half way ..... i think

[Kdcarey]

wow umm JayK dont u hve a 125 or sumthing???

 

[JayK1320]

some people use shrimp, others add pure ammonia, and other use cheap/hardy fish (see my sig) to produce the ammonia. did that make any sense?

Okay, that makes way more sense. When I set up my tank it was taken down and setup in the same day with a filter that was being used and I ran it for 2 days with no fish in there just to make sure. But it seems like that isnt even enough anyway. I figured there was something you had to do with a new filter and new tank if you had one, but I haven't had to deal with that yet, so thats why I didnt know.

wow umm JayK dont u hve a 125 or sumthing???

No, I wish I had a 125. I have a 55g that was my girl friends, but when her turtle died she didnt care about keeping the gold fish that were in there, so thats how I got my current tank. Like I said, I have never had to setup a brand new tank or brand new filter so I didnt know about cycling like that. I knew you had to give the water some time, a few days, before you could toss fish in there if you filled the tank from empty with new water.

 

[princess]

yeah fresh and salt need to be cylced. here's my explanation of the cycling process:

- fish take dookies in the water
- dookies and uneaten food produces ammonia (harmful to fish)
- bacteria in filters consume ammonia, and produce nitrite as a byproduct
- another type of bacteria consume the nitrite, and produces nitrate as a byproduct
- nitrates are reduced by doing regular water changes

This is what happens in a cycled tank. in a new tank, there is no bacteria to consume ammonia and nitrites, these are harmful to fish. when cycling a tank, your introducing ammonia to set up the colonies of bacteria to consume ammonia/nitrite. princess used raw shrimp for her ammonia source. by decayin in the water, it produced ammonia to start feeding the bacteria.

some people use shrimp, others add pure ammonia, and other use cheap/hardy fish (see my sig) to produce the ammonia. did that make any sense?

lol you should write a book....the idiots guide to cycling a tank. dookies!?!? haha
i am against cycling a tank with goldfish its super unethical and uncalled for....you can't cycle a saltwater tank with goldfish anyway.