New To Cycling

[fishy_wishy]

I bought a 12 litre tank yesterday with gravel and filter, the instructions say you can add fish after three days, but I have decided to go for a fishless cycle so my fish goes through the least amount of stress possible.
I tested the water today as I was curious to see if anything had happen but everything was 0 except nitrate which was mysteriously at around 3ppm, I thought this appeared later? I think it might just be from my tap water...
I need some tips for cycling my 12 litre quickly, also how long will it take?
 
 
 
 

Thanks

 

[fluttermoth]

Most tap water does have some nitrate in it; might be a good idea to test your tap water and see what the levels are.
 
It's impossible to say for sure how long it will take to cycle; all set ups are different.
 
The only certain way of speeding up a cycle is to add some mature media from another tank; you can take up to a third of the filter media from a cycled tank without affecting it, as long as you replace the media you've taken out with new.
 
Have you added any ammonia yet? You cannot fishlessly cycle unless you're adding ammonia.

 

[fishy_wishy]

I added some fish food and a plastic plant from a different tank, I also squeezed some of the murky water out of the older aquarium and added it to the water, it went cloudy but has cleared up now. my tap water does have a little tap water.
Will that help with beneficial aquarium growth? Is there something else I need to do?
Thank you so much for your help so far

 

[fluttermoth]

You need to add some ammonia, as soon as possible, or any beneficial bacteria you have moved will starve and die off.

 

[daizeUK]

fishy_wishy, if you have an established mature aquarium then your best bet is to take a piece of sponge or media from the filter and place it inside your new filter. The dirty water will not contain much bacteria and neither will the plastic plant - most of the bacteria live inside the filter.

The fish food you added will rot down and provide ammonia, however it will also produce other unwanted substances and so is not the best way to fishless cycle a tank. If you can get hold of some pure ammonia then this would be a much better solution and you can also measure the exact recommended amount of 3ppm ammonia to be sure you don't overdose.

With mature media from your bigger tank, you could be cycled within 3 weeks or less.

 

[fishy_wishy]

Okay, could I cut a chunk of sponge out of another tank? I can't just swap it as the mature tank's filter is significantly larger than this one

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes, you can, but wait until you've got some ammonia, or the bacteria will probably starve.

 

[fishy_wishy]

If there is ANY in there do you think its starved already? I've had a little bit of fish food in there since this morning, plastic plant and filter water went in this afternoon.
Has this even done anything?
I will look for pure ammonia

 

[fluttermoth]

It probably won't have done anything. Fish food takes about four days to rot down enough to start producing ammonia.

 

[fishy_wishy]

if there was any bacteria in the tank will it have died by now?

 

[Ch4rlie]

Here is a link to help you give you an idea where to find some ammonia for your cycling process

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/427161-ammonia-and-bacteria-starter-sources/

 

[daizeUK]

if there was any bacteria in the tank will it have died by now?

No it won't but you really shouldn't worry. Bacteria will survive about 4-5 days without ammonia and the chances are you don't have any bacteria in there yet anyway.

 

[fishy_wishy]

Okay, I'll get some pure ammonia, thanks everyone for your help so far

 

[fishy_wishy]

The ammonia is at 4ppm,  I found some 'biological supplement, friendly bacteria' in a bottle. does this kind of thing tend to work or is it pointless?

 

[daizeUK]

Depends what brand it is but if you have a piece of sponge from an established aquarium you honestly shouldn't need it.