Cycling an Aquarium.

campo wrote: »

Looked at them thought they were a bit ugly been honest not too bothered about the water just means when I go and visit friends and family in City to bring a container for water

Fair enough but sourcing water from a different region might become a real chore once the initial fish keeping novelty wears off.

campo

buzz wrote: »

Also, dont put fish food in the tank as it will rot and effect your levels.
Wait until you have fish.

WHat is your Ph level?

After about 2 weeks of cycling, start with the tetras, they are hardy fish.
Leave them for a week or 2 before adding anymore fish, as the filter needs time to build up bacteria. Add fish slowly after that, maybe 1 or 2 per 10 days to be safe. Better be safe than over loading to soon, which can affect your amonia and Nitrite levels and cause a problem... You can use filter boost to help cycle the tank.

just did a check there and results were

Amonia 0ppm
Nitritre 0ppm
Nitrate 0ppm

and PH 6.4

Is this a good thing

campo wrote: »

just did a check there and results were

Amonia 0ppm
Nitritre 0ppm
Nitrate 0ppm

and PH 6.4

Is this a good thing

You should have a reading of some sort of nitrate.

campo

After looking at it again looks more like 5ppm

Posy

What should the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH readings generally be to keep your fish healthy?

Posy wrote: »

What should the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH readings generally be to keep your fish healthy?

Nitrite and Ammonia should be zero. Nitrate is the end product off the cycling process which means there will always be some level present. Nitrate is harmless at low levels, that's why water changes are important. If you over feed or are over stocked with fish the Nitrate levels will increase quickly so more water changes are needed.

pH is a measure of the waters acidity and it's measured on a scale of 1-14, 1 being acidic 14 being alkaline and 7 being neutral. Aquarium pH normally varies between 6-9. Some fish do best with low pH and others with a high pH. Most fish will acclimatise to a particular pH even if it's not it's natural level but what will shock/kill fish is sudden change.

campo

fred funk }{ wrote: »

Nitrite and Ammonia should be zero. Nitrate is the end product off the cycling process which means there will always be some level present. Nitrate is harmless at low levels, that's why water changes are important. If you over feed or are over stocked with fish the Nitrate levels will increase quickly so more water changes are needed.

pH is a measure of the waters acidity and it's measured on a scale of 1-14, 1 being acidic 14 being alkaline and 7 being neutral. Aquarium pH normally varies between 6-9. Some fish do best with low pH and others with a high pH. Most fish will acclimatise to a particular pH even if it's not it's natural level but what will shock/kill fish is sudden change.

My latest readings are as follows

Amonia 2.0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
PH 7.6

Cycling about a week now should I do anything like water change etc or just leave for now

Leave her be. You should start seeing the nitrite showing soon.

suziek21

Hi campo, did you get your tank sorted.
i'm just about to start in next 2-3 weeks and i've been reading your thread, god i didn't know there was so much to setting up a tank :-)
i've a 330 ltr tank and need to start reading up. where in limerick would you recommend a good fish shop. i'm in mallow

donal7

Hi All,

I am about to start cycling a new tank.

I already have a tank fully cycled (running 5years+) and was going to pop some of that filter media into the new external filter to help it get established.

The tank has been fully cleaned along with the sand base. I was planning on filling the tank, treating the water with dechlorinator (Easy Life Fluid Filter Medium) and leaving an airstone on for 24 hours and turn on heater. Start up the new external filter with the mature filter (I also have polyfilter in the new external filter).

I was planning on leaving the tank for a week and then test the water.

Any other tips/suggestions? In my current tank I use EasyLife Fluid Filter Medium for water changes.

Cheers in advance

donal7 wrote: »

Start up the new external filter with the mature filter (I also have polyfilter in the new external filter).

I was planning on leaving the tank for a week and then test the water.

If you have established bacteria in the new filter, you're going to need to feed the bacteria to keep it alive, so adding some fish straight will be no harm.

Only add enough fish that the amount of filter media you put in the external filter can cope with.

donal7

ozzy jr wrote: »

If you have established bacteria in the new filter, you're going to need to feed the bacteria to keep it alive, so adding some fish straight will be no harm.

Only add enough fish that the amount of filter media you put in the external filter can cope with.

Thanks ozzy jr for the reply

I was thinking of getting a couple of guppies or something just for the initial cycling period in the hope the LFS might take them back when the tank is fully cycled and I'm ready to get more fish

FoghornLeghorn I say boy

Hi does anyone know where in Galway you can get Chaetomorpha Algae for a marine sump all info greatly appreciated. Try Special Blend or Easy Life to cycle your tank,just follow the instructions on the bottle. :cool:

Ilik Urgee

Hi all,

Started cycling a 125 liter tank last Sunday with some live plants. How long should I leave the lights on?
It's a Juwel125,used API Stress Zyme and Stress Coat that came with it. Plants are Ludwigia Rot,Echinidorus and Mini Althenanthera if it makes any odds,running at 25.5*C

Marcin_diy

Ilik Urgee wrote: »

Hi all,

Started cycling a 125 liter tank last Sunday with some live plants. How long should I leave the lights on?
It's a Juwel125,used API Stress Zyme and Stress Coat that came with it. Plants are Ludwigia Rot,Echinidorus and Mini Althenanthera if it makes any odds,running at 25.5*C

Hello

You will find many opinions on this, but what i do when I start a tank is :
I keep lights on for 6h week1
7h week 2
8h week3
9h week 4
10h week 5 +

Ludwigia Rot - light requirements are medium to high
Echinidorus - light requirements are medium to high
Althenanthera - light requirements are high.

