Still Don't Get It

[tbone2004]

Hi all - new here. I have been reading as much as I can on the site first - because nothing is worse than the same question being asked 100 times over and over.
Scenario - I just bought a 29 gal tank for my son (I had one as a kid, so I am not completely new to the hobby), put in my gravel, fake plants, decor and water. Filter is running, heater is keeping me at the recommended 76 degrees. No fish yet. (not the way we did it when I was a kid, but I never knew any better back then) I am afraid I just don't get the cycling part. I understand the concept and any diagrams I have seen, but it seems like it all starts with ammonia - but I also read that the fish create the ammonia via their waste etc. So if I do not have fish in there, then am I just spinning my wheels over here? After two days my water took on a slightly cloudy look, but I do not see how that can mean anything since it is just water in there. Do I already have a problem?

Can anyone give me a laymans description and/or approach?

Thanks!

 

[gaz gun man]

simply put, you replicate the fish being there by adding liquid ammonia (you can buy it from most general housekeeping shops if you look around)

The ammonia you add is then coverted into nitrite then into nitrate.

When your filter can process the ammonia dose into nitrate, the tank is then cycled.

By adding fish to an uncycled tank, all that is happening is all that waste they produce is just being swirled around the tank/filter slowly poisoning them eventually leading to death

 

[tbone2004]

simply put, you replicate the fish being there by adding liquid ammonia (you can buy it from most general housekeeping shops if you look around)

The ammonia you add is then coverted into nitrite then into nitrate.

When your filter can process the ammonia dose into nitrate, the tank is then cycled.

By adding fish to an uncycled tank, all that is happening is all that waste they produce is just being swirled around the tank/filter slowly poisoning them eventually leading to death

Just regular ammonia? (I just know of the kind you clean with) OK, I have that. I will continue reading about amounts to use etc...I just could not get it through my head about which came first the chicken or the egg Thanks for the reply.

 

[Whitester]

Well yes and no. The ammonia can't have any fragrance in it. The only ingredient should be water and ammonia. Nothing else.

 

[arobinson1984]

Its normally called household ammonia and as mentioned should contain only ammonia and water, no fragrances.

Normally you can tell by shaking the bottle, if it bubbles for a second then settles it is ok, if it foams then dont use it.

If you are in the UK, the most popular places to get the ammonia are either boots or homebase.

Have a read of these topics I have linked you to incase you already havent read them

What Is Cycling?
The Nirtogen Cycle
Fishless Cycling <----- Follow this guide

Hope this helps a little, any other questions, dont hesitate to ask

Andy

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, it decidedly is -not- the type of ammonia cleaner 90% of people might have or think of as an ammonia cleaner. The vast majority of them have surfactants, dyes, fragrances or combinations of those in addition to the water and little bit of ammonia.

Its usually a bit of a little adventure to find the right sort of generic, simple cleaner that the right stuff is. As said, Boots, Homebase, hardware stores, bigbox stores, you never quite know and you can't trust the salespeople to quite get it right, so its best to also check the mop and broom isles yourself.

~~waterdrop~~