YOu have to cycle your filter to become full of bacteria, that is the point of cycling.Hakon said:
cycling takes more than 1 day...
- Thread starter paOol
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At the beginning of this thread you said you filled the tank with hose water, make sure you let the hose run for several minutes before using the water. Like a couple others I am guessing you did not add a dechlorinator to breakdown the chlorine and chloramine in the water, that stuff destroys gill tissue, municiple water sytems add it to the water to kill disease organisms. It MUST be dechlorinated to keep live fish. Dechlorinators are available at lfs and many grocery and department stores.
To kill your fish that quickly in a new tank it is unlikely that the culprit was ammonia as it is in an uncycled tank. When you set up dechlor the water and let it sit overnight with the filter running and double check your tank temperature it should be around 78 F for most tropicals, this could also be a problem, if you are using rosie reds or feeder goldfish to cycle the tank they probably came from unheated tanks, thermal shock can also kill. For cycling fresh water use fish that will be kept at the temp in the tank. Add a betta and a dwarf gourami or wearther loach, something hardy like that to the tank the day after you fill it with dechlored water and then feed them sparingly for 3-4 days, then add 2-3 more fish and wait a couple more days, repeating this until you have the tank stocked the way you like. The addition of just a couple fish at a time will give the bacteria time to grow to keep up with the slowly increasing bioload, there is no distinct cycle using this method, just a series of minicycles ongoing until you reach final stocking levels. It is also a good idea to get yourself a ammonia/nitrite test kit to moniter the cycling, You will see a small rise in levels the day after each addition followed by the levels falling to zero again.
To kill your fish that quickly in a new tank it is unlikely that the culprit was ammonia as it is in an uncycled tank. When you set up dechlor the water and let it sit overnight with the filter running and double check your tank temperature it should be around 78 F for most tropicals, this could also be a problem, if you are using rosie reds or feeder goldfish to cycle the tank they probably came from unheated tanks, thermal shock can also kill. For cycling fresh water use fish that will be kept at the temp in the tank. Add a betta and a dwarf gourami or wearther loach, something hardy like that to the tank the day after you fill it with dechlored water and then feed them sparingly for 3-4 days, then add 2-3 more fish and wait a couple more days, repeating this until you have the tank stocked the way you like. The addition of just a couple fish at a time will give the bacteria time to grow to keep up with the slowly increasing bioload, there is no distinct cycle using this method, just a series of minicycles ongoing until you reach final stocking levels. It is also a good idea to get yourself a ammonia/nitrite test kit to moniter the cycling, You will see a small rise in levels the day after each addition followed by the levels falling to zero again.
yup i didnt cycle my 55 and i put all my fish from my 20 gallon in but nothing died. But it was cloudy so nick came to save the day with a sponge from his tank and that helped out alot
guppy said:
Thanks, that answered alot of my questions. and NO i did not dechlorinate the tank because i thought the point of having the fish to cycle the tank was to make a suitable environment for future fish. anywho, i got dechlor drops from a friend who used it for his 50 gallon tank also. i bought more feeder fish and their in the little plastic baggy in the tank. the bag is just floating on the top so that the fish can adjust to the temperature slowly. i will let them into the tank tomorrow as i have put in the drops earlier today. i set the heater to about 76 degrees.
My other friend has a huge pond filled with huge koi. he said he'd give me some of his pond water if i wanted it. is it a good idea to put the water into my tank? im planning on a freshwater tank and its pond water, if it matters. should i use the dechlor stuff after the water is put in or just leave it be.
This is definately a lesson i've learned.
check ur local fish store for a product called bio-spira.....its is bacteria that you add and i believe it only takes a few days for the cycle to become complete....make sure that when u get it from the lfs it has been in the fridge or else the bacteria will have died and it will be worthless
Okay, I would not use the pond water because it would possibly introduce things like hydra into the tank, the pond water would not contain chlorine or chloramine but would contain a variety of microlife that might like your tank. Probably best to use your tap water.paOol said:Thanks, that answered alot of my questions. and NO i did not dechlorinate the tank because i thought the point of having the fish to cycle the tank was to make a suitable environment for future fish. anywho, i got dechlor drops from a friend who used it for his 50 gallon tank also. i bought more feeder fish and their in the little plastic baggy in the tank. the bag is just floating on the top so that the fish can adjust to the temperature slowly. i will let them into the tank tomorrow as i have put in the drops earlier today. i set the heater to about 76 degrees.
My other friend has a huge pond filled with huge koi. he said he'd give me some of his pond water if i wanted it. is it a good idea to put the water into my tank? im planning on a freshwater tank and its pond water, if it matters. should i use the dechlor stuff after the water is put in or just leave it be.
This is definately a lesson i've learned.
When you get fish try to remember what temp. they are coming out of, you can always ask.
When people talk about cycling a tank they are talking about the ammonia cycle and establishing a bacterial culture to breakdown toxic waste products. You add fish to a tank and then food for the fish, uneaten food and fish waste are produced as well as urea. These some types of bacteria start to break these down, a byproduct of this is ammonia, the ammonia is in turn eaten by another set of bacteria who produce nitrites. The nitrites are broken down by more bacteria whose worrisome end product is nitrates. That is the ammonia cycle and left alone there is a slow build up of nitrates until the fish begin to suffer. The nitrates are usually removed by periodic water changes, people argue about how much to change but 25-30% a week works for most tanks. Use dechlored water as close to tank temps. as you can get it. Rapidly growing plants tie up nitrates in their tissues and removing the older growth as new growth comes in also helps to export accumulated nitrates.
I do think that (at least in fresh water) the old fashioned way of slowly increasing your fish population to the end stocking level is best, it just takes patience. I do like seeding the fiter with sludge from a healthy working filter as it gives the bacterial culture a good headstart on growth.
thanks for the help everyone.
UPDATE: My tank is doing fine now. i got a whole bunch of stuff from BigAls and i got a pleco and some tiger barbs. the water was a little foggy after a few days, but has cleared up on its own. i have ordered 11 red belly piranhas and am awaiting shipment. hehe
UPDATE: My tank is doing fine now. i got a whole bunch of stuff from BigAls and i got a pleco and some tiger barbs. the water was a little foggy after a few days, but has cleared up on its own. i have ordered 11 red belly piranhas and am awaiting shipment. hehe
