how long usually does cycling take?

[fishdude]

Please reply. Also what should the readings on your test kit when cycling is done?

 

[wetwetwet]

Sorry fishdude - this one must have slipped throught the net

I'm unable to tell you the answer. There is no set time as to how long a cycle will take......

A fishless (which I prefer) cycle can take from 4-6 weeks. You need to monitor your water closely and once ammonia and nitrite have spiked and then settled down to zero then your tank is consideered cycled.

I have no experience cycling with fish but maybe some other members can give you some guidlines with their experiences.....

 

[Sparkler]

Hello there,
When i set my Rekord 70 Juwel tank up it
took about 6-7 weeks to cycle,as wetwetwet said
when your Ammonia & Nitrites are on zero then your tank
would have cycled.HTH

 

[semper fi]

the amount of time that it takes to cycle your tank depends on alot of factors. by putting the fishin to cycle you take out about 10 days from cycling. instead of creating the ammonia by feeding an empty tank, the fish create the ammonia with waste and uneaten food.

when you are cycling a tank, if you do water changes you want to make sure that you do not vaccuum the gravel. you could disturb the bacteria that is forming in the gravel bed.

semper fi

 

[mrV]

If you don't feed the bacteria (e.g. putting ammonia in your tank and alittle fishfood), fishless cycling is useless.

If you keep fish in your tank (DON'T PUT AMMONIA THEN), bacteria get food and increase but fish will suffer ammonia and then nitrite until there is enough good bacteria to oxidize NH3 -> NO3-. And when you put more fish in your tank, ammonia/nitrite spike come again because there isn't enough good bacteria to treat increasing "products" of new fishes' metabolism.

When you feed bacteria (fishless cycling) and testing water values you see first that NH3/NH4+ is increasing.. After one/two week/s NH3/NH4+ start decreasing and NO2- start increasing (nitrite spike), then after week/s nitrite start decreasing and NO3- start increasing. And when you put more ammonia on in your tank, NH3/NO2- won't increase but NO3- will increase if you check water values aften couple hours. Then your tank is ready for fishes.

However, remember to make couple huge water changes before you put any fish in your tank and check NH3/NO2-/NO3- levels.

NH3 should be 0 mg/l
NO2- should be 0 mg/l too
NO3- should be 2-10 mg/l (not zero, because it's important to plants)

 

[DizzyDezzy]

6 golfish in a 10 gallon Goldies need 10 to 20 gallons of water PER FISH! Yep, even small ones!
I doubt the tank will ever cycle at all.... at least not until most of your goldies go belly up...
sorry, you really need at least a 75 gallon tank for that many goldfish.

 

[Starry^]

weve had goldfish for many years and never bothered about any kind of cycling of the tank , water from the tap - clean when needed, additives for things like white spot if needed,done.
after all... they're goldfish...
Ours have been alive for years.

Starry^

 

[steve-0]

same here starry i had some in a bowl for two years. cleaned it when it went foggy and thats it. ....but those were only 50 cent feeders.
i take a little more care of my other fish that burn a hole in my pocket

 

[teknikz]

75 gallons for 6 goldies?? what the hell!!!!!!! well i got a 10 gallon tank.......maybe i should throw all my fish away n just keep 1 neon