Cycling a 75gl..for how long?
- Thread starter Cocobongo
- Start date
So...since I threw the entire filter bag from my powerfilter (topfin) on my 20gallon into my new rena xp3 on a fresh 65 gallon tank, there's a good chance I won't see the ammonia spike and everything following?
Moloch;4466223; said:
Correct. UNLESS you add more fish. More waste will cause another small cycle if there isn't the amount of bacteria to support it. The bacteria in our filters, etc, only grows to the point it can handle the waste in the tank.
Ok. Well it ran for about 2 days with nothing but the filter (no substrate or ANYTHING but water). Another day with sand driftwood and rocks, I put two snails in at night with some algae pellets and the following morning I added one 3 inch senegal bichir.
So far I haven't seen but a SLIGHT amount of ammonia (to the point that it might have just been a bad test strip...I just went and picked up the API liquid test kit today) and no nitrite or nitrate.
I know the poly's are pretty hardy fish which is why I'm ok letting him test the waters. In another week or so of solid levels I'm going to add my other bichir and jack dempsey and then figure out what else I'll be stocking the tank with.
I'm also going to start using microbacter (left over from setting up my 20) and I might pick up the SeaChem stability and/or prime just in case. I think everything will be fine.
(I love this emoticon to the point of over using it...but it always seems appropriate)
So far I haven't seen but a SLIGHT amount of ammonia (to the point that it might have just been a bad test strip...I just went and picked up the API liquid test kit today) and no nitrite or nitrate.
I know the poly's are pretty hardy fish which is why I'm ok letting him test the waters. In another week or so of solid levels I'm going to add my other bichir and jack dempsey and then figure out what else I'll be stocking the tank with.
I'm also going to start using microbacter (left over from setting up my 20) and I might pick up the SeaChem stability and/or prime just in case. I think everything will be fine.
(I love this emoticon to the point of over using it...but it always seems appropriate)
Moloch;4466236; said:Ok. Well it ran for about 2 days with nothing but the filter (no substrate or ANYTHING but water). Another day with sand driftwood and rocks, I put two snails in at night with some algae pellets and the following morning I added one 3 inch senegal bichir.
So far I haven't seen but a SLIGHT amount of ammonia (to the point that it might have just been a bad test strip...I just went and picked up the API liquid test kit today) and no nitrite or nitrate.
I know the poly's are pretty hardy fish which is why I'm ok letting him test the waters. In another week or so of solid levels I'm going to add my other bichir and jack dempsey and then figure out what else I'll be stocking the tank with.
I'm also going to start using microbacter (left over from setting up my 20) and I might pick up the SeaChem stability and/or prime just in case. I think everything will be fine.
(I love this emoticon to the point of over using it...but it always seems appropriate)
If you're doing a fish cycle as described above, I would say to at least definitely pick up the prime. You aren't going to be cycled for weeks... could take weeks to even see a nitrite spike. You didn't see any ammonia in the tank with no fish because... there is nothing producing ammonia.
Gah, thanks.
I picked up the API liquid test kit today and I have .5ppm ammonia and zero everything else (neutral PH)
I'm going to keep an eye on it and see how it goes.
I picked up the API liquid test kit today and I have .5ppm ammonia and zero everything else (neutral PH)
I'm going to keep an eye on it and see how it goes.
From what i have experienced in fishless cycle. There has to be enough ammonia produced(I added the Ammonia) in order for the nitrites to spike. Once Nitrites have peaked you will then see your Ammonia dropping along with the Nitrites. When that happens then you will start to see Nitrates to increase. Once you get 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites you are then cycled with Nitrates being between 20-40 ppm. Do PWC after.
Thats from what i have been observing and made a daily logging of it.
Thats from what i have been observing and made a daily logging of it.
dee_nice83;4467660; said:
Yeah...I guess I'll probably end up moving the bichirs back to the 20gal if/when I start to see the ammonia spike. Or maybe I'll just bite the bullet and spend the 20+ bucks on the SeaChem products.
