Confused About Cycling!

[millie1]

right - ive set up my tank -plants/filter etc...

letting it run atm -

what i dont get - how often do i add food?

how often do i test?

and a random question as i got told before - do i add something like a snail to keep the cr*p down? or is this all part of cycling?

thanks

 

[mnemonik23]

right - ive set up my tank -plants/filter etc...

letting it run atm -

what i dont get - how often do i add food?

how often do i test?

and a random question as i got told before - do i add something like a snail to keep the cr*p down? or is this all part of cycling?

thanks

millie, you did not mention if that is fishless cycle, though I was confused about adding food...
Did you read this post?
http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...shless-Cycling/

I started "Add and Wait" method a few days ago, it's pretty self explanatory...

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hi there millie, are you doing a fishless cycle or a fish in cycle?

there's two links in my sig that you should read 'whats cycling' and 'fishless cycling' this will explain the whole process to you.

Snails won't eat poop, what keeps the tank clean is you! If you like snails then get one, otherwise just get the fish you like and do some regular maintenance!

 

[millie1]

definately fishless cycle!!!

ive read the info etc - i will read it now, just a little confused!

gettting a friend over on tues to check out the tank and filter etc to make sure everythings ok....!

he said about putting in a bit of fish food in to start things going.....

theres just so many views and opinions i just dont know what to folow

even about water changes??! do i leave the water or change 25% (or less) once aweek???

the food was to get the bactieria growing - that was wat iwas told....... so many views.... is there a right one??

 

[drobbyb]

You are probably going to disagree with me but here goes: If you have no patience to wait for a fishless cycle you can use the refrigerated Bio-Spira freshwater. I have done it both ways and the tanks I started with Bio-Spira have done better than the one's without. It is true that you can add it and fish at the same time and be completely cycled in 24 hours. I have used it sucessfully 3 times, and my brother has used it 4 times with 0 fish loss and accurate readings of 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and usually about 10 nitrates after 24 hours.

It's better than kiling fish, and I keep a pouch of it for emergencies.

 

[Corleone]

Bio-Spira's not being produced anymore. The patent for it left the company with Dr. Hovanec. His new product, One and Only, isn't widely available, and I've heard only one disappointed review of it. Marineland is apparently now making a standard Cycle/Stability/etc style product under the old name. Some of the good stuff's still out there, but it'll be better than 6 months old now.

 

[millie1]

ive use the product bacterlife.... put that in already....




thats what i was reccomended too use..... ive not yet done any readings.......

id rather not use fish to cycle as i did that with my freshwater ones..... if its better though, i can use one of my goldies...

also - i foudn somewhere selling biospira.... but ive already put bacterlife in - - would it matter?

 

[drobbyb]

One of the LFS owners I know still has some in date. We bought a box together since we were both setting up new tanks. The stuff works. Too bad it isn't being made anymore.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

none of these bacteria products is guaranteed but by all means give it a try to kick start your fishless cycle.

if you can find any then use pure ammonia instead of fishfood to feed the bacteria. fish food does work but it's nigh on impossible to measure quantities and as such the whole process becomes very inaccurate. so fish food should be used as a last resort if you can't get pure ammonia.

for now don't worry about water changes, you don't need to do them. You sometimes do them further down the cycle because pH is dropping or to control nitrite but i'd suggest you don't even think about it for now.

what you wanna do is get some pure ammonia, top the tank up to 5ppm, stick any bacterial supplements you can in there (ignore the instructions on the bottle, just pour the whole lot in, use as many products as you like!) then start a pattern of testing the water every 12 hours for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Also run some tests on your tap water so that you have a baseline. Keep a log of all the test readings then every couple of days post them up here and we'll talk you through what's going on and the next step to take

 

[waterdrop]

I agree with MW.

The fishless cyclers who have been able to follow the process along most smoothly are those who read the pinned article (by rdd1952) several times and then log and post their stat progress most clearly. The guidelines for fishless cycling are not all-comprehensive. There are sometimes periods when it helps to query about what other members think might be happening.

Regarding water changes during fishless cycling, my own opinion, a generalization, is that its better not to water change during the first phase when you are trying to grow the A-Bac species and trying to get ammonia to drop more quickly. During the second phase when nitrites (NO2) are spiking to high levels it actually helps to perform water changes, often in a weekly type manner that will be similar to your future regular maintenance habits.

It also helps to remember that during fishless cycling the tank water can be thought of as a "soup" for growing the beneficial bacteria and what you care about is optimizing that soup. Many beginners confuse the habits of normal fish tank maintenance (for instance, small percentage water changes) as being needed during fishless cycling.

~~waterdrop~~