First Cycle

[scottg17]

Hi new on here just got my tank setup.

I'm running a 64l 2ft tank, just going for a basic community tank, tetras ETC.
I got the tank off a friend, It was an established tank previously and was running fine with no parasites or anything.
I've looked at the steps for a fishless cycle after setting up and have began to get a bit of an understanding surrounding ammonia, nitrates/nitrites
I set it up last night, added some tap-safe which is supposed to kick off the bacteria but dunno how well that'll work?
Our tap water is soft water as well.

I'm just wondering would i be okay to just leave it cycling as due to the fact the filter was from another tank so will already have some of the bacteria's on the filter is or should i go down the road of adding ammonia or other things to get it going?

I've also heard of cycling with fish flakes but not sure how successfull this is.
Just wanting to know I've done everything okay so far and my fish wont go belly up when I go to add them

 

[fluttermoth]

Well, technically, your filter should be cycled already, unless the media has been cleaned in tap water or allowed to dry out. You will probably want to 'prove' your filter by doing a sort of fishless cycle before you add any fish.

Add some ammonia, up to 2 or 3ppm and test again after 12 hours to make sur it's gone.

Cycling with fish food just uses the rotting food to produce ammonia rather than adding it in a pure form. You could certainly add some food to the tank now, if you don't have ammonia, as the bacteria will start to die back of starvation without anything to feed on.

What I'd do is add a pinch of food daily into your tank to keep it fed, and put some more fish food in a bucket to rot down. When you have a reading for ammonia in the bucket, add that water to your tank and then see if it's gone by the next day, although if you can source some household ammonia in the next couple of days, that would simplify things for you.

Hope that makes sense; do post back if it doesn'T!

 

[scottg17]

Well, technically, your filter should be cycled already, unless the media has been cleaned in tap water or allowed to dry out. You will probably want to 'prove' your filter by doing a sort of fishless cycle before you add any fish.

Add some ammonia, up to 2 or 3ppm and test again after 12 hours to make sur it's gone.

Cycling with fish food just uses the rotting food to produce ammonia rather than adding it in a pure form. You could certainly add some food to the tank now, if you don't have ammonia, as the bacteria will start to die back of starvation without anything to feed on.

What I'd do is add a pinch of food daily into your tank to keep it fed, and put some more fish food in a bucket to rot down. When you have a reading for ammonia in the bucket, add that water to your tank and then see if it's gone by the next day, although if you can source some household ammonia in the next couple of days, that would simplify things for you.

Hope that makes sense; do post back if it doesn'T!

Awesome, ill need to get hold of a testing kit but ill soon sort that out

 

[fluttermoth]

Yeah, a good, liquid based test kit is an essential piece of kit for any fishkeeper

 

[scottg17]

Okay, some further info, still awaiting my testing kit to arrive in the post

DAY1, Some fish flake added (no access to pure ammonia)

DAY2 - today I have woke I have woke up to a pretty cloudy tank, tank was clear on day 1, I have the temp set to around 27 degrees Celsius Just now as i was told a higher temp will speed the cycle up

Am i right in saying that the cloudiness is the bacteria starting to do its job?

 

[fluttermoth]

The cloudiness is a bacterial bloom, unfortunately it's not the same bacteria that we want in the filter!

It's nothing to worry about however, and will go on it's own in a couple of days.

 

[scottg17]

So going by this reading on the cycling stickies

Contrary to popular belief, bacterial blooms cause an ammonia spike, not the other way around.

So looking at this there will be a spike of ammonia in my tank just now so presumably that's going to kick the cycle off correctly, so presumably now its just a case of monitoring the tank with my testing kit when it arrives and once all the nitrates/ammonia/nitrates all look okay it'll be ready for me to introduce a couple of fish

 

[The Taffy Apple]

So going by this reading on the cycling stickies

Contrary to popular belief, bacterial blooms cause an ammonia spike, not the other way around.

So looking at this there will be a spike of ammonia in my tank just now so presumably that's going to kick the cycle off correctly, so presumably now its just a case of monitoring the tank with my testing kit when it arrives and once all the nitrates/ammonia/nitrates all look okay it'll be ready for me to introduce a couple of fish

Shortly put, yes. Big for your research so far... please continue to do so (the beginners section on this forum is awesome), feel free to ask questions, keep us informed and updated of your progress and remember; the only stupid question you can ask is the one that you didn't !!!
Best of luck with getting started,

Terry.

PS- put your heater at an angle, as it is now the heat given off will simply rise straight up to the thermostat at the top of your heater and constantly tell it that your tank is too warm, therefore resulting in a possibly cold tank

 

[scottg17]

So going by this reading on the cycling stickies

Contrary to popular belief, bacterial blooms cause an ammonia spike, not the other way around.

So looking at this there will be a spike of ammonia in my tank just now so presumably that's going to kick the cycle off correctly, so presumably now its just a case of monitoring the tank with my testing kit when it arrives and once all the nitrates/ammonia/nitrates all look okay it'll be ready for me to introduce a couple of fish

Shortly put, yes. Big for your research so far... please continue to do so (the beginners section on this forum is awesome), feel free to ask questions, keep us informed and updated of your progress and remember; the only stupid question you can ask is the one that you didn't !!!
Best of luck with getting started,

Terry.

PS- put your heater at an angle, as it is now the heat given off will simply rise straight up to the thermostat at the top of your heater and constantly tell it that your tank is too warm, therefore resulting in a possibly cold tank

I've moved the heater since that pic, now sits at an angle was kinda just sat in there for a few pics, Gotta agree the amount of information available on here is excellent

 

[scottg17]

Cloudiness greatly reduced today Got my moon lighting bulb fitted too.

testing kit still hasn't arrived though but I'm still adding a few ground up flakes daily to the tank

Photo from yesterdays cloudiness