720 Gallon cycling ideas and Armatus!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
amazontank

amazontank

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Nov 14, 2010
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Miami and San Diego
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I am getting ready to fill my 720 Gallon fish tank and transfer my large Armatus to it. He will be the only fish in the tank.

My plan was to transfer 300-400 gallons of water doing a massive water change on all my fish tanks. Then filling up with tab water and adding Prime, Stability, Discus Buffer, Amazon rain!

In the bottom of my big sump submerged in bags I will be adding 12 liters of full on bacteria seeded Eheim Substrate, aqua-stars and fluval Fil Stars to the bottom of the sump then filling it up with large bio balls.

I will be starting off with just 2 high pressure pumps returning 2,000 GPH and a 2,000 GPH powerhead on the bottom corner of the tank circulating the water.

My question for the MFK legends out there is...

How long should I wait to transfer my Armatus?
 
LFS guy mentioned to me to just use BIO Balls and none of the other stuff? I was thinking the submerged media should be anything but bio balls since they work best in wet dry action! Am I missing something here?
 
ecoli73 said:
I tend to agree with you. Bioballs are for wet drys. Use something like matrix or pond matrix.


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Click to expand...

That's what I am planning on. Thanks so much.

After figuring my sump out, it only holds 45 gallons of Bio Balls. I was gonna go ahead and add the bottom layer of Eheim Substrate.
I been thinking even though it will be costly would be to add something expensive in the giant center overflow that would be able to fit of 30 gallons of media. Whats every bodies absolute best choice to throw in there?
I am thinking a sock then Fluval Fil-Stars or Eheim substrate or Seachem Matrix? I also saw some hype on those cool long sponges? Advice would be greatly appreciated or better ideas.
 
Wait until the parameters tell you the tank is fully cycled.

Ammonia levels drop -->nitrites rise ----> nitrites drop ----> nitrates rise.

No sense in rushing things at this point putting your fish at risk. Transferring the water from other tanks will not transfer beneficial bacteria or do much to speed up the cycle.

The seeded bio media will speed things up though.

The beneficial bacteria will need a source (ammonia) to feed off for the colony to grow. This can be added by you at the recommended dosage. There are a number of good cycling guides on here that have the exact numbers/dosages.

Congrats on the upgrade, and good luck.
 
Reedmaster16 said:
Wait until the parameters tell you the tank is fully cycled.

Ammonia levels drop -->nitrites rise ----> nitrites drop ----> nitrates rise.

No sense in rushing things at this point putting your fish at risk. Transferring the water from other tanks will not transfer beneficial bacteria or do much to speed up the cycle.

The seeded bio media will speed things up though.

The beneficial bacteria will need a source (ammonia) to feed off for the colony to grow. This can be added by you at the recommended dosage. There are a number of good cycling guides on here that have the exact numbers/dosages.

Congrats on the upgrade, and good luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much!

I will be taking down a giant Eheim 2080 completely dirty with Eheim Substrate and Fil Chem-Stars. If I get a gallon of Stability and dose the tank every day can I add my Armatus the same day I set up the tank? I always see them do it on the show Tanked on Animal Planet!
 
Never trust a tv show lol. They are for entertainment first and foremost.

Add the armatus after the water parameters are stable and show the tank has fully cycled.
 
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