Omg! This Is All French To Me?!

[clarebear]

hay peoples

i havent posted in the newies bit yet but have been reading and studying all ur post for a couple of days

im moving into my new house in about a month and really want to get myself a nice fish tank, i dont want anything to big as my first tank and not to sure of what fish go with others.
im incredibly confused with the cycling process?? from what i understand (and im sure all u lovely people are going to put me right) u get ya tank, put all ya stuff in.... fill up, turn on all pumps and that and then wait??? also once the fish are in do u have to take them out to do this again?

im sure ur all praying i dont get fish as i clearly havent got the first idea!! lol but im willing to learn!!

hope u can give me some advice

thanx guys

Clare

 

[dc3]

Hi Clare
The size of tank you get is tied in to the kind of fish you want or vice versa... If you haven't decided and don't want something too big - go with a 40 or 45 gallon - they're large enough (36" long) for most your basic needs but not so big as to cause you a lot of probs...
As for cycling - you pretty much have the idea, except you add in ammonia and keep testing for first the ammonia spike and then the nitrite spike - there are others who have written about this pretty well. Once you've stabilized, then you're good to add fish in. It's not as difficult as it sounds once you've done it - fish as a whole...
Good luck

 

[Dibari]

hay peoples

i havent posted in the newies bit yet but have been reading and studying all ur post for a couple of days

im moving into my new house in about a month and really want to get myself a nice fish tank, i dont want anything to big as my first tank and not to sure of what fish go with others.
im incredibly confused with the cycling process?? from what i understand (and im sure all u lovely people are going to put me right) u get ya tank, put all ya stuff in.... fill up, turn on all pumps and that and then wait??? also once the fish are in do u have to take them out to do this again?

im sure ur all praying i dont get fish as i clearly havent got the first idea!! lol but im willing to learn!!

hope u can give me some advice

thanx guys

Clare

The first time I attempted to tackle the cycling idea, I was just as confused as you.
Don't worry, it's natural.
We are ALL dumb when we first start out, I know I was. LOL.
I won't link you to websites because they confused the hell out of me when someone did that for me.
I'll break it down for you.
There are two types of tank cycling - Fishless Cycling and Cycling WITH fish.
Fishless Cycling is the best method (IMO).
This is where you take a tank, fill it up with water, get your filter and heater running, and add some ammonia to the tank via fish food, household ammonia (or in some extreme situations... pee..)
and let the natural bacteria build up by itself.
This method can take quite a while. Depending on the size of your tank, it can take many months.
You have to test the water every day to watch ammonia build, and once ammonia gets high enough (Your water should be cloudy white now) it will begin to go back down as NITRITES replace it and eat the ammonia. Once those build up to their full potential, they'll go down too when they're replaced by NITRATES, which have to be extremely high levels to hurt fish.
Once Nitrites are gone and Nitrates are beneath 40ppm, your tank is cycled!

Cycling with Fish isn't really all that recommended, but there are ways to make this easier on your fish.
The idea is that you take your new tank, get it all ready for fish and then add a few hardy ones, such as Goldfish to cycle your tank for you.
You feed them, they poop, they generate ammonia, and the above mentioned 'cycle' begins.
As has been said, this isn't the best option as ammonia and nitrites build up so high it could kill your fish. It's generally regarded as inhumane.
But now such products as Ammo Lock and Prime/AmQuel make ammonia and nitrites/nitrates harmless to your fish.
This can still take quite a while (most cycling does) but if you're impatient, you could buy some BioSpira, which already has the bacteria you need, which can be added right to your tank - Cycles it in 24 - 72 hours.
Another way to quickly and easily cycle your tank is to seed it with gravel or filter media from an already cycled tank.
Do your friends have cycled tanks? If so, ask for a little gravle or filter floss to place inside your filter - That will really kick jump the process for you.

Another method of cycling (quite cool, IMO) is the Walstad method of cycling.
This is a more natural process, but it could take anywhere from 4 -6 months long.
This is where you buy potting soil and natural river rocks/gravel to hold down the soil, live plants, lots of light and time, and voila.
The walstad method is sometimes preferred for it's low maintenance after initial setup.
If you're keeping say.. A 5 gallon walstad cycled tank with a betta in it, you may only need to do a small water change every few months, because the plants take care of the ammonia issues for you.
I hope this covered all you need to know. Be sure to ask any quesitons if you have them! We're all more than happy to help.

 

[clarebear]

Thank you very much u 2!!!! i understood most of that lol!!

i think im gonna have to have a good read up before i go ahead and buy anything, i was looking at the biorb tanks but my partner isnt keen on them,
i dont even know what fish i want yet, in fact apart from a couplei do know im sure there are many i dont know about, was thinking about getting some neons, what can go with them?

i think once i move into my house i will look into buying a tank , as you have said it could be a number of weeks before i can put my fish in

 

[Dibari]

Thank you very much u 2!!!! i understood most of that lol!!

i think im gonna have to have a good read up before i go ahead and buy anything, i was looking at the biorb tanks but my partner isnt keen on them,
i dont even know what fish i want yet, in fact apart from a couplei do know im sure there are many i dont know about, was thinking about getting some neons, what can go with them?

i think once i move into my house i will look into buying a tank , as you have said it could be a number of weeks before i can put my fish in

No problem. Neon Tetras are great community fish and go great with alot of other community freshwaters. The list is pretty endless, I would think. Keep them away from semi aggressive, or aggressives and ones that might eat your neon tetras (never mix goldfish with anything other than goldfish, either, if you're thinking of them).
There are lots of good resources here and on the net to learn about cycling, good luck to you!

