New Tank Cycle

[ibanez08]

hi i was just wondering, ive cleaned my 22 litre tank out and started from scratch, will it need to cycle again if im using the filter whats been cycled already? theres new gravel in it cause the old sand was mankey, so the only thing that hasnt been changed is the filter

 

[PDSimon]

Sounds like you'll have to re-cycle it.

I assume you have no fish in there, nor have you been adding ammonia? You'll have starved the bacteria that cycle the water(well, the ammonia and nitrites)

 

[ibanez08]

hi, that little tank had a ammonia problem recently cause my son poured alot of flake food in there and i couldnt get all the food out, it last had fish in a week ago, but with the ammonia problem it had already, i let the tank run with no fish in it for a week, but ive been putting filter start in every other day if that makes any difference?

 

[PDSimon]

Hmm.. It may have gone, although the rotting fish food may have increased the ammonia, if you have only just changed the substrate you may be able to save some bacteria, assuming you put water back in the tank? otherwise they'll have dried out.

If you have water in the tank, what are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings?

you may want to purchase some ammonia from boots/homebase and add in 5ppm to see what happens asap.

 

[JoshuaA]

hi, that little tank had a ammonia problem recently cause my son poured alot of flake food in there and i couldnt get all the food out, it last had fish in a week ago, but with the ammonia problem it had already, i let the tank run with no fish in it for a week, but ive been putting filter start in every other day if that makes any difference?

Unfortunately there isn't much of a food source for the bacteria by the sounds of it, however the decomposed fish food might of fed the bacteria in the filter for the mean time. However since you've completely cleaned out the tank and left the bacteria without a food source I would say you would be lucky if they are still alive.

You may need to cycle again, however if you have a test kit and a bottle of house hold ammonia I would advise getting a base test of your Nitrite/Nitrate and Ammonia, Add enough ammonia for 4ppm of the tank using the calculator above, then test for all 3 the following day, if you have a Nitrate reading only and no Ammonia and Nitrite Fantastic . If you only have Ammonia then I advise you following the "Add daily" fish-less cycle.

Edit: I wouldn't say the filter start additive has done much for you.

 

[ibanez08]

well all the old water went, but i had a jug of the old water what the filter was sitting in, so the filter was always wet in the old water asoon as the tank was refilled the filter system went back in, with a shot of filter start aswell

 

[OldMan47]

If you have the existing filter intact and are careful to start feeding the filter in some fashion fairly soon, you will retain your filter's biological function. About 10% of the biological filter's capacity will be lost daily, but if you add back either fish or ammonia in a short time, the filter will recover very quickly. I often remove all of my fish from a tank for one reason or another and merely add a small amount of pure ammonia to keep that filter going until the next time I want to use the tank. By feeding the biological filter, the tank is always ready for new fish by doing a simple large water change first.
A biological filter is a simple thing really. It is not exactly rocket science.