African 55g Tank Cycle

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

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 8, 2008
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Hey guys new to Monsterfishkeepers,

Just a quick question about my tank cycle. I currently have a 29g with a Red Zebra, a Bumblebee, a yellow lab and some awesome blue fish that I have been unable to ID.. will get pictures up A.S.A.P labeled as an electric blue hap but has red fins and white tips... anyways they were all about an inch when I bought them with my roomate. As most of you know they grow fairly quickly and our 1 inch fish have now turned between 2-4 inches.

They now have a nice 55g cycling, I added Stress-Zyme which was sold to me by a knowledgeable lfs owner, and I started the tank with some gravel and about 5 gallons of water from the old tank. The tank has been cycling since about 9pm last night and I was looking for a general timeline on when I should expect to add my fish.. I was thinking 4-5 days at the earliest with the bacterial supplement.
 
What are you going to do with the old filter? If you can, move the old filter to the new tank with as much water from the old tank as you can.
 
New Filters are a Tetra Whisper 60 and an AquaClear power 60. The Old Filter is the built in eclipse for the 30g hood. It has a really big flat filter. We were originally thinking canister but as a college kid we could'nt afford one and thought that 2 beefy HOB's would be fine.
 
Currently Using the 30g all-in one eclipse hood (had leftover from an old tank. It has a size E eclipse cartridge which wont fit the new Tetra 60 or the Aquaclear 300/60. The whisper has bio-bags would it be beneficial to cut the cartridge from the Eclipse open and add the carbon and media to the biobags on the Whisper?
 
It depends, take a water sample to your LFS and have them test it. That is the best way to be sure if you don't wan to wait forever.

If you can't use the same filter, using the same substrate and decorations will help you also.
 
thanks a lot, yeah I am using a lot of the rock work from the old tank... the old tank also has a bio-wheel would it be beneficial to float that in the tank? or cut it up and put it in the filters?
 
Or you can cut the actual filter media off the cartridge and stick it in the new filter.

FWIW, I don't think you are going to see any benefits from using stress zyme. It has "bacteria" in it... as a lot of products do... but the right bacteria (nitrospiros, nitrosomonas, etc) aren't stable at room temperature in a stock solution.
 
Go buy a bunch of feeders and through them the tank. Add food and add some more food... or put some rotting shrimp in the tank, the ammonia they produce will start your cycle and you must wait for your nitrates and nitrites to rise and lower. Cichlids are pretty hardy fish and can take a small amount of ammonia (though ammonia is toxic to all fish and should be at a zero level). Could be a week could be a few months. You might try adding some Prime. Like previously stated, the only way to know is to have your water tested. The water you transfered isn't going to do anything. It's the benefical bacteria in the filter media that you need. I would say being the type of fish you have you should be good in 4-5 days but monitor the levels. Better to be safe then rush it and loose your fish.
 
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