside a new filter, right up against the biomedia in the new filter. Never take more than 1/3 of the mature media in a running filter or it might have trouble handling the existing tank that still has fish. Often you have to be creative to make it work. You might have to cut sponges with scissors or stuff loose mature media into areas of the new filter where its hard to fit.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[howard_hopkinson]

Why the heck do members insist on clicking the quote button rather than the reply button?

There is absolutely no point in quoting the post above your own unless you're only replying to a specific section, in which case you would only quote that section rather than the whole post.

Unnecessary quoting not only makes a thread look untidy, but is totally unnecessary.

 

[OldMan47]

Why the heck do members insist on clicking the quote button rather that the reply button?

There is absolutely no point in quoting the post above your own unless you're only replying to a specific section, in which case you would only quote that section rather than the whole post.

Unnecessary quoting not only makes a thread look untidy, but is totally unnecessary.

I don't know what you mean Howard. I never noticed that button before, LOL.

 

[Minsc]

As a new fish owner, I just wanted to say thanks to the original poster for taking the time to write the article.
Much appreciated.

p.s. Loads of useful info in the follow up post also, thanks.

 

[OldMan47]

Miss Wiggle is well respected around here and was once the only person doing much advising in this section. I have not noticed her on here in quite a while. Right before she stopped showing up as often, she got a new job and said she expected it to interfere somewhat. I guess it interfered more than she anticipated.

 

[rebrn]

Hi Miss Wiggle

Great post. Just a few things.

1. You mentioned the API kit is available everywhere in the UK. Just an FYI, it is also the perferred kit at the majority of the stores here in the US as well, espically the larger chains. Just thought you might want to add that just in case newbies (like myself) think it is not available in the US. Also, you might want to mention that the Hagen Nutrafin test seem to be preferred in Canada (I have friends in Canada that have a hard time finding API kits there, they always have to buy the Hagen Nutrafin kits)

2. pH should be greater than 5. This is really just a clarification for myself. I read, I think on this fourm (can't remember for sure though) that the bacteria growth stalls at a pH of 6. So, just to clarify for myself is it 5 or 6?

3. You mention a small amount of bacteria in a tank... "The problem starts because when you add fish to your tank you will have a very very small amount of bacteria, ..." as a beginner this is a little confusing to me as I always thought a new tank/filter would have NO bacteria. Please correct me if I am wrong.

4. Also just a claification for my self ... you mention 1 inch of fish/US gallon. I always thought it was 2 inches of fish/US gallon. Please correct me if I am wrong. I have planned my tanks on the generalized 2" of fish/ US gallon, but if I can add a few more that would be great.

Other wise awesome post, great information for all of us newbies out there. Thanks

 

[drobbyb]

1. Yes th API test kits are here in the US at almost any fish store.

2. They stall at 6.2.

3. A new tank/filer will have no bacteria, but as soon as you fill it wirh tap water some of the bacteria in your local water supply will have made their way into your tank.

4. The general rule is 1 inch of fish per US gallon. After the tank is fully mature you can increase your bio-load a bit. There are too many variables to make a claim as to what you can or cannot get away with, everybody's tank is different.

 

[rebrn]

1. Yes th API test kits are here in the US at almost any fish store.

2. They stall at 6.2.

3. A new tank/filer will have no bacteria, but as soon as you fill it wirh tap water some of the bacteria in your local water supply will have made their way into your tank.

4. The general rule is 1 inch of fish per US gallon. After the tank is fully mature you can increase your bio-load a bit. There are too many variables to make a claim as to what you can or cannot get away with, everybody's tank is different.

Thanks fore clarifying drobbyb. I never thought of there being bacteria in the local water supply ... learn something new everyday

 

[waterdrop]

Miss Wiggle is well respected around here and was once the only person doing much advising in this section. I have not noticed her on here in quite a while. Right before she stopped showing up as often, she got a new job and said she expected it to interfere somewhat. I guess it interfered more than she anticipated.

Yes, it was not only the new job but the wedding coming up and sending new hubby (also TFF member) off to Univ. if possible, so I think there was a lot going on. We all hope she will find time to return after all this settles down. We miss her and I for one learned a ton of things from her. Its my personal opinion that beginners who find advice from her in older posts can trust that she was a good source of balanced information.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Neoburner]

Thanks for all the info in this post, i have just gone and got a 48 Tank, filter/heater came with it, a nice little kit, im fishless cycling it (i think thats right lol) now, had it on for two days, woke up this morning and its cloudy, so im guessing th Tap safe is removing the chlorine from the water???

Off to get a test kit toay to get ready to measure my levels after a week of the cycle to see if the tank is ready

Printed this off as its going to be most helpful for me, thanks again

Ben

 

[waterdrop]

Thanks for all the info in this post, i have just gone and got a 48 Tank, filter/heater came with it, a nice little kit, im fishless cycling it (i think thats right lol) now, had it on for two days, woke up this morning and its cloudy, so im guessing th Tap safe is removing the chlorine from the water???

Off to get a test kit toay to get ready to measure my levels after a week of the cycle to see if the tank is ready

Printed this off as its going to be most helpful for me, thanks again

Ben

Hi Ben and Welcome to TFF!

Conditioner (the chemical product that neutralizes chlorine and/or chloramines from tap water of which Tap Safe may be a brandname) works immediately, within the time it takes to swirl into the water into which its poured. The cloudiness is more likely to be a "bacterial bloom" which is harmless to the fishless cycle and will go away before long.

You need to have found (its an adventure sometimes) the right type of pure household ammonia and be adding it to the tank per our instructions to be "fishless cycling." Are you dosing the tank with ammonia? Our reference (how to) article by rdd1952 is in the Beginners Resource Center at the top of the "New to the Hobby" subforum.

Its good that you plan to get a kit. It needs to be a liquid-reagent based kit. Many of us like and use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit or the Nutrafin Mini-Master Test Kit. The Salifert individual test kits are even better if you happen to see or get them. You need a test kit to even get the very first dosing of ammonia correct.

Fishless cycling takes about 3 weeks to 2 months on average and the overall time is very unpredictable. It takes a lot of patience and can be quite boring but its a fantastic learning time for beginners, who can learn about maintenance and can develop a stocking plan for the fish they will eventually get. Fishless cycling is orders of magnitude easier than unplanned cases of "fish-in" cycling.

You'll want to start up your own "thread" here in the "New to the Hobby" section. (You've posted on to the end of a reference article where we like to not get excess posts, because they don't get seen or are confused for the original post.) In the first post of your new fishless cycling thread you can start a line by line (day by day) log of your fishless cycle test results and can edit that first post frequently. If you search for a fishless cycle by member "martinking" you can see an example in his first post.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miles_hot]

Withdrawn as I'd noticed the ph discrepancy and asked a question on it whilst managing to miss the entirety of page 6 of this thread where others clarified!

Any road the last comment "Many thanks for the excellent post " still very much stands

Miles