Fishless Cycle - The End Is Approaching...

[subhuman]

Well, I'm a couple of weeks into my fishless cycle and and the nitrites are on the way down.
Depending on how things are looking tommorow I may look at purchasing most of my fish this weekend or next weekend (it really depends on how stable the levels stay)

However, there are a few areas that I'm sketchy on.

I'll need to do a 75% - 90% water change a few hours before I buy the fish. As this is a 260 litre tank, it isn't the easiest of tasks - I started off the cycle using a hose pipe from the tap and adding dechlorinator after the tank was full. The water was obviously cold, so I waited overnight for the heater to equalize before turning everything on.

Taking this into account I have the following questions:

1) Can I fill from the tap and add dechlorinator AFTER the fill ?

2) My tank is a Juwel Vision with Internal filter. How is the lack of water (before fill) and then the very cold temperature (after fill) going to effect my bacteria. Removing the set of sponges is quite a task and I'm not convinced that this is a good for my bacteria anyway!

3) When doing partial water changes on my 20G tank I use a 3/4 full bucket of water with a kettle full of boiled water to ensure the temperature difference when going into the tank is minimized. This is going to be pretty difficult to do with my 260 litre (26 buckets and 26 boiled kettles!)

Or am I just worrying too much (and should just carry on and brace myself for a mini cycle)

Cheers,
sub.

 

[Matty P]

Well, I'm a couple of weeks into my fishless cycle and and the nitrites are on the way down.
Depending on how things are looking tommorow I may look at purchasing most of my fish this weekend or next weekend (it really depends on how stable the levels stay)

Only add a couple of fish every couple of weeks, do it slowly!

1) Can I fill from the tap and add dechlorinator AFTER the fill?

Yes, but wait a while to let it take affect.

2) My tank is a Juwel Vision with Internal filter. How is the lack of water (before fill) and then the very cold temperature (after fill) going to effect my bacteria. Removing the set of sponges is quite a task and I'm not convinced that this is a good for my bacteria anyway!

As long as the water isn't too cold it should be OK.

3) When doing partial water changes on my 20G tank I use a 3/4 full bucket of water with a kettle full of boiled water to ensure the temperature difference when going into the tank is minimized. This is going to be pretty difficult to do with my 260 litre (26 buckets and 26 boiled kettles!)

What i would do is put the heater into the bucket of water to bring up the temp, although it will take a long time it is the best way.

 

[stef_uk]

Im in the same boat as you mate. Same tank and cycling.

I did an 80% water change yesterday,i've now realised it was way too early.

The way i did it was to buy a new mop bucket,and fill that up to 10 litres using a 2 litre bottle.Then i marked all round the outside of the bucket with a marker where the water line was so i knew where 10 litres came to.
I filled the bucket straight out of the tap and had hot and cold water running into it,i figured that as long as i took the edge of the cold water it'd be pretty close to the temp i wanted.
I then just added the dechlorinator to the bucket each time i filled it.

The water in my tank was at roughly 70 degrees even before i put the heater back on.

It only took about 20 minutes for me to fill the tank back up.

Just my way with the same tank.

As for the bacteria... I cant help you there im still a novice!

 

[subhuman]

I filled the bucket straight out of the tap and had hot and cold water running into it,i figured that as long as i took the edge of the cold water it'd be pretty close to the temp i wanted.

The problem with that though is that hot water may have sat in a copper tank, run through copper pipework etc... and copper is in the most part toxic to fish. Which is why I was advised to boil.

Matty: I was under the impression that with a fishless cycle it is possible (and even advised to prevent bacteria die off) to pretty much stock fully.

 

[rdd1952]

Well, I'm a couple of weeks into my fishless cycle and and the nitrites are on the way down.

Actually, that is not the normal way it goes. usually the nitrites don't come down gradually. They litterally go from off the chart high to 0 overnight.

Taking this into account I have the following questions:

1) Can I fill from the tap and add dechlorinator AFTER the fill ?

2) My tank is a Juwel Vision with Internal filter. How is the lack of water (before fill) and then the very cold temperature (after fill) going to effect my bacteria. Removing the set of sponges is quite a task and I'm not convinced that this is a good for my bacteria anyway!

3) When doing partial water changes on my 20G tank I use a 3/4 full bucket of water with a kettle full of boiled water to ensure the temperature difference when going into the tank is minimized. This is going to be pretty difficult to do with my 260 litre (26 buckets and 26 boiled kettles!)

Or am I just worrying too much (and should just carry on and brace myself for a mini cycle)

Cheers,
sub.

1) Yes, I do that everytime I fill my tank with my python. Actually, I squirt a little dechlorinator in when the water starts running into the tank and then some more when it is full.

2) Actually, I don't really see the point of boiling the water. I fill my tanks straight from the tap with hot and cold water mixed to the right temperature. If you let the hot water run for 30 seconds to a minute, any impurities will run out. Actually, boiling water is not good for your aquarium. It removes all the buffering capacity which can lead to possible pH problems.

3) As I said, on my 75 gallon tank, I run water straight from the tap with hot and cold mixed to the proper temperature.

Matty: I was under the impression that with a fishless cycle it is possible (and even advised to prevent bacteria die off) to pretty much stock fully.

That is correct. If you don't add but few fish, you will lose most of the bacteria you have built. After a full fishless cycle using 4 to 6 ppm of ammonia, there are way more bacteria than what is needed for a normal fish load. Adding less than a full load will cause a die-off as there won't be enough ammonia to keep the entire colony fed.

 

[subhuman]

2) Actually, I don't really see the point of boiling the water. I fill my tanks straight from the tap with hot and cold water mixed to the right temperature. If you let the hot water run for 30 seconds to a minute, any impurities will run out. Actually, boiling water is not good for your aquarium. It removes all the buffering capacity which can lead to possible pH problems.

I'll give it a go when I do the full fill... as I only have a combi boiler I imagine the risk of impurities is pretty low anyway!

Thanks for the feedback.