Fishless Cycle

[mercmanuk]

had my tank for a week now just started the fishless cycle, could somone please tell me what i need to do now, this is the set up


aqua one 500 65 lt tank (14.5 gallons)
fluvel 1 pump
50 watt heater
air blower

when can i add some plants to my tank and what else do i need before i ad fish i want a communuty tank with top middle and bottom feeders if possible with the addition of one simaease fighter if allowed


regards mercmanuk

 

[waterdrop]

People take a number of different paths during fishless cycling. Some just leave it bare or substrate only in the tank and cover it with a towel to keep light out. The excess ammonia during fishless cycling usually is a trigger for algae and the algae can cover both decorations and plants and be hard to remove later. On the other hand, everybody has different family social pressures about their tank and often people want to at least decorate or start trying out plants. If you have not obtained any mature media from someone else's tank then it can be a long wait for the few initial bacteria to multiply and there at least a bit of change that some initial bacteria might come in on plants and their water although there's certainly no evidence for this helping.

Basically, fishless cycling at the stage you are asking about is an exercise in extreme patience! Its good to be careful and regular in your logbook entries of your daily tests. What make/model test kit are you using? Are you pretty confident that you found the right type of pure household ammonia?

How about your environment for growing the bacteria? We often recommend 29C/84F as the temp and its good to be checking pH along with your ammonia levels even in the beginning before you begin checking nitrite(NO2) levels.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[mercmanuk]

hi many thanks for that i am off the the pet shop sat morn to buy a test kit and hopfully get some media as well my tank is rumnning at 24c so i will up that to 29c and hopfully get some advice from there as well

regards mercmanuk

 

[waterdrop]

forum members probably all gave a collective shudder at the thought of you seeking advice at the LFS -- better just to "smile and buy" I say...