Omg My Tank Is Cycled At Last!

[chardonnay1000]

Hi everyone, i tested my tank this morning after what seems like an eternity, and to my delight, it is cycled, all my reading are super duper, i done a massive 90% water change at t time, am im going to my lfs tomorrow to see what they have.

I would just like to say this....i completely messed my 1st tank up because i didnt even know how to cycle a tank so this time i was determined to do it without any stress to the fish and without killing any. I started my cycle with pure ammonia on the 16th Nov adding 25 drops per day til my nitrate spiked, then halved my dose ..it took forever to come down but when i tested today, it was clear. I know there is a big debate on correct methods on cycling tanks but all i can say is that this was so easy and any newbies should at least try this method out.


I am so chuffed cos for the past month i have looked at an empty tank with plants and bogwood and today i realise it has paid off. I am a happy bunny.

 

[Gnatfish]

Wait a minute...you waited for the nitrate to come down?

 

[chardonnay1000]

oops nitrite not nitrate, i got excited and carried away when typing

 

[Gnatfish]

Ahh. lol

It's strange my tank cycled extremely quickly when i did it with fish...

 

[geo7x]

congratulations! I know its the best feeling when your tank finishes its cycle, ive been there. Stock that tank quickly before the bacteria dies off!!!

 

[chardonnay1000]

mine didnt, it took about 5 weeks and loads died and some got septeciamia i lost about 10 fish,, we all learn from our mistakes tho i guess ..It does seem to fluctuate so much tho, some people are cycled in 7 days others takes months, i wonder why?

congratulations! I know its the best feeling when your tank finishes its cycle, ive been there. Stock that tank quickly before the bacteria dies off!!!

thanks, yeh i might put a few drops of ammonia in just to keep things ticking over, yr right tho it s the best ffeeling, i could jump off a dolls house!!

 

[Gnatfish]

Well i had plants..

I think that helps tremendously.

 

[chardonnay1000]

me too

 

[Gnatfish]

Well in that case

I left my tank a week an a bit before adding the fish while adding maturing thingy...maybe thats it.

 

[chardonnay1000]

Well in that case

I left my tank a week an a bit before adding the fish while adding maturing thingy...maybe thats it.

I did add i think it called bio start also ..i dont know.. some time it just takes ages sometimes it dosnt ..im just please i all sorted now.

 

[dthoffsett]

Now for the exciting part. What are you going to put in your new tank?

 

[chardonnay1000]

ha ha i avnt a clue i do like emporer tetras and was thinking about 6 of them, my boy wants khuli loaches so am thinking 4 of them, still cant make my mind up of a centrepeice fish still...i like the queen arabesque plec so i have my heart set on one of those or a peppermint plec.. and thats all i got for now...its only took me 5 weeks to come up with that lot

 

[stang1]

Congratulations Chardonnay.
I'm so glad your tank has finally cycled, I bet it felt like it was taking forever?
Hardest thing ever is choosing fish for a tank so good luck! It'd be great to see some pictures once you've started stocking.

 

[chardonnay1000]

ha ha yeh it did, thanks

well today i bought 3 boatia loaches, 6 cardinal tetras, 3 cory catfish and a queen arabesque pleco and a 2 kissing gouramis. thats my update for now, they all seem very happy cept the queen she is playing hide and seek.

thanks everyone for your advice.

 

[MegTheFish]

Uh-Oh....you do realize that kissing gouramis grow quite large, up to 12" (a whole foot). I'm not too sure how much water a jewel Rio240 holds, but hopefully its 50+ gallons.

Other then that you picked a good selection of fish! Cardinals tend to be a bit sentitive so you probably should of waited a few months to add them but oh well, hopefully they do ok for you. You won't regret gettting the cories, they are awesome little fish, so entertaining! What kind of botias did you get? And omg those queen arabesques are to die for, I've been trying to get one but no luck so far.