Cycling

[community begginer]

i have just put together my new 250 litre tank and it has been one week without fish or plants in it.
i have currently spoken to my dealer and he has suggested i wait 1 week then place 1 fish into the tank.
he also said to wait 24 hours and if the fish is not dead or dying and seems perfectly fine to go ahead and add the rest of my fish. is what he is saying good advice or should i wait longer to add fish? also just how much longer idealy??
regards community begginer.

 

[Dong]

Is your tank cycled or not?

 

[community begginer]

im a true noob at this. at the moment i have the gravel in it and nothing else. i have the filter running at all times as well as the heater. i keep the ph levels at 7.0 nuetral. but how would i know if it is cycled or not??
please help me....

 

[Tolak]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099

 

[Captain Retardo]

Okay, lets start with: What is cycling?

Cycling is when you add ammonia to the tank, to simulate organic waste (which has ammonia in it), adding ammonia to the tank brings helpful bacteria that break down that ammonia into nitrite, nitrite is still harmful, but less. Then new bacteria come in that break down the nitrite into nitrate, nitrate is less harmful and helps plants grow, but too much is still bad. Nitrate can be removed by water changes. This bacteria colonizes in your filter and on your gravel, but it takes weeks (unless you can borrow gravel or a filter cartridge from a fish keeping friend with a biologically mature tank (that means cycled))

To cycle your tank you need:

Ammonia
Gravel (Sand dosent have enough surface area, but gravel is not a necessity)
Filter
Aeration
Heater

Read this on how to do fishless cycle (I'm not exactly sure myself): http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=73365&st=0

This might help out also, with other stuff: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showforum=58

Hope I didn't forget something!

Good Luck!

 

[community begginer]

so you mean the ammonia and nitrite and nitrate and stuff sort of counteract one another over a period of time?? is this what you mean or am i completly lost in translation??

also doing a fich cycle. apart form checking and changing the water and the "level" what else is needed to be done and how long do you recommend i do it for untill i can call the cycle complete and go ahead with the fish i want??
regards community begginer

 

[Captain Retardo]

I think a fish cycle is the same way, just wait until your Ammonia and Nitrite are at 0 and your Nitrate is really high, then do a massive water change (50-75%) and you are ready!

so you mean the ammonia and nitrite and nitrate and stuff sort of counteract one another over a period of time?? is this what you mean or am i completly lost in translation??

The beneficial bacteria convert the Ammonia into Nitrite, then different beneficial bacteria convert the Nitrite into Nitrate. Nitrate is used up by plants and is less harmful to fish.

By the way (here is a good link, it is for fishless cycling, but it will help you nonetheless): [url="http://badmanstropicalfish.c...dmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article14.html[/url]

 

[fishboytoo]

I would add that if you intend to cycle with fish you will need to do water changes very frequently as your ammonia and nitrites rise. If you do these regular water changes you will not harm your fish, as the water quality never becomes very poor. I have cycled tanks with fish before and not lost a single one. You will absolutely require test kits for ammonia and nitrite. Tests for nitrate, pH, and hardness are also very useful so you should get those too. If the daily water changes will be too much, go with the fishless method.

If you decide to cycle with fish, please don't consider them as disposable. You may want to keep them or give them back to the store. I find zebra danios to be a very hardy fish and have used them for cycling.

If you can locate a product called Bio Spira it is supposed to greatly speed up the cycling process.

Good Luck
FB2

 

[Bufo Bill]

I'm going to weigh in with something that has happened with my cycling tank. I was told to use a product called "Cycle" when setting up. I did so, and within days cycling is well under way. I added aquarium plants and some Ophiopogon japonicus when I set up, one of which "went bad". No idea what did what there, but if any of the experienced guys can figure out what happened and if it is safe to do, maybe "Cycle" is a good idea. I think it's by Hagen or Nutrafin.