Hello And A Couple Of Questions...

[Minstrel]

Hello all!! Newbie here!!

So I am getting a 200L tropical freshwater tank I have been doing plenty of research into parts of it but I feel there have been varying thoughts on things and so I will ask my questions

How long is usual for cycling your tank?

What is better fine sand/gravel or gravel I intend to have shrimps and have thought that the finer sand/gravel would be better for them to move over?

Which leads onto my next question I know you have to wash gravel how do you wash sand?

Some people seem to think adding guppies/mollys into the tank as these are supposedly hardy fish will speed up the cycling process, thoughts on this?

I intend to put in one pair angel fish in the tank (or some such similar fish I am open to ideas) a pair or two of something along the lines of kissing gourami and the little neon fish and guppys, a plec, some bottom feeding cleaner fish and shrimp... Also I wanted to get a couple assassin snails as I have read these are very good for getting rid of the pest snails?

Also what plants help to cycle the tank?

Erm there will be more I really want to do this right sorry for the daft questions!! Thanks

 

[D1s]

I washed my sand using pillow cases and the bath. Worked really well, takes abit of time though.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Hello all!! Newbie here!!

So I am getting a 200L tropical freshwater tank I have been doing plenty of research into parts of it but I feel there have been varying thoughts on things and so I will ask my questions

How long is usual for cycling your tank?

What is better fine sand/gravel or gravel I intend to have shrimps and have thought that the finer sand/gravel would be better for them to move over?

Which leads onto my next question I know you have to wash gravel how do you wash sand?

Some people seem to think adding guppies/mollys into the tank as these are supposedly hardy fish will speed up the cycling process, thoughts on this?

I intend to put in one pair angel fish in the tank (or some such similar fish I am open to ideas) a pair or two of something along the lines of kissing gourami and the little neon fish and guppys, a plec, some bottom feeding cleaner fish and shrimp... Also I wanted to get a couple assassin snails as I have read these are very good for getting rid of the pest snails?

Also what plants help to cycle the tank?

Erm there will be more I really want to do this right sorry for the daft questions!! Thanks

I am not a "fish in" cycle proponent. I prefer fishless cycle.

HOWEVER, you could do a "silent" cycle, which involves LOTS of stem plants (75% of the substrate) and very little fish in the tank. In general though, fast growing plants are best to speed up the cycle as they can use ammonia directly from the water, as well as nitrates to get their nitrogen needed. Fishless cycles are much safer than fish in or silent cycles, especially for beginners.

 

[Noahs ark6]

Substrate i use (and many others) is argos play sand. You can wash it by placing it in a big bucket, and blasting water through it until it runs clear. The time it takes a cycle to complete varys massivly

 

[Minstrel]

How long would the fast growing cycle take on average? I looked on the list of people willing to donate but sadly there are none in my area

I am really keen to get fish in is but I guess thats normal! Could I start with the shrimp would they cope?

 

[Rummynose]

Shrimp are sensitive to ammonia, all fish are hurt by high levels of ammonia. I've heard of people using prawn (from frozen) as an ammonia source.

when you mentioned you have a hard time finging donors in your area, did you mean people who could give you filter medium to seed your filter?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I would suggest no. All first time fishkeepers are impatient about wanting to get fish in the tank. After all, that's why you decided to get into the hobby. Ultimately, you aren't as much about keeping fish as keeping water of a certain quality. The safest thing would be to do a proper fishless cycle.


Where exactly are you? That list of donors is pretty out of date now.


The plant method (silent) cycle is very well explained in the planted section, but like I said, it isn't really something for beginners. Check out this link.

 

[Minstrel]

I would suggest no. All first time fishkeepers are impatient about wanting to get fish in the tank. After all, that's why you decided to get into the hobby. Ultimately, you aren't as much about keeping fish as keeping water of a certain quality. The safest thing would be to do a proper fishless cycle.


Where exactly are you? That list of donors is pretty out of date now.


The plant method (silent) cycle is very well explained in the planted section, but like I said, it isn't really something for beginners. Check out this link.

I am in Aberdeen so a little bit out of the way?

 

[HayzH]

doesnt matter someone sent me some in the post...works fine.

 

[the_lock_man]

How long is usual for cycling your tank? That's a "Piece of String" question. There is no "usual"

What is better fine sand/gravel or gravel I intend to have shrimps and have thought that the finer sand/gravel would be better for them to move over? I have shrimps on large(ish) gravel without problems. It's personal preference, although I am planning to change that tank to black sand over Christmas.

Which leads onto my next question I know you have to wash gravel how do you wash sand? A trick told to me by another member is to take the bag of sand out into the garden and poke LOTS of holes in it. Put your garden hose in one hole, near the top of the bag and turn on the tap. Walk away for 2 hours. Come back again, turn the tap off, and use the sand. Not yet used the trick, but intend to try it, as per above.

Some people seem to think adding guppies/mollys into the tank as these are supposedly hardy fish will speed up the cycling process, thoughts on this? There are two methods to cycle a tank. One is to put fish in it. The other is to dose the tank with an artificial ammonia source. You cannot mix the two methods, without killing (or severely damaging) the fish. Personally I recommend the fishless method, using bottled ammonia. Some people use fish food or dead prawns, which decompose and release ammonia. This does work, but it is much harder to control the dosing level.

Also what plants help to cycle the tank? If you are going to use bottled ammonia, plants will actually hinder the cycle, as they will absorb some of the ammonia. If you are going to use fish, then having plants will reduce the ammonia in the water, making the situation marginally more tolerable for the fish, but again, will delay the cycle.