I have added a bacteria starter to the tank on Monday AM and it has now given 0 reading, so am I right in thinking then that by doing a reading tommorow morning if it reads 0 still then, the tank is well on the way "Cycling"? Leave it a few more days before stocking?
Hi There New To Tropicalfish
- Thread starter TheClarks
- Start date
Ah, wish I could say yes you are well on way, alas am afraid not.
In fact you have barely started am afraid.
Can I ask what brand of bacteria starter you added on Monday morning?
There are, IMO, only two decent brands that will give your tank a bacteria start, DrTims One and Only or Tetra Safe Start, although Tetra brand beginning to be a hit or miss in successful bacteria addition to your tank.
Nutrafin and API bacteria starters tend not to work at all, there have been exceptions but very rare!
I would suggest you read the link to cycling a tank several times to get an idea of what happens. I know, it's confusing at first, I was in same shoes as you when I first heard of Fishless Cycling.
What you are looking for is to get a colony of good bacteria to establish inside your filter, this bacteria has the job of consuming ammonia and nitrites which is what fish, shrimps and snails produce.
Ammonia and Nitrites are toxic to fish and inverts so you need to make the water safe for them to live in, hence the good bacteria in filter will deal with ammonia and nitrites, and will leave nitrates as a by product, nitrates is also toxic but on a much lower scale and fish can deal with certain amounts of nitrates for a limited amount of time.
It's our job to do weekly water changes to help deal with nitrates as well as a general clean of tanks.
A Fishless cycle generally takes between 4 to 8 weeks am afraid.
Hope that helps.
I would suggest you post this same question in another thread, you will get far more detailed responses hopefully.
In fact you have barely started am afraid.
Can I ask what brand of bacteria starter you added on Monday morning?
There are, IMO, only two decent brands that will give your tank a bacteria start, DrTims One and Only or Tetra Safe Start, although Tetra brand beginning to be a hit or miss in successful bacteria addition to your tank.
Nutrafin and API bacteria starters tend not to work at all, there have been exceptions but very rare!
I would suggest you read the link to cycling a tank several times to get an idea of what happens. I know, it's confusing at first, I was in same shoes as you when I first heard of Fishless Cycling.
What you are looking for is to get a colony of good bacteria to establish inside your filter, this bacteria has the job of consuming ammonia and nitrites which is what fish, shrimps and snails produce.
Ammonia and Nitrites are toxic to fish and inverts so you need to make the water safe for them to live in, hence the good bacteria in filter will deal with ammonia and nitrites, and will leave nitrates as a by product, nitrates is also toxic but on a much lower scale and fish can deal with certain amounts of nitrates for a limited amount of time.
It's our job to do weekly water changes to help deal with nitrates as well as a general clean of tanks.
A Fishless cycle generally takes between 4 to 8 weeks am afraid.
Hope that helps.
I would suggest you post this same question in another thread, you will get far more detailed responses hopefully.
Hello there and welcome to you and your family!
I would suggest guppies for your tank if your water is hard. Guppies will do well in hard water and are beautiful and easy to look after. You could fit 4 male guppies in a 25 litre tank.
Alternatively if you like smaller fish, consider up to 10 male endlers which are similar to guppies but smaller. You could also mix and match these if required, e.g. 2 male guppies and 5 male endlers.
Your fishless cycle won't start unless you add ammonia to the tank. A bacterial starter on its own will not start the cycle (they expect you to have fish in the tank which produce ammonia). You need to add ammonia to simulate the fish waste.
I would suggest guppies for your tank if your water is hard. Guppies will do well in hard water and are beautiful and easy to look after. You could fit 4 male guppies in a 25 litre tank.
Alternatively if you like smaller fish, consider up to 10 male endlers which are similar to guppies but smaller. You could also mix and match these if required, e.g. 2 male guppies and 5 male endlers.
Your fishless cycle won't start unless you add ammonia to the tank. A bacterial starter on its own will not start the cycle (they expect you to have fish in the tank which produce ammonia). You need to add ammonia to simulate the fish waste.
Oops, forgot to mention you do need a bottle of Ammonia as Diaze has said.
You can get ammonia from Homebase, although not all Homebase stores have these, its an own brand Household Cleaner Ammonia, with 9.5% Ammonium Hydroxide which should be fine to use
(a tip, shake the bottle, if ammonia froths at surface and does not dissipate quickly, not good, if just a few bubbles that dissipates quickly, then thats fine)
Online, you can purchase Kleenoff which seems a fairly popular brand on this forum for tank cycling.
Or you can go online to eBay and get Aquarium Ammonia which should give several choices.
Also purchasing small syringes or droppers will be of benefit when it comes to adding ammonia dosages to your tank.
To calculate ammonia dosages, just use the forum calculator (you'll find at top of forum page almost in middle)
At bottom of calculator page, you should find Fishless Cycling - Ammonia Required.
Input your tank volume, then change desired level of ammonia from 5ppm to 3ppm then you'll get your dosage calculated as Solution required in ml.
You can get ammonia from Homebase, although not all Homebase stores have these, its an own brand Household Cleaner Ammonia, with 9.5% Ammonium Hydroxide which should be fine to use
(a tip, shake the bottle, if ammonia froths at surface and does not dissipate quickly, not good, if just a few bubbles that dissipates quickly, then thats fine)
Online, you can purchase Kleenoff which seems a fairly popular brand on this forum for tank cycling.
Or you can go online to eBay and get Aquarium Ammonia which should give several choices.
Also purchasing small syringes or droppers will be of benefit when it comes to adding ammonia dosages to your tank.
To calculate ammonia dosages, just use the forum calculator (you'll find at top of forum page almost in middle)
At bottom of calculator page, you should find Fishless Cycling - Ammonia Required.
Input your tank volume, then change desired level of ammonia from 5ppm to 3ppm then you'll get your dosage calculated as Solution required in ml.
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