My First Stupid Question Of Many

[phoenixgsd]

i have just started to do a fishless cycle useing the equipment that was bought as one, with my tank, i have a 20L tank and have washed the gravel put in the heater, set at the moment to 24, filter and thermometer and water, i left it to stand for a few hours before turning it all on, i had with my tank a bottle of tap water safe, which i have added per instructions on bottle, i also have a small bottle of tetra safestart, do i add this as well, if so how much?

have i done this right, any advice would be really apprieciated as this is my first tank, i have no plants yet and am hoping for maybe some tetras or similar fish if i get this right

thanks

 

[Fishy friend2]

In a 20 liter you can't have much except for a Betta and 2 or 3 male endlers,
And are you using pure ammonia to cycle the tank or are you using fish food to cycle it

 

[phoenixgsd]

the tank came with goldfish food, but i have to admit the more i read the more confused i get, which is best? i really need simple instructions so this thicko can understand

the shop told me i could fit 8 - 10 small fish in this tank, typical shop i suppose

 

[Fishy friend2]

IMO pure ammonia works better than fish food when cycling a tank
And yeah most shops are just trying to make money and don't care about the welfare of the fish

 

[CezzaXV]

Fishless cycling: Get hold of some pure ammonia. Click the calculator at the top of the forums to calculate how much ammonia you need to add to get to 4ppm. Test your water every day and when ammonia and nitrite are at 0, redose ammonia to 4ppm. When there is 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite after 12 hours, you're cycled. It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's the essence of it.

If you have a friend with a cycled filter, you could take some of their filter media. If theirs is a big tank, it might even be enough to have you fully cycled.

 

[phoenixgsd]

Fishless cycling: Get hold of some pure ammonia. Click the calculator at the top of the forums to calculate how much ammonia you need to add to get to 4ppm. Test your water every day and when ammonia and nitrite are at 0, redose ammonia to 4ppm. When there is 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite after 12 hours, you're cycled. It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's the essence of it.

If you have a friend with a cycled filter, you could take some of their filter media. If theirs is a big tank, it might even be enough to have you fully cycled.

thank you....english unfortunatly i dont know anyone with a tank to help with that one

 

[Kevinp999]

Fishless cycling: Get hold of some pure ammonia. Click the calculator at the top of the forums to calculate how much ammonia you need to add to get to 4ppm. Test your water every day and when ammonia and nitrite are at 0, redose ammonia to 4ppm. When there is 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite after 12 hours, you're cycled. It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's the essence of it.

If you have a friend with a cycled filter, you could take some of their filter media. If theirs is a big tank, it might even be enough to have you fully cycled.

thank you....english unfortunatly i dont know anyone with a tank to help with that one

You can read all you need to learn about fishless cycling on this forum at Your NEW Freshwater tank -- Beginners Resource Center (which is pinned) and click on the fishless cycling link , I’m currently in this process and everything is going as planned , good luck

 

[Aqua Tom]

Fishless cycling: Get hold of some pure ammonia. Click the calculator at the top of the forums to calculate how much ammonia you need to add to get to 4ppm. Test your water every day and when ammonia and nitrite are at 0, redose ammonia to 4ppm. When there is 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite after 12 hours, you're cycled. It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's the essence of it.

If you have a friend with a cycled filter, you could take some of their filter media. If theirs is a big tank, it might even be enough to have you fully cycled.

thank you....english unfortunatly i dont know anyone with a tank to help with that one

Welcome to the forum, there are no stupid questions, only stupid fishkeepers who wont admit when they need help so well done for asking.

We have a Media Donation list. Try looking on there, maybe somebody could post you some?

Tom