(edit: there's a tl;dr summary at the bottom
)
Heh...just did a search on Seachem Stability and this thread was one of the first that came up for me, so I guess I'll just bump it with my new questions.
If you read this thread you saw me put two senegal bichirs and 2 mystery snails into my uncycled 65gallon tank with sand some rocks and a fake cave. First things first: The tank now has no fish in it, I decided this was just a terrible thing to do to those fish so I put them back in the 20gal where they are healthy and happy (and very young, so as to fit in the 20gal).
Now, on the 65 gallon I'm running a Rena XP3 with pre-filter media, 20 & 30ppi pads, a lot of ceramic rings, a used filter pad from my established 20gal and a polishing pad. I've got the water set around 85*F and I've dosed the tank with pure ammonia, its sitting around 4ppm.
I had over-dosed the tank so it was off the charts and had been staying that way for days, but we decided to get a stand for the 20gal & take it off the kitchen bar, so both tanks ended up moving. Of course in the process I drained all the water and decided to just start with fresh water. That was monday night (2 nights ago). I've been adding MicroBacter to the tank to help establish the bacteria, there is some (small amount of) waste/food left over from when I did have snails & fish in there.
I've only been measuring the ammonia level waiting for it to drop. Rather than wasting my test kit on nitrites & nitrates I figure I might as well just wait for the ammonia to stop dropping, then test the nitrites, wait for that to start dropping and test the nitrates, then test it all for correct levels...seem sane?
So here's my main question. How well does Seachem Stability work? Has anybody tried & trusted it? If I pick up a bottle, could I start dosing the tank with stability without worrying about the extra ammonia thats already there? If I do this, Stability says on the bottle to use it for 7 days (with fish) to fully cycle a tank...so after 7 days would I be able to check for good levels and add fish?
TL;DR? Does anybody trust Seachem Stability, does it work like it says it does, will it work WITHOUT fish (bottle says with fish) and will it work with a tank already dosed with ammonia in the beginning stages of a cycle.
)Heh...just did a search on Seachem Stability and this thread was one of the first that came up for me, so I guess I'll just bump it with my new questions.
If you read this thread you saw me put two senegal bichirs and 2 mystery snails into my uncycled 65gallon tank with sand some rocks and a fake cave. First things first: The tank now has no fish in it, I decided this was just a terrible thing to do to those fish so I put them back in the 20gal where they are healthy and happy (and very young, so as to fit in the 20gal).
Now, on the 65 gallon I'm running a Rena XP3 with pre-filter media, 20 & 30ppi pads, a lot of ceramic rings, a used filter pad from my established 20gal and a polishing pad. I've got the water set around 85*F and I've dosed the tank with pure ammonia, its sitting around 4ppm.
I had over-dosed the tank so it was off the charts and had been staying that way for days, but we decided to get a stand for the 20gal & take it off the kitchen bar, so both tanks ended up moving. Of course in the process I drained all the water and decided to just start with fresh water. That was monday night (2 nights ago). I've been adding MicroBacter to the tank to help establish the bacteria, there is some (small amount of) waste/food left over from when I did have snails & fish in there.
I've only been measuring the ammonia level waiting for it to drop. Rather than wasting my test kit on nitrites & nitrates I figure I might as well just wait for the ammonia to stop dropping, then test the nitrites, wait for that to start dropping and test the nitrates, then test it all for correct levels...seem sane?
So here's my main question. How well does Seachem Stability work? Has anybody tried & trusted it? If I pick up a bottle, could I start dosing the tank with stability without worrying about the extra ammonia thats already there? If I do this, Stability says on the bottle to use it for 7 days (with fish) to fully cycle a tank...so after 7 days would I be able to check for good levels and add fish?
TL;DR? Does anybody trust Seachem Stability, does it work like it says it does, will it work WITHOUT fish (bottle says with fish) and will it work with a tank already dosed with ammonia in the beginning stages of a cycle.
