Friendly Bacteria

[chickennuggets123]

I've added the friendly bacteria (it came with the tank- in a packet).
And also the people that work in the pets store (fish dept.) said to add a bit of water from my old tank, to help with the bacteria.

1. With both of these... do I still need to do cycling? (adding the ammonia and stuff)?
Because doesnt this take a couple of weeks alone?

2. Does this ammonia stuff, like gradually get the filtre used to the fish waste before actually putting the fish in? And makes the good bacteria?

Ive read the cycling thing... and It's very hard to understand.

 

[the_lock_man]

I've added the friendly bacteria (it came with the tank- in a packet).
And also the people that work in the pets store (fish dept.) said to add a bit of water from my old tank, to help with the bacteria.

1. With both of these... do I still need to do cycling? (adding the ammonia and stuff)?
Because doesnt this take a couple of weeks alone?

2. Does this ammonia stuff, like gradually get the filtre used to the fish waste before actually putting the fish in? And makes the good bacteria?

Ive read the cycling thing... and It's very hard to understand.

1) Yes you do, the "friendly bacteria" stuff will probably make little difference. It may take you longer than a couple of weeks. That said, it's still far better to take a few weeks and not have fish being poisoned.

2) Yes it does - fish produce ammonia as they breath, and so adding bottled ammonia is simulating fish in the tank, so the bacteria can grow. Because you don't have real fish in there whilst the filter grows its bacteria, no fish are poisoned.

I would disagree with the advice of the pet store about adding water. Only a neglibile amount of bacteria exists in the water itself. THe vast, vast majority live in the filter media, particularly any ceramic rings, noodles, etc., but also in the sponges. Instead, it would help to take some of the filter media from your old tank (assuming that this is a "live" tank, ie it is running with fish in) to help kickstart the cycle. You can take up to a third of the other filter and replace it with new media, and the bacteria will catch up again very quickly.

 

[ZoddyZod]

Ive read the cycling thing... and It's very hard to understand.

don't worry - it's not the easiest thing to get to grips with and it is quite surprising for anyone when they first hear about it (myself included).

However, this board will help you through the process and try to answer all your questions. There are many cycling 'journals' that you can find by people who have tracked their cycle and posted the results here for help. Reading a few of those might help you to understnad the process a bit better.