Balloons&killies
Fishaholic
hi guys,
I have a new 27g and how long do i cycle the tank?
Can i put snails in it too?
I have a new 27g and how long do i cycle the tank?
Can i put snails in it too?
How To Cycle A Tank?
- Thread starter Balloons&killies
- Start date
Cycling generally takes about a month. There is no set time because it is a biological process that must run from start to finish.
Here is an excellent resource that covers tank cycling in a lot of detail. I would always recommend a fishless cycle as it is less work for you and much better for the animals.
If you add snails during the cycle you will probably kill them, unless you do a fish-in cycle. Even a well managed fish-in cycle can still put the fish at risk.
Here is an excellent resource that covers tank cycling in a lot of detail. I would always recommend a fishless cycle as it is less work for you and much better for the animals.
If you add snails during the cycle you will probably kill them, unless you do a fish-in cycle. Even a well managed fish-in cycle can still put the fish at risk.
LilyRose Tank
Fish Herder
Hello there and welcome. Firstly do you plan on a fish in cycle ( not very good for the poor fish), or a fishless cycle which can take on average 2 months...note I said on average.
I can describe a fishless cycle for you
ok
Set your tank up as per instructions
increase the temperature to 29 degrees, add dechlorinator to remove chlorine
add household ammonia to get approx 4 ppm ( parts per million)...there is a calculator on here which will help work out the dose of ammonia for your size tank
1)use API fluid test system to test the level of ammonia once a day at the same time of day and keep a record of it
2)your ammonia levels will show 4ppm for a number of days
3) Once your ammonia level drops to 0ppm, add more ammonia to 4ppm and every time the level drops to 0ppm add ammonia to 4ppm
4) When the ammonia is dropping, start testing for nitrites...these will rise and you will see a nitrite spike where the colour changes to a darker version of the 5ppm result or even grey ( and test for pH ammonia and nitrites twice a day ( 12 hours apart))this will also occur for a number of days...usually twice the length of time it took for the ammonia to drop
5) Once your nitrite levels are dropping, only add ammonia to 2ppm ( half the initial dose)
6) once you see ammonia and nitrites dropping to 0 in 12 hours or less, add 4ppm dose of ammonia. once your tank is able to clear 4ppm of ammonia and nitrites level to 0ppm in 12hours every day for a week then the tank is classed as cycled.
7) do a 90% waterchange...where you empty the level of water down to the gravel, refill the tank add dechlorinator and allow the tank to stand for 24 hours
8)and add your fish
hopefully I covered everthing and if not, I'm sure someone else will correct me. good luck xx
I can describe a fishless cycle for you
ok
Set your tank up as per instructions
increase the temperature to 29 degrees, add dechlorinator to remove chlorine
add household ammonia to get approx 4 ppm ( parts per million)...there is a calculator on here which will help work out the dose of ammonia for your size tank
1)use API fluid test system to test the level of ammonia once a day at the same time of day and keep a record of it
2)your ammonia levels will show 4ppm for a number of days
3) Once your ammonia level drops to 0ppm, add more ammonia to 4ppm and every time the level drops to 0ppm add ammonia to 4ppm
4) When the ammonia is dropping, start testing for nitrites...these will rise and you will see a nitrite spike where the colour changes to a darker version of the 5ppm result or even grey ( and test for pH ammonia and nitrites twice a day ( 12 hours apart))this will also occur for a number of days...usually twice the length of time it took for the ammonia to drop
5) Once your nitrite levels are dropping, only add ammonia to 2ppm ( half the initial dose)
6) once you see ammonia and nitrites dropping to 0 in 12 hours or less, add 4ppm dose of ammonia. once your tank is able to clear 4ppm of ammonia and nitrites level to 0ppm in 12hours every day for a week then the tank is classed as cycled.
7) do a 90% waterchange...where you empty the level of water down to the gravel, refill the tank add dechlorinator and allow the tank to stand for 24 hours
8)and add your fish
hopefully I covered everthing and if not, I'm sure someone else will correct me. good luck xx
OP
OP
Balloons&killies
Fishaholic
ya thanks!
I found that fish die in the cycle when i was cycling my 10g.
except for tetras they are really hardy.
Coudl i try some tetras?
I found that fish die in the cycle when i was cycling my 10g.
except for tetras they are really hardy.
Coudl i try some tetras?
LilyRose Tank
Fish Herder
Not sure, you'll have to wait to spk to one of the others, I'm not familiar with fish in cycling.( I don't agree with it , sorry I don't believe in killing fish because of my impatience) x
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
Hi B&K and welcome to the beginners section!
Jayne and Assaye are right, Fishless Cycling is much, much easier than Fish-In cycling because there is so much less water changing! For the bulk of the process there is little more than a few squirts of household liquid ammonia from a bottle you've bought into the tank using a graduated syringe and of course performing the same water chemistry tests you'd be doing for a fish-in cycle. There's no difference in the time it takes of course because the two species of bacteria we are growing are the same critters either way.
