When I was a child (with my parents in control over everything) we never did a fishless cycle. We just set up a tank and threw the fish i. Bad I know.
My 75 gallon that I have currently was a gift from my parents, and again, never cycled. Some of you may have read about the bacterial problem I had in that tank. To make a long story short, I removed the fish and put them in a hospital tank, completely drained all the water from the 75 gallon tank, threw out all the gravel and scrubbed down all the plastic plants and other accessores in our tank with an unused toothbrush to disinfect everything. Basically, I've started the 75 gallon tank anew. The filer is the same filter that was used on it before. The carbon and charcoal stuff are brand new, the foam was in the tank for a few days before I decided to completely restart. So, I know there's some bacteria in the filter, I just don't know how much.....that and I've never experienced doing a fishless cycle. The tank has been set up for two days and I did some tests this morning. These tests have been confirmed still in date a week ago at our local fish store. I got the following measurements on the newly set up tank:
Ammonia: 0.5
Nitrite: 0
pH: 7.6
A while ago I put in a supplement called Freshwater TLC, supposed to help the tank cycle by adding good bacterias or whatever. I'll take tank readings again tomorrow.
But anyway, with those readings at what point am I at in the fishless cycle? What should be my plan of action from here?
My 75 gallon that I have currently was a gift from my parents, and again, never cycled. Some of you may have read about the bacterial problem I had in that tank. To make a long story short, I removed the fish and put them in a hospital tank, completely drained all the water from the 75 gallon tank, threw out all the gravel and scrubbed down all the plastic plants and other accessores in our tank with an unused toothbrush to disinfect everything. Basically, I've started the 75 gallon tank anew. The filer is the same filter that was used on it before. The carbon and charcoal stuff are brand new, the foam was in the tank for a few days before I decided to completely restart. So, I know there's some bacteria in the filter, I just don't know how much.....that and I've never experienced doing a fishless cycle. The tank has been set up for two days and I did some tests this morning. These tests have been confirmed still in date a week ago at our local fish store. I got the following measurements on the newly set up tank:
Ammonia: 0.5
Nitrite: 0
pH: 7.6
A while ago I put in a supplement called Freshwater TLC, supposed to help the tank cycle by adding good bacterias or whatever. I'll take tank readings again tomorrow.
But anyway, with those readings at what point am I at in the fishless cycle? What should be my plan of action from here?