What light do you have in your tank?
is it standard 2x 24W ?

if yes I'm afraid it won't be enough for Echinidorus and Althenanthera

For plants with low light requirement I can say that 0.3 - 0.5 W per 1Litre of water is enough
medium - 0.5 - 0.7 W per 1L
high 0.7 - 1W per 1L

Let say you have 48 Watts - divided by 125L = 0.38 W per litre.

Did you think about getting additional lights units?

like this one:

The only thing you need to do is to drill 4 small holes in your top and attach light tubes

Hi all hooping you can advise me if my tank has fully cycled. I have been cycling my new aquarium for the last 3 weeks which can be summarised as follows:

Week 1: No fish and small amounts of fish food added each day. At the end of the week I had a low ammonia reading and no nitrite.

Week 2: I added 5 zebra danios. The ammonia steadily increased together with the nitrite. I did frequent water changes to reduce the ammonia and nitrite levels.

Week 3: Overnight the ammonia and nitrite have dropped to zero (Having added some API Quick Start to the tank on the instruction of the LFS a day previously). I bought a nitrate testing kit and it is registering 30ppm, however my tap water also registers 30ppm.

Is there any way I can confirm whether my tank has cycled and I can add more fish or has the Quick Start given me false hope at this stage?

Thanks

If your Nitrite and Ammonia levels remain at zero but your Nitrate levels increase then your tank is cycled.

Consider that with only a few Danios, there isn't much waste being created so the levels of the above will be quit small.

Hmmm still very confused as to whether my tank has cycled or not.

The ammonia and nitrite levels remain at zero however the nitrate has now also decreased to zero!

By introducing the API Quick Start (on the instruction of LFS) have I possibly restarted the cycle again and will have to wait for ammonia and nitrite to reappear and the cycles to recommence?

thedavman009 wrote: »

Week 1: No fish and small amounts of fish food added each day. At the end of the week I had a low ammonia reading and no nitrite.

Week 2: I added 5 zebra danios. The ammonia steadily increased together with the nitrite. I did frequent water changes to reduce the ammonia and nitrite levels.

You shouldn't have added fish while you had a positive ammonia reading. You should have let the cycle complete.

ozzy jr wrote: »

You shouldn't have added fish while you had a positive ammonia reading. You should have let the cycle complete.

Clearly that is no longer an option.

I understood there was more than one way to cycle. Including a cycle with hardy fish such as zebra danios. Should I now wait for the tank to cycle and maintain constant water changes to reduce ammonia and nitrite?

thedavman009 wrote: »

Clearly that is no longer an option.

I understood there was more than one way to cycle. Including a cycle with hardy fish such as zebra danios. Should I now wait for the tank to cycle and maintain constant water changes to reduce ammonia and nitrite?

There's no need to use fish to cycle an aquarium, no matter how hardy you believe them to be, especially with all the quick start methods available nowadays.

If I was in your position, I'd remove any fish and start the cycle again.

ozzy jr wrote: »

There's no need to use fish to cycle an aquarium, no matter how hardy you believe them to be, especially with all the quick start methods available nowadays.

If I was in your position, I'd remove any fish and start the cycle again.

Fishless cycle obviously no longer an option. Apart from waiting for the cycle to naturally occur, what if anything should I do?

thedavman009 wrote: »

Fishless cycle obviously no longer an option. Apart from waiting for the cycle to naturally occur, what if anything should I do?

You could do some water changes, but as there isn't enough bacteria in the filter, any waste from the fish won't be processed. Ammonia and Nitrite will more than likely continue to rise.

[quote="ozzy jr;87864110"Ammonia and Nitrite will more than likely continue to rise.[/quote]

Until such time as the bacteria are established in the filter?

CruelCoin

thedavman009 wrote: »

Until such time as the bacteria are established in the filter?

Yes.

You can buy in your lfs (local fish shop) little bottles of filter bacteria.

Can act as a kickstart and good in a pinch.

Or you can find someone else with a tank, borrow some of their filter media, put it in your own filter, and hey presto!

ZiabR

Where are you based? The best way and only way to cycle a tank fast which I have been doing for years is seeding. Squeeze someones filter contents into a bag and pour the bag into you tank and filter. It gives the tank a HUGE kick start.

I would be happy to give you filter squeezings if you are close to me.