New Tank! Cycling Help? Live Plants...?

[EllenMarie]

I recently visited my local Petsmart and bought a nice 10 gallon tank kit. It came with a Penguin 100 Filter, an adjustable heater, an LED cover with two settings, a sample size package of Tropical Fish Flakes (In which I am Planning to Purchase more after cycling), a sample size package of Tapsafe water conditioner, and a nice bio-wheel within the filter. Oh... and of course the tank (a standard, non-bow front).

First thing is first: The Employee suggested we use Fish Flakes to cycle my tank, and "There was no need for a test kit, because they had free water tests " Sure! This is a good deal, but when you cycle your tank, you should ALWAYS keep close tabs on it, meaning your own test kit would be reasonable. Plus, Petsmart is a long drive away from where I live. It is not like I can just Drive up there everyday, although- I wish I could!

As a result, I am purchasing the API master test kit and some household ammonia to cycle my tank. Another Question for you... About how long does it take to cycle a 10gal tank with ammmonia? The associate at Petsmart told us one week, with Fish Food? Most of the Posts here suggest one month with ammonia.

After typing this up, I will be putting two live plants in my tank: A tropica Fern, and an Anubias Congensis; both about 4" tall. I will also be putting in a moss ball.

Suggestions? - should I be putting these plants into my tank if I am going to cycle with ammonia?


Thanks!
Ellen

 

[Bugdozer]

It will take longer than one week with fish food - someone on here worked out it takes about 2 days just for the food to rot down to the stage where ammonia is given off from it. It would take longer than one week even with ammonia.

 

[EllenMarie]

It will take longer than one week with fish food - someone on here worked out it takes about 2 days just for the food to rot down to the stage where ammonia is given off from it. It would take longer than one week even with ammonia.

About how long would it take to cycle a 10 gallon with ammonia if i kept the reading 2-4ppm? Just a general idea to see what I should be aiming for when I test.

 

[4seasons]

The only way you could cycle a tank in a week is with mature media. I have used the fish flake method before and it will work. It takes the food 2-3 days to start breaking down into ammonia and takes 5-7 days to stop giving off ammonia. It is very hard to predict how much ammonia you are adding with food but you don't need to be exact to cycle a tank anyway. When I used flakes it took 7 weeks to cycle.
With bottled ammonia you can control exactly how much ammonia you add and when you add it. The biggest problem with bottled ammonia is finding some that doesn't have surfactants in it. I have used this method as well but was new at cycling when I did it and I dosed the ammonia higher than needed so the nitrites took forever to drop. I even had to do several water changes to get the nitrites back on the scale. Because I didn't know what I was doing it took 9 weeks.
You are right about needing your own test kit but you won't need to keep a real close eye on a fishless cycle. When you first add ammonia to you tank full of dechlorinated water dose it to 3ppm. Then don't bother testing it for 2 weeks. Once you do start checking it wait till ammonia drops to 0 ppm (3 to 4 weeks in my experiment) only dose back to 1 ppm so you don't have the huge nitrite spike that many of us have seen. I think the only way you can get fulled cycled in under a month is if you get some mature media to get you filter started.

 

[4seasons]

It will take longer than one week with fish food - someone on here worked out it takes about 2 days just for the food to rot down to the stage where ammonia is given off from it. It would take longer than one week even with ammonia.

About how long would it take to cycle a 10 gallon with ammonia if i kept the reading 2-4ppm? Just a general idea to see what I should be aiming for when I test.

If you have perfect conditions and no media donation, 6 weeks is the minimum. Like I said above mine took 9 weeks the first time and then when I had a better feel for the process I was able to do it in 7 weeks.
To give yourself the best chance at a speedy cycle try to get your hands on some mature media from a well established filter. Even with that PH 8.0-8.2 and water temp of 84-85 will do best.

 

[EllenMarie]

The only way you could cycle a tank in a week is with mature media. I have used the fish flake method before and it will work. It takes the food 2-3 days to start breaking down into ammonia and takes 5-7 days to stop giving off ammonia. It is very hard to predict how much ammonia you are adding with food but you don't need to be exact to cycle a tank anyway. When I used flakes it took 7 weeks to cycle.
With bottled ammonia you can control exactly how much ammonia you add and when you add it. The biggest problem with bottled ammonia is finding some that doesn't have surfactants in it. I have used this method as well but was new at cycling when I did it and I dosed the ammonia higher than needed so the nitrites took forever to drop. I even had to do several water changes to get the nitrites back on the scale. Because I didn't know what I was doing it took 9 weeks.
You are right about needing your own test kit but you won't need to keep a real close eye on a fishless cycle. When you first add ammonia to you tank full of dechlorinated water dose it to 3ppm. Then don't bother testing it for 2 weeks. Once you do start checking it wait till ammonia drops to 0 ppm (3 to 4 weeks in my experiment) only dose back to 1 ppm so you don't have the huge nitrite spike that many of us have seen. I think the only way you can get fulled cycled in under a month is if you get some mature media to get you filter started.

Thanks! Very Informative! If I am cycling with fish food, How much should I put in per day? So far, I've been doing one pinch... (I've only done that once so far, considering I just setup my tank yesterday).

It will take longer than one week with fish food - someone on here worked out it takes about 2 days just for the food to rot down to the stage where ammonia is given off from it. It would take longer than one week even with ammonia.

About how long would it take to cycle a 10 gallon with ammonia if i kept the reading 2-4ppm? Just a general idea to see what I should be aiming for when I test.

If you have perfect conditions and no media donation, 6 weeks is the minimum. Like I said above mine took 9 weeks the first time and then when I had a better feel for the process I was able to do it in 7 weeks.
To give yourself the best chance at a speedy cycle try to get your hands on some mature media from a well established filter. Even with that PH 8.0-8.2 and water temp of 84-85 will do best.

Ok. Thanks!
I'll see if anyone has some media, although I might have to opt for the Fish flakes cycle.

 

[jb1997mcd]

Like the others, I strongly suggest the ammonia methond. Avoid the surfacants. When you shake the bottle of ammonia you should not see any bubbles.

The fish food method sounds like it would be tricky waiting for the food to break down to produce ammonia. I have never tried this methond but have heard that the rotting fish food can lead to other issues. I forget what the issue was, however, some other folks may be able to provide some info.

jb