View Full Version : cycling takes more than 1 day...
i got my tank yesterday, filled it with hose water and setup the filter/heater. i set the temperature to around 80 because i read that if you set a warmer temperature it will cycle better.
Today, i went to a fish store and got 10 feeder fish. when i got home, i put them in my tank (i did nothing to the water since yesterday), and they were fine. a few hours later, i went to check on them, and they were all on the bottom, just breathing. i thought they might be sleeping, so i check again later, and 2 are stuck to the filter. o_o.
Was it the temperature that killed them or the un-cycled water? i asked the fish store owner and he was the one who recommended getting the 10 feeder fish to cycle my tank for 2-3 days.
my friend told me i needed to put in some drops of this chlorine mixture or something .
Timmy
11-27-2005, 11:29 PM
CHLORINE WILL KILL>>>>>> Just add some big gold fish and leave the tank for about 4-6 weeks, and it will cycle :)
will the goldfish be able to live off the tap water? is there such thing as a fishless-fish cycle? like i will be using a formula to "cure" the water from the tap, and at the same time, use some more feeder fish. will this work?
repair
11-28-2005, 4:28 AM
Is this thread real?
You want me to believe that you know about fishless cycle but don't know that you have to remove the chlorine from the water to be able to keep fish?
I think this guy is pulling our leg
marshy
11-28-2005, 5:40 AM
There is the fish cycling method which takes longer (a few weeks) and the fishless cycling (a week tops)...
the fishless cycling method needs more monitoring....
Cyclop3000
11-28-2005, 6:22 AM
Either way, you don't get away with waiting...cycling takes time, end of story. And the bigger the tank the longer it will take. A regular cycle for a 100+ gallons can take a month or two to be stable...and like Timmy says, chlorine is lethal for fish !
Bud you need to do some research on the web, there are tons of info out there.
ramman
11-28-2005, 7:44 AM
Sounds to me like you never used a de-clorinator when you set the tank up(did you?),,,,,,anyway, if you didnt,,add some now and restock with the fish you will be using to "cycle" the tank,,,monitor levels of ammonia and nitrites to determine the progress of the cycle,,,best of luck!!
proper cycling would take about a week to complete for either fishless or w/ fish cycling.. just be patient, your fish would love you for it ;) .. and this would ensure you get the best potential of the fish you'll be keeping :)
Timmy
11-28-2005, 10:53 AM
proper cycling would take about a week to complete for either fishless or w/ fish cycling.. just be patient, your fish would love you for it ;) .. and this would ensure you get the best potential of the fish you'll be keeping :)
Week, more like 4-6 weeks... :eek:
Hakon
11-28-2005, 11:55 AM
Bacteria might help cycling. The fish stores usually sell this, and filters is also full of bacterium.
Personifer
11-28-2005, 1:26 PM
Bacteria might help cycling. The fish stores usually sell this, and filters is also full of bacterium.
YOu have to cycle your filter to become full of bacteria, that is the point of cycling.
beneficial bacteria filters!!!! O__o and ghost shrimp.
At the beginning of this thread you said you filled the tank with hose water, make sure you let the hose run for several minutes before using the water. Like a couple others I am guessing you did not add a dechlorinator to breakdown the chlorine and chloramine in the water, that stuff destroys gill tissue, municiple water sytems add it to the water to kill disease organisms. It MUST be dechlorinated to keep live fish. Dechlorinators are available at lfs and many grocery and department stores.
To kill your fish that quickly in a new tank it is unlikely that the culprit was ammonia as it is in an uncycled tank. When you set up dechlor the water and let it sit overnight with the filter running and double check your tank temperature it should be around 78 F for most tropicals, this could also be a problem, if you are using rosie reds or feeder goldfish to cycle the tank they probably came from unheated tanks, thermal shock can also kill. For cycling fresh water use fish that will be kept at the temp in the tank. Add a betta and a dwarf gourami or wearther loach, something hardy like that to the tank the day after you fill it with dechlored water and then feed them sparingly for 3-4 days, then add 2-3 more fish and wait a couple more days, repeating this until you have the tank stocked the way you like. The addition of just a couple fish at a time will give the bacteria time to grow to keep up with the slowly increasing bioload, there is no distinct cycle using this method, just a series of minicycles ongoing until you reach final stocking levels. It is also a good idea to get yourself a ammonia/nitrite test kit to moniter the cycling, You will see a small rise in levels the day after each addition followed by the levels falling to zero again.
yup i didnt cycle my 55 and i put all my fish from my 20 gallon in but nothing died. But it was cloudy so nick came to save the day with a sponge from his tank and that helped out alot
At the beginning of this thread you said you filled the tank with hose water, make sure you let the hose run for several minutes before using the water. Like a couple others I am guessing you did not add a dechlorinator to breakdown the chlorine and chloramine in the water, that stuff destroys gill tissue, municiple water sytems add it to the water to kill disease organisms. It MUST be dechlorinated to keep live fish. Dechlorinators are available at lfs and many grocery and department stores.
