My First Cycle

[blackers92]

I know your all going to hate me but I am doing a cycle with fish,
I have checked about 20 stores no joke and cannot find ammonia anywhere, every fish retailer in melbourne (australia) reccomended doing it the "natural" way.

I think the fishless makes sense but i really have to start cycling before school starts.

One thing i thought was really sus was that the lfs dealer asked me what fish i wanted to stock, and reccomended that i use neon tetras to cycle the tank!
i was under the impression that they were very sensitive?

My master API test kit will arrive tonight and i will start taking down my ammonia/nitrite levels.

I havent got any fish in my tank yet, just live plants. Do i leave the lights on while i cycle?

I also got plant fertilizer and "stabilty" which supposedly speeds up my bio filter.

please tell me i am heading in the right direction

 

[erk628]

STOP!!!! Trust me you do not want to do a fishin cycle unless you like doing mutiple water changes of 50% a day for weeks and weeks. Im not saying this because I read it I'm saying it because I've done it. There are other methods you can use instead of pure ammonia. I would go to the grocery store and get some shrimp put them in a mess back put then in the tank and in a day or two the ammonia will be present and the tank will have begin cycling. If your still stuck on a fishin cycle read the link in my sig and grab your bucket and eat them wheaties. Oh and neon tetras are the last fish you want to cycle with.

Also light+ammonia=algea

 

[blackers92]

Ok i think i will do that then, but wouldnt my plants die without light?

 

[erk628]

Ok i think i will do that then, but wouldnt my plants die without light?

Hmmm didnt think about that sorry. Yeah you probaly want to leave the lights on like you normally would about 8 hours or so a day. The plants should keep the algea level down and you can buy a algea scraper or a magnet to clean the glass if some does start to build up.

 

[soccermatt]

Your plants wouldn't fair very well without lights, but during my fishless cycle i had several plants and kept the lights on for fairly long hours. Towards the end of the fishless cycle i started seeing a lot of algae. However since it has finished and i added fish (no algae eating ones) all the algae is gone.

Good luck, and i would definatly recommend doing fishless like erk628 said. I did it with fish food. it got my tank really messy, but it worked, and after two good gravel vacs its all clean.

 

[blackers92]

I might try the prawn/shrimp method it sounds alot cleaner, is there a forum on that method? would one be big enough for a 140 litre tank?

 

[waterdrop]

I suggest you limit your light-on hours to 4 at first, then very gradually creep up to 5 hours etc., always keeping an eye out for algae. Calculate your watts per gallon on the lighting and post up. Are you able to get Seachem Flourish Excel or EasyCarbo down under?

Several of our Aus members have managed to get ammonia by hook or crook, but we're aware its extremely difficult. I think one person found a university connection and another found some sort of manufacturing situation. Given this level of difficulty I agree that prawns/shrimp (helps if they're in a mesh sack) would be a way to go. Getting the ammonia level you want will be difficult and have a delayed effect.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[blackers92]

I have also gone to great lengths, my mum is a coordinator at a hospital and i thought surely either the pharmacy or cleaning or maitanance people would either have it or be able to get it but i had no luck same with my school they only use really diluted amounts in like 10ml capsules. I checked every supermarket from wantirna to phillip island to glen iris, everywhere.

I have Seachem Flourish, and sechem stability

I am unsure on what "watts per gallon means, i have about 37 gallons and 26W

thanks for all your help

 

[waterdrop]

ok, 26 watts divided by 37 (US I assume) gallons is about 0.7 watts/gallon. Next we need to know what type light. I'm going to assume fluorescent, but what width is the tube and what shape is it in? In the US, when the tube width is less than an inch and a lot of tube is u-shaped or coiled together, we call it a "compact fluorescent" and it results in more light per watt. What is your tube like?

Its going to depend on what type plants you get but its possible that by adding one more Seachem product (the Flourish Excel I was talking about) you could have a pretty good little combo going with very small doses of Excel, Flourish and the right number of lighting hours. Any idea whether your water is soft or hard or what the pH is?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[blackers92]

they are flourescants about 18 inches long t5-13watt

there are two of them, yes 37 u.s gallons

i cant measure the ph or softness until i pick up my API test kit from the post office tonight

i will also buy some shrimp when i am out, would 2 shrimp tied in panty hose be sufficient?

and if it helps the plants i got are
1X fire feather
2X Limnophilia Sessilifolia
2X williw hygo hybrid

and about 2-3kgs mangrove root

 

[blackers92]

My API Master kit just arrived in the mail

so i did a ph test and the ph is 7.2

 

[erk628]

Ive never cycled like that I was dumb and did fishin cycles. I'm pretty sure Oldman47 has some knowledge on it so you might want to send him a PM. Not sure were you live but in the states you can go get like a pack of frozing ones usually 40 to 60 in there I buy them to feed my fish sometimes there like 5 bucks. I'd get a bag put a few in and keep testing your water and see what it does. Remember it will probaly take a day or two to see any ammonia present. Any left overs you can feed to the fish or cookem up and eat them yourself. Just dont eat the ones in the tank!

 

[waterdrop]

well, darn, just lost my whole writeup to you

shrimp details sound fine

normal API kit doesn't have GH/KH

T5 tubes, great, should mean higher light, which should put you effectively up around one watt per gallon at least which means you should be in the good range for low-light technique and java ferns, anubias, amazon swords, some crypts and many others should work well. I don't know the ones you list.

Sounds like you're off to a good start.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[erk628]

well, darn, just lost my whole writeup to you

shrimp details sound fine

normal API kit doesn't have GH/KH

T5 tubes, great, should mean higher light, which should put you effectively up around one watt per gallon at least which means you should be in the good range for low-light technique and java ferns, anubias, amazon swords, some crypts and many others should work well. I don't know the ones you list.

Sounds like you're off to a good start.

~~waterdrop~~

I do that a lot when I'm on my phone

 

[blackers92]

Ok i bought my prawn it is very big, im leaving it in the sun to hopefully speed up the decomposition.

and then i am putting it in a pantyhose

will this work?

how long will it produce ammonia?