Fluval Edge

[ecast23]

I just bought a 6gallon fluval edge and was wondering how long to cycle it before adding freshwater fish and live plants. Also do you think its a good idea to add an airstone for more oxygen?

 

[james41683]

I just bought a 6gallon fluval edge and was wondering how long to cycle it before adding freshwater fish and live plants. Also do you think its a good idea to add an airstone for more oxygen?

cycling will take some time, i would search for the fishless cycle how to and follow those steps, get a good test kit and make sure everything is perfect before adding fish, no ammonia and such, even low reading of ammonia can kill fish. as for the air stone, more oxygen is always better, i dont have airstone in any of my tanks and feel they arent really needed.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi ecast23

Welcome to the forum!

Cycling is a process that takes some time and involves growing beneficial bacteria that process the fish's waste products and make them less harmful than the ammonia they contain at the start. I'll move your thread to our New To The Hobby section where our members will help you get it started. Meanwhile, take a look at this:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=271928&hl=

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, welcome to the beginners section ecast23,

As you read about the Nitrogen Cycle and the Fishless Cycle process, feel free to ask your questions here and we'll all try to answer and comment to the best of our ability. Prior to the "biofilter" being "grown" and made operational, your filter is not ready to handle fish. It takes about 3 weeks to 2 months on average (the time is quite unpredictable due to a number of variables that are hard to control.) Doing it the "interactive" way by chatting with the members here though is a great way to go about it as it clears up little misundersandings in the process and allows you to benefit from lots of collective experience about all sorts of tank startup topics as the time goes by. The actual science of whats going on is quite fascinating too!

~~waterdrop~~