Cycling A Tank

[Debbie_19]

I am in the middle of setting up my new tank, but there will be no fish being put in until July/August time, the reason for this is I am going on holiday at start of July and have decided to go with my mum and dad this year, my dad will not leave electrical equipment running (exspecialy one with water in it) while we are going to all be out of the house for two weeks.

If i cycled my tank for about 5 or 6 weeks before I went away and then the power got turned off would I have to recycle the whole thing again for another 5 or 6 weeks when I get back or is there some way i can avoid this or cut down on the amount of time i have to cycle the tank for again.

 

[AndreaC]

Yes you would im afraid. To keep a fishless cycle going you have to keep up amonia balance or the cycle breaks. Maybe you should wait to start cycling it until after your holidays.

 

[GordonTGopher]

I am in the middle of setting up my new tank, but there will be no fish being put in until July/August time, the reason for this is I am going on holiday at start of July and have decided to go with my mum and dad this year, my dad will not leave electrical equipment running (exspecialy one with water in it) while we are going to all be out of the house for two weeks.

If i cycled my tank for about 5 or 6 weeks before I went away and then the power got turned off would I have to recycle the whole thing again for another 5 or 6 weeks when I get back or is there some way i can avoid this or cut down on the amount of time i have to cycle the tank for again.

There's no such thing as a stupid question (although the same can't be said for answers!) Leaving the filter off for more than a few hours will kill the beneficial bacteria that develop during cycling, so I'm afraid you'd be wasting your time cycling now as you'd have to do it all again when you came back from holiday. You'll also have to work on your Dad for next year as you'll have to leave the filter / heater running during next years holiday.

Good luck,

Gordon

 

[Debbie_19]

I am in the middle of setting up my new tank, but there will be no fish being put in until July/August time, the reason for this is I am going on holiday at start of July and have decided to go with my mum and dad this year, my dad will not leave electrical equipment running (exspecialy one with water in it) while we are going to all be out of the house for two weeks.

If i cycled my tank for about 5 or 6 weeks before I went away and then the power got turned off would I have to recycle the whole thing again for another 5 or 6 weeks when I get back or is there some way i can avoid this or cut down on the amount of time i have to cycle the tank for again.

There's no such thing as a stupid question (although the same can't be said for answers!) Leaving the filter off for more than a few hours will kill the beneficial bacteria that develop during cycling, so I'm afraid you'd be wasting your time cycling now as you'd have to do it all again when you came back from holiday. You'll also have to work on your Dad for next year as you'll have to leave the filter / heater running during next years holiday.

Good luck,

Gordon

Thank you, yeah I thought that might be the answer. Do you know how long on average I will have to cycle the tank for, its an 80l tank. I know i will have to wait till my water stats are right but is there an average time. Also I want to add plants before the fish how long does the tank have to be running for before plants are added.

I doubt I will be going on holiday with them next year, so should be fine. My dad will never come round to the idea of letting me leave a tank full of water next to electrical plugs for 2 weeks when no1 is in. So wont be going next year and moving out soon so can leave it running in my house, I amn't as safety con as him. lol

 

[Miss Wiggle]

it's a bit of a how long is a piece of string question. there's a zillion variables for the speed of cycling.

as a rough guess your looking at 2 weeks minimum, average is up to 4/6 weeks but sometimes it will take even longer than that

 

[Nevergone815]

it's a bit of a how long is a piece of string question. there's a zillion variables for the speed of cycling.

as a rough guess your looking at 2 weeks minimum, average is up to 4/6 weeks but sometimes it will take even longer than that

Spot on It varies form tank to tank and person to person...