Cycling questions

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Acura_RSX

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 30, 2008
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Newfoundland, Canada
okay .. my tanks plumbing got finished last night and i started running it. working and everything is fine with it .. cycling time.

I've never really properly cycled a tank before but with this big bad boy i'd like to do it right. (tank is 225 gal with a 50 gal w/d).

One problem I can see being an issue now is heat .. i'm still waiting for my heater to come in which could take as much as another week or maybe week and a half. id really prefer not wait this long to get the process started. I do have a 150 watt heater that I will be using along side the 300 that i ordered in and i also think i have like 3x other 50 watt heaters kickin around. anything i can do to get the cycling started now or am i stuck waiting until me heater gets in?

second thing .. fish or fishless cycle? which is best for me? am i better off picking up some fish and let them do the work? or should I go buy ammonia etc .. Also the substrate, rocks, driftwood etc that are in the tank came out of my 50 gal so that should help the process (however they did dry out a bit)

so ... suggestions to help me out?
 
I would most definitely go with fish less cycle. Turn up the temp around 84 (with whatever heaters you got and pray that you didnt dry out your media too bad.

Also add as much water oxygenation as possible. Although a wet dry should have plenty of 02 exchange for the bacteria.

Best of luck.


BTW Why do all your threads have a thumbs down next to the title ?
 
I vote for doing fishless cycle with ammonia at around 82F.. I prefer the Ace Hardware Janitorial Strength Ammonia brand.
 
The BB are probably dead if they dried out. I would just throw in whatever heater you have & upgrade when the new one comes in. For cycling, I like to use one or two small tough fish & do WC's to keep nitrite below 0.5. BB products like Stability, Cycle & Bio-Zyme are all pretty good at speeding up the cycle, too.
 
Get the temp up to whatever temp your going to run your tank at or close too it, then take a sock/hose/baggie with shrimp/krill/fish in it and in a few hrs your ammonia will be on the up and up, and just let it run untill ammo. and nitrites are gone and all you see is nitrates. Putting in media/substrate/decor in from an established tank (not dried out) will help seed the BB into your new tank and help get the cycle going sooner.
 
tcarswell;3765190; said:
I would most definitely go with fish less cycle. Turn up the temp around 84 (with whatever heaters you got and pray that you didnt dry out your media too bad.

Also add as much water oxygenation as possible. Although a wet dry should have plenty of 02 exchange for the bacteria.

Best of luck.


BTW Why do all your threads have a thumbs down next to the title ?
Click to expand...

haha wow. about the thumbs down .. i usually write my threads on this computer at work .. and on this that symbol looks like a question mark. so i always assumed that it was. .. for a year now i've thought that was a question mark. and on my laptop at home ive just never payed attention.

and to the last post .. adding in a sock or something with fish in it will cause the ammonia to go up? will this work more efficiently then using store bought ammonia?

IF i was to go with fish type cycle instead what exactly would I have to do? just put the fish in .. do w/c's and wait for test kit to say zero ammonia and 0 nitrites? that all thats to it? and what are some tough fish i could use for this? I had given away 2x oscars (one 5 inch and one 10 inch) like 2 weeks ago. and now both friends that i gave them too i dont think are planning on keeping them. i think they might both be bringing them to pet store or giving them away also. oscars are pretty hardy .. could i get these two oscars back from them and use these to cycle the tank?
 
Acura_RSX;3765357; said:
haha wow. about the thumbs down .. i usually write my threads on this computer at work .. and on this that symbol looks like a question mark. so i always assumed that it was. .. for a year now i've thought that was a question mark. and on my laptop at home ive just never payed attention.

and to the last post .. adding in a sock or something with fish in it will cause the ammonia to go up? will this work more efficiently then using store bought ammonia?

IF i was to go with fish type cycle instead what exactly would I have to do? just put the fish in .. do w/c's and wait for test kit to say zero ammonia and 0 nitrites? that all thats to it? and what are some tough fish i could use for this? I had given away 2x oscars (one 5 inch and one 10 inch) like 2 weeks ago. and now both friends that i gave them too i dont think are planning on keeping them. i think they might both be bringing them to pet store or giving them away also. oscars are pretty hardy .. could i get these two oscars back from them and use these to cycle the tank?
Click to expand...


i dont think oscars would be good. ususally people use cheaper fish such as feeder goldfish. other fish commonly used are zebra dianos, guppys, and mollies, before i even knew what a tank cycle was i had dalmatian mollies in one of mine and they did a great job. but they are a little more expensive than a dollar fifty a dozen at the LFS. good luck and have fun with your new tank. i cant wait till i get my monster tank in here. i just gotta figure out where to put it:confused:
 
yeah. im just thinking .. most people wont use oscars because of their price. but these bad boys would be free .. and already a decent size. ive owned them for a year now just a matter of borrowing them back and doing it that way. just doing w/c's enough so they stay fine and they produce a good bit waste etc which i believe is good for cycling. other then price anyone see a reason not to use the two oscars?
 
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