 

[clarebear]

freshwater? tropical? same thing? arrggghhh help!!! lol

 

[rdd1952]

Cycling is the process of building a bacteria colony in/on your filter to process ammonia and nitrite. There MUST be an ammonia source for a tank to cycle. Simply adding water and starting the filters will not cycle the tank. There won't be any ammonia present for the bacteria to feed on so they will never develop. There will never be more bacteria in the tank than is needed to process the waste load of the fish.

As mentioned, fishless cycling is best and easiest. Here is the link to the Fishless Cycling pinned topic. In either case, whether you cycle with or without fish, you will need a good liquid master test kit so you can test ammonia (the first toxin that will appear if you cycle with fish), nitrite (the second toxin to appear), nitrate and pH. Stay away from strips as they are terribly inaccurate and most of the 5 in 1 tests don't have an ammonia test on them and that is the most important test you need in the beginning.

it will begin to go back down as NITRITES replace it and eat the ammonia. Once those build up to their full potential, they'll go down too when they're replaced by NITRATES, which have to be extremely high levels to hurt fish.
Once Nitrites are gone and Nitrates are beneath 40ppm, your tank is cycled!

Close but a little off. Ammonia is processed and transformed into nitrite which are processed and transformed into nitrate. At the end of a fishless cycle, the nitrates will probaby be well over 100 ppm but are educed by a large water change.

 

[Christine1014]

a lot of people use the two interchangeably, but there's a bit of a difference.
Fish like goldfish (and maybe white cloud minnow, and probably some other things too!) are coldwater fish.
The vast majority of the fish you see in the store that aren't labeled "marine" (saltwater) are "tropical."

There's also "brackish" which means a little bit salty (think, from areas near the coast where there's some saltwater intrusion, so the fish are living in part fresh water, part ocean/bay/sea water).

Hope that helps. Happy researching!

 

[clarebear]

thanx guys, blimey i have alot to learn, its all very confusing, i think i may have to find some1 with fish close by me

what did everyone start with fish wise?

 

[Christine1014]

I started off COMPLETELY clueless. Had two black skirt tetras, three giant danios, and a couple of neons in a 10 gallon tank (ack!) By some miracle, the tank went through its cycling process (unbeknowst to me, of course) and I only lost the neons & one of the black skirts. Had that set up about 4 or 5 years before upgrading to a 44 gallon tank and discovering this forum. (The danios and the original remaining black skirt, quite the senior citizen fishies, are still there!). I also have a 10 gallon planted tank with a male betta and two tiny otos. There are some fish that require a "mature" tank -- fish like discus and some other less hardy fish... don't even think about getting those until your tank's been set up, problem free, for 6 months or so. But danios, some tetras, guppies, etc., can be pretty forgiving of newbie mistakes.

 

[clarebear]

Thanx christine

i wanted a male betta but i think i may wait a while and have a seperate tank for him, i take it they dont get lonely??

 

[vinylman]

If you're just starting, I wouldn't go for a Biorb; they're incredibly expensive for what they are and there simply isn't a lot of swimming space, plus there's not a lot of room for decent substrate or plants. Go for a decent sized (at least two foot long) tank. I know this might sound stupid, but a large tank is much easier to look after than a small one, as long as you do regular (every 1-2 weeks) water changes. Also, read up on stocking your tank; eventual size of fish, size of shoals etc. I know all this sounds a bit head-spinning at first, but the advantage of fishless cycling is that while the cycle is happening, it gives you more time to research the hobby and what you'll need to do. A little patience at the start will save a lot of grief and wasted money later on. Believe me, it's not as difficult as it seems at the moment. Ask anything you want here; many shops will try to sell you things you'll never need if you start off on the right foot. Welcome to the hobby - it's a fabulous one.

 

[Christine1014]

Thanx christine

i wanted a male betta but i think i may wait a while and have a seperate tank for him, i take it they dont get lonely??

Nope, they're definitely best by themselves, or with a few calm bottom-dwelling, algae-eating types. Males are EXTREMELY aggressive in most cases, and will fight another betta to the death.

 

[clarebear]

thanx guys, im starting to think i may be better off with a cold water tank? lol maybe a goos starting point?

or u think i should just jump in at the deep end?

 

[14gtr14]

only difference between coldwater and tropical is really the temperatures. Tropical you buy a heater and cold you don't. I would dsay you may as well go for a tropical. Just read all the pinned topics over and over until you get a clear idea of what's going on! Also, the bigger the tank the more stable it is. So resist the urge of a boirb or 10 gallon and buy yourself a 45 gallon (roughly 4 ft long x 1ft depth x 18" height)