To kill your fish that quickly in a new tank it is unlikely that the culprit was ammonia as it is in an uncycled tank. When you set up dechlor the water and let it sit overnight with the filter running and double check your tank temperature it should be around 78 F for most tropicals, this could also be a problem, if you are using rosie reds or feeder goldfish to cycle the tank they probably came from unheated tanks, thermal shock can also kill. For cycling fresh water use fish that will be kept at the temp in the tank. Add a betta and a dwarf gourami or wearther loach, something hardy like that to the tank the day after you fill it with dechlored water and then feed them sparingly for 3-4 days, then add 2-3 more fish and wait a couple more days, repeating this until you have the tank stocked the way you like. The addition of just a couple fish at a time will give the bacteria time to grow to keep up with the slowly increasing bioload, there is no distinct cycle using this method, just a series of minicycles ongoing until you reach final stocking levels. It is also a good idea to get yourself a ammonia/nitrite test kit to moniter the cycling, You will see a small rise in levels the day after each addition followed by the levels falling to zero again.
Thanks, that answered alot of my questions. and NO i did not dechlorinate the tank because i thought the point of having the fish to cycle the tank was to make a suitable environment for future fish. anywho, i got dechlor drops from a friend who used it for his 50 gallon tank also. i bought more feeder fish and their in the little plastic baggy in the tank. the bag is just floating on the top so that the fish can adjust to the temperature slowly. i will let them into the tank tomorrow as i have put in the drops earlier today. i set the heater to about 76 degrees.
My other friend has a huge pond filled with huge koi. he said he'd give me some of his pond water if i wanted it. is it a good idea to put the water into my tank? im planning on a freshwater tank and its pond water, if it matters. should i use the dechlor stuff after the water is put in or just leave it be.
This is definately a lesson i've learned. :o
Week, more like 4-6 weeks... :eek:
oops typo .. was supposed to type a month.. what was i drinking that night.. i meant 4 weeks or a month, sorry guys :hypnotize
FormulatedFire
11-29-2005, 9:07 AM
check ur local fish store for a product called bio-spira.....its is bacteria that you add and i believe it only takes a few days for the cycle to become complete....make sure that when u get it from the lfs it has been in the fridge or else the bacteria will have died and it will be worthless
guppy
11-29-2005, 12:56 PM
Thanks, that answered alot of my questions. and NO i did not dechlorinate the tank because i thought the point of having the fish to cycle the tank was to make a suitable environment for future fish. anywho, i got dechlor drops from a friend who used it for his 50 gallon tank also. i bought more feeder fish and their in the little plastic baggy in the tank. the bag is just floating on the top so that the fish can adjust to the temperature slowly. i will let them into the tank tomorrow as i have put in the drops earlier today. i set the heater to about 76 degrees.
My other friend has a huge pond filled with huge koi. he said he'd give me some of his pond water if i wanted it. is it a good idea to put the water into my tank? im planning on a freshwater tank and its pond water, if it matters. should i use the dechlor stuff after the water is put in or just leave it be.
This is definately a lesson i've learned. :o
Okay, I would not use the pond water because it would possibly introduce things like hydra into the tank, the pond water would not contain chlorine or chloramine but would contain a variety of microlife that might like your tank. Probably best to use your tap water.
When you get fish try to remember what temp. they are coming out of, you can always ask.
When people talk about cycling a tank they are talking about the ammonia cycle and establishing a bacterial culture to breakdown toxic waste products. You add fish to a tank and then food for the fish, uneaten food and fish waste are produced as well as urea. These some types of bacteria start to break these down, a byproduct of this is ammonia, the ammonia is in turn eaten by another set of bacteria who produce nitrites. The nitrites are broken down by more bacteria whose worrisome end product is nitrates. That is the ammonia cycle and left alone there is a slow build up of nitrates until the fish begin to suffer. The nitrates are usually removed by periodic water changes, people argue about how much to change but 25-30% a week works for most tanks. Use dechlored water as close to tank temps. as you can get it. Rapidly growing plants tie up nitrates in their tissues and removing the older growth as new growth comes in also helps to export accumulated nitrates.
I do think that (at least in fresh water) the old fashioned way of slowly increasing your fish population to the end stocking level is best, it just takes patience. I do like seeding the fiter with sludge from a healthy working filter as it gives the bacterial culture a good headstart on growth.
paOol
12-01-2005, 10:33 PM
thanks for the help everyone.
UPDATE: My tank is doing fine now. i got a whole bunch of stuff from BigAls and i got a pleco and some tiger barbs. the water was a little foggy after a few days, but has cleared up on its own. i have ordered 11 red belly piranhas and am awaiting shipment. hehe