Maintaining A Cycling Tank

[dissimulo]

Hi all,

Something I've been meaning to mention - with regards to ammonia and water testing, I go away for a week on 6th August which leaves an 11 day window of cycling opportunity as of today. I realise this might not be enough time but two weeks after having come home I go away again, leaving a similar frame of time in which to cycle my tank. Any ideas as to how I should go about performing a fish-less cycle on such a time scale?

One suggestion is to use dead prawns. Encased in a net bag, the prawns will leach Ammonia into the tank during the week I'm away, keeping the established bacteria alive. I'm sure I'll use this method but out of curiosity, are there any alternate means of maintaining a cycling tank?

Cheers,

Luke.

 

[Embrace]

I have heard people drop fish flakes in every so often? Maybe you could get a neighbour or a friend to come round every couple of days to do it?

Only problem is, is that it is not that accurate... But some people have had successes with it as that was the way most people used to cycle their tanks.

 

[mattlee]

its a tricky one really.... if you are going to use a prawn then it needs to be producing ammonia pretty much straight away. otherwise if it takes a day or so to start producing ammonia in the tank you may well end up losing the bacteria what you have already colonising in your filter due to lack of ammonia source. its also hard to know how much ammonia and how long it will last regarding how many prawns to put in the bag in the first place...

i think it will be best to start the cycle after your 2 holidays.....

 

[dissimulo]

I have heard people drop fish flakes in every so often? Maybe you could get a neighbour or a friend to come round every couple of days to do it?

Only problem is, is that it is not that accurate... But some people have had successes with it as that was the way most people used to cycle their tanks.

I'd forgotten about using fish flakes. Only, if I'm to ask a friend 'dose' the tank, they may as well use Ammonia to carry out the procedure correctly.

its a tricky one really.... if you are going to use a prawn then it needs to be producing ammonia pretty much straight away. otherwise if it takes a day or so to start producing ammonia in the tank you may well end up losing the bacteria what you have already colonising in your filter due to lack of ammonia source. its also hard to know how much ammonia and how long it will last regarding how many prawns to put in the bag in the first place...

i think it will be best to start the cycle after your 2 holidays.....

Might it be plausible to dose the tank with seven times the amount of Ammonia before I leave? The only reason I'd rather start the cycle now is to keep the water from turning stagnant (will it turn stagnant?). Thanks for the advice anyway.

Cheers,

Luke.

 

[Embrace]

If you have friends/family that you can trust do dose with ammonia (the right amount) then by all means go ahead

Oh and the cycle will stall if you overdose the ammonia.

 

[waterdrop]

Would be interested to hear of your status when you get back. Also, did you ever get more help on how to better prime your 2224 when starting it up?

~~waterdrop~~