Fish In Cycle

[Gwar]

Okay. so i have a 55 gallon and started with 8 cichlids running a fluval 304. its been a week and a half. We have done water changes daily until 3 or 4 days ago. We have just started to see the nitrate levels spike and ammonia drop to almost zero.. Couple questions. I have been changing 5o% of the water when I see any nitrite. How much longer could I expect it to take for it to cycle? Also, When could I add more fish? I want to add a pleco and a few more cichlids.

P.s. I will do a fishless cycle next time for sure. I havent fish kept in about 3 years and wish i had the info i read off your forums even if its mostly from Brits................. hahhahahahahahaha

 

[waterdrop]

Even in a nice volume like a 55g, 8 cichlids could present some challanging spikes during a fish-in cycle (hopefully you have a hose drain and replenish system so you're not having to carry all those buckets!

The difficult thing at this point may be that you really don't want the nitrite(NO2) to spike above 0.25ppm as that where we begin to see permanent nerve damage. Nitrite attaches to the hemoglobin molecule of a fish red blood cell just like oxygen does but then causes the red blood cell to break down (the blood itself begins to look a chocolate brown color from what's left of the cells.) Often the spikes above 0.25ppm can't be helped but you want to try and minimize that situation via percentage and frequency adjustments to your water changes - it's the toxin measurement that's important, not some fixed percentage of water change.

A fish-in cycle from scratch runs about a month or somewhat more, just like a fishless cycle, however the richer variety of waste in the tank can help it to be a very small bit faster than a fishless cycle (it's just a heck of a lot harder changing all that water!)

Good luck and keep up the good work,
~~waterdrop~~

 

[Seed_Lord]

from what ive read atleast a month for it to cycle, but i'd keep a close eye (daily testing before w/c's) on your parametres, havent personally timed anything but prob good to be over safe and keep up with the the daily water changes and testings till without a shadow of a doubt your filter is upto speed with your fish, how big are your fish? this will obv dictate how long it will take your filter to cycle for your current stock, with 55 gallons atleast you know you have alot of water to be fowled before it needs changing, i started with a 5 gallon with WAY too many fish for a comfortable fish-in cycle (which is obvious now i've kept fish for a while) but keep a close eye on your parametres and you'll be fine. P.s brits are best

 

[Gwar]

Even in a nice volume like a 55g, 8 cichlids could present some challanging spikes during a fish-in cycle (hopefully you have a hose drain and replenish system so you're not having to carry all those buckets!

The difficult thing at this point may be that you really don't want the nitrite(NO2) to spike above 0.25ppm as that where we begin to see permanent nerve damage. Nitrite attaches to the hemoglobin molecule of a fish red blood cell just like oxygen does but then causes the red blood cell to break down (the blood itself begins to look a chocolate brown color from what's left of the cells.) Often the spikes above 0.25ppm can't be helped but you want to try and minimize that situation via percentage and frequency adjustments to your water changes - it's the toxin measurement that's important, not some fixed percentage of water change.

A fish-in cycle from scratch runs about a month or somewhat more, just like a fishless cycle, however the richer variety of waste in the tank can help it to be a very small bit faster than a fishless cycle (it's just a heck of a lot harder changing all that water!)

Good luck and keep up the good work,
~~waterdrop~~

They are small cichlids. I have a hose drain but i use the bucket. I figure that it would be better to add water with bucket. This way I can add the de-chlorinater in the bucket than add the water so it mixes well. Its a lot of trips to the tub but bathroom is real close.