Cycling Tank

[SarahMarie]

So I got a new tank a few weeks ago and was advised to have 2 platys in order to cycle the tank, but I'm not entirely sure how many water changes I should be doing per week whilst its cycling, and how long it will take to complete it's cycle. I have a 64 litre tank and 1 male + 1 female in at the moment. This is my first tank and I'm totally new to fish keeping so any help would be great!

 

[attibones]

First: invest in a liquid test kit
Second: test your water per kit instructions
Third: Every time you get an ammonia reading over 0-.25 (some kits will show .25 ppm of ammonia when the tank is actually closer to zero), you will need to do a water change. Say you have 1 ppm of ammonia on your first test reading. If you do a fifty percent water change it should be about .50 ppm. If you do a ninety percent change, it should be lower.

You will test your water daily. For a while you will only have ammonia readings. Eventually your ammonia should go to zero, but you will have nitrIte readings. Then, several weeks later, your nitrIte will be converted into nitrAte which is much less toxic.

If at all possible, return the fish so you can begin the much faster, much more humane fish-less cycle. There is more information in this section of the forums on both methods of cycling.

 

[b3cca]

Like said without a good liquid test kit then it is impossible to test and know what is happening in your tank.
 
I did a fish-in cycle with my 70 litre and was testing the water 2-3 times per day, during a spike you may have to do 2 or 3 partial water changes per day just to try and keep your fish alive.
as soon as you see any ammonia or nitrites then you need to do immediate pwcs, so it is hard work to keep on top off believe me.
 
My cycle lasted around 4 weeks, but there is no set rule - things like temp, PH, filter etc can all affect how quickly the bacteria grow and establish.

 

[attibones]

B3cca did a fish-in cycle in four weeks. For comparison, my fish-less cycle in a spanking new tank (no old media to seed the bacteria) took me roughly three weeks. A fish-in cycle in my ten gallon was about two months...

 

[SarahMarie]

Thank you! I think I'll get myself a testing kit instead of going to the store each time. I was going to do a fishless cycle but all the shops I went to to get ammonia said that they didn't stock it anymore. I looked all over.

 

[attibones]

Fish stores do not sell ammonia. Usually it is found in your household cleaning section or on the Internet. They also want to sell you fish immediately so they can make a bit of money. The chances of the fish dying through the cycle are high, so thy also anticipate that you will return to buy another replacement at some point.