When we cycle with fish and they live all the way through, its not that they are "hardy" per se, but just that their gill scarring has not killed them but only shortened their life. When fish move water through their gills, the take in oxygen and give off both CO2 and ammonia. In nature, this ammonia is carried away by millions of gallons of fresh water but in our tanks it isn't. Fish waste, excess fish food and plant debris are all broken down (by heterotrophic bacteria which are not the ones we are trying to grow) into still more ammonia.
Ammonia, even in tiny amounts, causes permanent gill damage and is considered a major toxin to fish. The first of our two species of filter bacteria, Nitrosomonas spp., will break down ammonia into nitrite(NO2) thus moving the Nitrogen a step along the "Nitrogen Cycle." Unfortunately, nitrite(NO2) is also a deadly toxin to fish as even in tiny amounts it attaches to the hemoglobin protein on fish red blood cells and alters the protein such that it can no longer accept oxygen. This suffocates the fish, with the first symptom being permanent nerve and brain damage, leading to shortened life or death. Although there are thresholds below which fish will survive, there are not thresholds below which there is no harm.
Starting in 1980, a number of hobbyists who happened to also be scientists by profession, used their new found ease of discussion on the new "usenet" (prior to the web) to speculate about why we shouldn't be able to culture the right species of bacteria in a new filter simply by "simulating" the fish waste with simple pure ammonia. Over the following decade, the details were worked out by trial and error and the hobby began using the modern techinique of "fishless cycling." Its taking decades for the old methods to gradually be replaced by this new, and in my opinion, better, method.
Fishless cycling does not create a perfectly mature tank environment with all its natural cycles and complications in full swing. That takes a good six months to a year. What fishless cycling -does- accomplish is to grow a fully functioning "biofilter" to a testable level of robustness and maturity that can support a full stocking of fish per the "inch guideline" or can drop down to beautifully support any fraction of that level of bioload. I gives fish water that they can thrive in, right from the beginning.
The other wonderful thing of fishless cycling, at least here on the TFF beginner section, is that provides a perfect "incubator" for beginning hobbyists where they can learn hands on the core details about biofilters while at the same time having fun learning other beginning things and working on their stocking plan. The timing for watching the cycle turns out to be just about right for learning all the right questions about good stocking and other startup things.
Anyway,
, sorry to go on, I know you are not a beginner but I just thought an explanation of why we are very positive about our help process might be in order and might be helpful in explaining some of the responses you get.
~~waterdrop~~
Jayne and Assaye are right, Fishless Cycling is much, much easier than Fish-In cycling because there is so much less water changing! For the bulk of the process there is little more than a few squirts of household liquid ammonia from a bottle you've bought into the tank using a graduated syringe and of course performing the same water chemistry tests you'd be doing for a fish-in cycle. There's no difference in the time it takes of course because the two species of bacteria we are growing are the same critters either way.
When we cycle with fish and they live all the way through, its not that they are "hardy" per se, but just that their gill scarring has not killed them but only shortened their life. When fish move water through their gills, the take in oxygen and give off both CO2 and ammonia. In nature, this ammonia is carried away by millions of gallons of fresh water but in our tanks it isn't. Fish waste, excess fish food and plant debris are all broken down (by heterotrophic bacteria which are not the ones we are trying to grow) into still more ammonia.
Ammonia, even in tiny amounts, causes permanent gill damage and is considered a major toxin to fish. The first of our two species of filter bacteria, Nitrosomonas spp., will break down ammonia into nitrite(NO2) thus moving the Nitrogen a step along the "Nitrogen Cycle." Unfortunately, nitrite(NO2) is also a deadly toxin to fish as even in tiny amounts it attaches to the hemoglobin protein on fish red blood cells and alters the protein such that it can no longer accept oxygen. This suffocates the fish, with the first symptom being permanent nerve and brain damage, leading to shortened life or death. Although there are thresholds below which fish will survive, there are not thresholds below which there is no harm.
Starting in 1980, a number of hobbyists who happened to also be scientists by profession, used their new found ease of discussion on the new "usenet" (prior to the web) to speculate about why we shouldn't be able to culture the right species of bacteria in a new filter simply by "simulating" the fish waste with simple pure ammonia. Over the following decade, the details were worked out by trial and error and the hobby began using the modern techinique of "fishless cycling." Its taking decades for the old methods to gradually be replaced by this new, and in my opinion, better, method.
Fishless cycling does not create a perfectly mature tank environment with all its natural cycles and complications in full swing. That takes a good six months to a year. What fishless cycling -does- accomplish is to grow a fully functioning "biofilter" to a testable level of robustness and maturity that can support a full stocking of fish per the "inch guideline" or can drop down to beautifully support any fraction of that level of bioload. I gives fish water that they can thrive in, right from the beginning.
The other wonderful thing of fishless cycling, at least here on the TFF beginner section, is that provides a perfect "incubator" for beginning hobbyists where they can learn hands on the core details about biofilters while at the same time having fun learning other beginning things and working on their stocking plan. The timing for watching the cycle turns out to be just about right for learning all the right questions about good stocking and other startup things.
Anyway,
, sorry to go on, I know you are not a beginner but I just thought an explanation of why we are very positive about our help process might be in order and might be helpful in explaining some of the responses you get.~~waterdrop~~
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