Cycling

[shahnaz]

i have bought a new tropical fish tank, which is 54 litre juwel. It has a filter pump, which i have on, and a heater, which i have also put on to warm the water and then turned off, i added some chlorine killing solution, which i bought at the same time as the tank. The water has lots of tiny particles in it, and it seems to be doing ok, my questions are:
1, do i need to keep the filter on constantly
2, if i keep heater on, and turn it off, is this ok for the cycling
3, i want to introduce normal fish at first, then transfer them to another tank, which i will cycle first, and put in tropical fish in this one, once it is fully cycled, is this ok to do, the aquarium shop person said it would be fine.
4, will the aquarium shop let me have some of their mature cycled water from the tanks with the fish, of do they send fish in clear water and bags?

i am very new and have read your posts constantly trying to understand the process, i want to care for the fish, and keep them for as long as they live, the children are excited.

also, how many fish can i have in this tank? would like a variety.

thanks

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Shahnaz.
The cycling process is quite simple but will not match what you are told by a fish shop. They will encourage you to buy fish and subject them to the cycle, then either dispose of them or simply accept the fact that they have been harmed by being "sacrificial" for the process. Neither outcome is really necessary. Instead we encourage people to do what is called a fishless cycle. It involves using simple chemicals to promote the growth of bacteria in your filter instead of placing fish in an ammonia bath and expecting them to turn out healthy. If you get ahead of yourself and do put fish into an uncycled tank, it is still possible to protect the fish from significant impacts, but it is one heck of a lot of work to do. Please read through the articles posted in the beginners resource center. Pay especial attention to the cycling articles but read as much of the rest as you can digest. There is a link to the beginners resource center in my signature area.

1. The filter needs to run continuously except when it is shut off for cleaning.
2. The heater in a tropical tank should be operating on a thermostat so there is no reason to turn it off.
3. See above comments. There is no reason to subject any fish to a cycle.
4. Water will do you no good for cycling. The bacteria that we grow to handle our biological loads lives in a film on surfaces so getting a filter media sample would give you much more benefit. If you can find a source of some mature filter media, it should be placed into your new filter yto help the cycle get started but it will still be necessary to grow that starter colony of bacteria into a fully cycled filter.

A 54 litre tank is fairly small but could handle a variety of small fish.

 

[shahnaz]

Welcome to the forum Shahnaz.
The cycling process is quite simple but will not match what you are told by a fish shop. They will encourage you to buy fish and subject them to the cycle, then either dispose of them or simply accept the fact that they have been harmed by being "sacrificial" for the process. Neither outcome is really necessary. Instead we encourage people to do what is called a fishless cycle. It involves using simple chemicals to promote the growth of bacteria in your filter instead of placing fish in an ammonia bath and expecting them to turn out healthy. If you get ahead of yourself and do put fish into an uncycled tank, it is still possible to protect the fish from significant impacts, but it is one heck of a lot of work to do. Please read through the articles posted in the beginners resource center. Pay especial attention to the cycling articles but read s much of the rest as you can digest. There is a link to the beginners resource center in my signature area.

1. The filter needs to run continuously except when it is shut off for cleaning.
2. The heater in a tropical tank should be operating on a thermostat so there is no reason to turn it off.
3. See above comments. There is no reason to subject any fish to a cycle.
4. Water will do you no good for cycling. The bacteria that we grow to handle our biological loads lives in a film on surfaces so getting a filter media sample would give you much more benefit. If you can find a source of some mature filter media, it should be placed into your new filter yto help the cycle get started but it will still be necessary to grow that starter colony of bacteria into a fully cycled filter.

A 54 litre tank is fairly small but could handle a variety of small fish.

thank you for the reply....what sort of small fish could i have in this tank, and how many do you think would be sensible number....i do want some interesting colour ones for the children to look at. Is it possible for you to let me know names of a few and see if they are compatible. thanks again,

 

[OldMan47]

I have a personal bias for livebearers so please bear that in mind. I love endlers livebearers as an easy care fish that can be kept in almost any water. Another fish that does well in a new tank and is not really one of my favorite types is rasboras. Rasboras are a "tough as nails" fish in my own experience so they will likely thrive in an otherwise poor environment. Although they do not fit my own prejudices about livebearers, they always seem to do well in a new tank. The endlers are quite colorful and I find them to be bullet proof in their care. If you can get them past the initial stocking and can maintain their water clean, they will reproduce out of control. I love my wild type endlers and have some in two different tanks. This is a picture of one of those tanks at feeding time. The fry are apparent in the picture and find very little threat from the adults that they live with.

Although the fry are not threatened by the adults, in their own perspective, the adults do indeed eat some of the fry, thank goodness.